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The Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission (JCJC), the PA Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers, and the JCJC Awards Committee are pleased to announce that nominations are now being accepted for the 2023 Professional and Youth Award Programs. Award nomination forms can be found on the JCJC website. The awards will be presented at the 2023 James E. Anderson Pennsylvania Conference on Juvenile Justice November 1–2, 2023, at the Hilton Harrisburg.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
Residential Program of the Year — Any public or private sector program serving alleged and/or adjudicated delinquent youth in a residential setting. This includes foster homes, group homes, residential treatment programs, general childcare facilities, shelter care facilities, detention centers, independent living programs, and other programs providing out-of-home, overnight care to children. Award Winners prior to 2018 are eligible for nomination.
Community-Based Program of the Year Award — Any public or private sector program, not operated by the court, which provides community-based, non-residential services to alleged and/or adjudicated delinquent youth including, but not limited to, day treatment programs, in-home services, Boys and Girls Clubs, Education Services, and out-patient services.
Meritorious Service Award — A person committed to furthering the development of at-risk, alleged and/or delinquent youth, or advancing the mission of the juvenile justice system (examples of volunteer work may include, but is not limited to, youth aid panels, youth commissions, anti-violence programs, school-based programs, diversionary programs, mentoring programs, faith-based programs, community centers, or similar programming).
Formal professional award nomination materials must be submitted via email by Monday, August 14, 2023.
YOUTH AWARDS
Outstanding Achievement Award — The Outstanding Achievement Award submission consists of a narrative description of a youth’s outstanding qualities of community service, victim reparation, academic accomplishments, school attendance, citizenship, attitude, extra-curricular activities, peer relationships, significant life experience, and positive changes in behavior.
Creative Expression Contest — Using the theme “Believe In My Steps For Tomorrow,” youth are to submit an original creative expression project in one of the following three categories: Poster; Written (essay, poem, story, etc.); or Mixed Media (Dance, song, audio, video, or photography). This contest has a fifteen (15) and under category and a sixteen (16) and over category.
Youth Award Winners and their chaperones will be honored guests at the 2023 Youth Awards Program and Dinner. Individuals submitting nominations will be responsible for ensuring that winners attend the Youth Awards Program. Winners will have the opportunity to say a few words upon receiving their award. All youth award nominations must be postmarked by Monday, August 14, 2023.
Thank you for your interest and support of the 2023 JCJC Awards Program. Please contact Angel Stewart at 717-783-7835 or via email contact Keysla Rodriguez at 717-783-6263 or via email for questions or further assistance.
Message from ANCOR:
As you may have heard, the Recognizing the Role of Direct Support Professionals Act was reintroduced in Congress! This Act would direct the Office of Management and Budget to establish a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) for direct support professionals (DSP). With a SOC for DSPs, we can begin to capture more accurate employment and wage data, which helps in developing more precise payment rates. We need your support to ensure that this crucial bipartisan legislation is supported by your congressional members and passed this Congress!
ANCOR members and our allies have already been doing an amazing job in just the past two days — Over 3,500 messages have been sent to Members of Congress! In case you have a competitive streak and are curious which states are leading the pack, members from New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Massachusetts have sent the most messages to Congress this week! Let’s keep the momentum going!
Take action and contact your legislators today to support DSPs and share it with your friends and family. Remember, you can take the action alert every day! Let’s make a difference for our Direct Support Professional Workforce.
Join the National Council on Aging (NCOA) for Part 2 of their Public Policy webinar series to learn about the ongoing efforts in Congress to tackle the direct care workforce crisis. As the pandemic has shown, the demand for direct care far exceeds the available supply of workers across the nation, creating a significant challenge for care recipients and direct care workers alike. Without a robust direct care workforce, families and caregivers face additional pressure to provide care that is often inadequate for the complex health needs of older adults and persons with disabilities. In this webinar, attendees will discover how NCOA is taking action to address this issue, as well as hear from members of Congress.
This webinar will take place on Thursday, May 25 at 2:00 pm ET.
Visit here to register.
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) announced more than $6 million in grant funding for organizations to establish or expand substance use disorder (SUD) services, community outreach, and education to underrepresented communities struggling with the opioid overdose crisis.
In 2020, overdose death rates increased 39 percent for Black Pennsylvanians, compared to 2019. In 2021, Black Pennsylvanians died from an overdose at a rate that was nearly two times higher than white Pennsylvanians.
Those eligible for this funding included organizations that provide services, outreach, and/or education to communities of color and promote access to harm reduction services, low-barrier SUD and medication-assisted treatment (MAT), recovery and peer supports, and/or offender reentry supports.
Through this funding award, 19 organizations are receiving grants up to $400,000 for a 12-month period beginning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. Funds shall be applied toward a range of activities, including construction and building infrastructure, staffing, and evidence-based programming.
The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) has shared COVID ODPANN 23-039, which notifies all providers that staff reporting of COVID-19 has been discontinued. This communication will obsolete COVID ODPANN 20-099. Please direct questions about this announcement to the appropriate ODP Regional Offices.

RCPA held a golf fundraiser for the RCPA Political Action Committee (RCPA PAC) on Wednesday, May 10, 2023. This successful event raised much-needed funds for our legislative activities, and we would like to thank all the generous golfers who participated and contributed. Congratulations to our winners! In addition, we would like to thank our sponsors:
Your support is always appreciated, and we encourage you to make a personal contribution to the RCPA PAC. For your convenience, you can now make an online contribution.
Thank you again for your participation and support. We look forward to holding another golf outing in October, in conjunction with the RCPA Annual Conference.
Your participation in the RCPA-PAC is completely voluntary, and you may contribute as much or as little as you choose. Donations are not tax-deductible and will be used for political purposes. You may choose not to participate without fear of reprisal. You will not be favored or disadvantaged by reason of the amount of your contribution or decision not to contribute.