Sunday, March 9, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The four-day event, the nation's largest of its kind, will be held through Wednesday at the Sparks Nugget. It's sponsored by the Reno-based National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, and the National District Attorneys Association.
The conference will feature panel discussions and workshops involving top juvenile justice officials. They'll address such diverse subjects as parole and probation, incarceration, education, youth drug courts, child abuse and neglect, and missing and exploited children.
As the juvenile justice system nears its 100th birthday, it is being eroded by public policy decisions, such as a focus on harsh punishment for youthful offenders, said Judge Thomas E. Hornsby of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., president of the national council.
"It is time for those committed to the concept of individualized justice for children and youth to reaffirm their commitment to a fair and rational system designed to protect the public and to rehabilitate juveniles," he said.
The keynote speaker will be Robert E. Shepherd Jr., University of Richmond Law School professor.
The Reno-based national council has won a two-year grant to find new ways to expedite the adoption of abused and neglected children.
The $200,000 grant from a foundation named for Wendy's restaurants founder Dave Thomas and from the American Honda Foundation is aimed at getting young children out of temporary foster homes and into permanent homes.
The money will be used to develop national guidelines and procedures on ending parental rights. It also will be used for establishing adoption and post-adoption practices.
Thomas was an adopted child.
archive
