Transforming Juvenile Probation Series: A Conversation with Steve Bishop

Transforming Juvenile Probation is an Instagram Live series hosted by the Center for Public Justice. Throughout the month of June, CPJ’s Juvenile Justice Fellow Yasmine Arrington will interview four experts in the field to discuss juvenile probation, why reform is needed, and the role the faith community can play. Tune in each Tuesday at noon EST at @centerpublicjustice.

To kick off Transforming Juvenile Probation, Yasmine interviewed Steve Bishop, a senior associate at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. In this conversation, Yasmine and Steve discuss why it is a moral imperative to reform juvenile probation and explore how faith-based organizations can be part of the solution.

Highlights

  • Unique from adult probation, juvenile probation officers have significant responsibilities in juvenile probation and can make key recommendations in the diversion process.

  • More than two-thirds of young people who are formally processed in the juvenile justice system are put on probation. About 300,000 young people annually are put on probation, and more than half have never been found guilty in juvenile court.

  • Faith-based organizations can play a large role in transforming juvenile justice systems by extending local programs to young people who could be diverted from the system through opportunities such as adult mentors.

Learn more about the speakers

Yasmine “YazzieSpeaks” Arrington was born and raised in Washington, DC. She is a 2015 graduate from Elon University with a Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications and History. Yasmine earned her Master of Divinity degree from the Howard University School of Divinity in May 2018. Yasmine was a 2020 Center for Public Justice Sacred Sector Fellow where she had the opportunity to serve as an advocacy intern with Prison Fellowship. 

In 2010, while a junior in high school, Yasmine founded the nonprofit ScholarCHIPS (www.scholarchipsfund.org), an organization that provides college scholarships, mentoring and a support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. ScholarCHIPS has awarded over $300,000 in college scholarships to 76 scholars, with 30 graduates to date. 

Yasmine is the author of Daily Reflections for Social Entrepreneurs Journal. Yasmine has been featured in TeenVogue, Essence, Black Enterprise, Forbes Magazine, The Washington Post, the Baltimore Times, and on ABC7 News WJLA and NBC4 for her community work with ScholarCHIPS. Yasmine is a recipient of several awards for her community work including the Linowes Leadership Award from the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Peace First Prize, the DC Social Innovation Prize, Angel Among Us Award by the Negro Council of Women, the Samuel Huntington Public Service Award, the Samuel Halperin Public Service Award, Radio One WKYS Top 30 Under 30, Washington Business Journal Top 40 Under 40, and others. 

Stephen Bishop is a senior associate with the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Stephen has a Master’s of Science in Administration of Justice and has worked in juvenile justice for more than two decades, starting as a juvenile probation officer and supervisor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and then working for more than a decade at the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission. Steve currently manages the Foundation’s efforts to transform juvenile probation nationally, which includes oversight for grantmaking, site-based technical assistance, research studies and publications related to juvenile probation.

Pennsylvania’s governor has appointed Steve to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee and the PennSERVE Advisory Board, which provides oversight to Pennsylvania’s Job Corp programs. He is also co-chair of the state’s Racial and Ethnic Disparities Subcommittee and a past president of the Pennsylvania Association on Probation, Parole and Corrections.

WANT TO GET INVOLVED?

1. Learn more about juvenile probation and opportunities for reform.

2. Sign up to receive Shared Justice's monthly newsletter and stay up to date on the latest content, resources, and highlights.

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4. Form a Political Discipleship group and advocate for juvenile probation reform in your community. Political Discipleship is an 11-week praxis-based curriculum that helps Christians form lifelong habits and practices of citizenship. Email katie.thompson@cpjustice.org for more information.

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