Jennifer Saxton, University of Central Arkansas – The Intersections Between Cross-Sector Collaboration and Social Justice Leadership in Juvenile Court Procedures

On this Student Spotlight during University of Central Arkansas Week: How do we lower the recidivism rate of juvenile offenders?

Jennifer Saxton, PhD student in leadership studies, examines the success of one program that broke the mold.

Jennifer Saxton is a graduate assistant for the Ph.D. Leadership Studies office and a full-time faculty member in the Department of Professional Studies at Arkansas Tech University. She joined Tech in 2007, initially as an Academic Counselor, and was promoted to Instructor of Professional Studies upon receiving her master’s degree in College Student Personnel. Jennifer has been teaching since 2011, and is certified in online course development, prior learning assessment, and Quality Matters. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Arkansas Tech, as well. Jennifer has presented research at national and international conferences in the areas of intrusive advising, student pathways in higher education, academic and social adjustment of adult students, online student engagement, and adult student engagement. She also recently developed Tech’s first Faculty-Student mentor program for online students. Jennifer joined Arkansas Tech following a successful career in the financial services industry as a consumer, commercial, and mortgage loan officer, branch manager, and corporate trainer.

The Intersections Between Cross-Sector Collaboration and Social Justice Leadership in Juvenile Court Procedures

With juvenile reoffending rates on the rise across the United States, one juvenile court program broke the barriers of rising recidivism rates by offering creative programming for adjudicated youth to carry out their service hours. While recidivism rates across the state hover around 36%, and nationwide at 37%, the program in this case study experienced a staggering decline in reoffenders. The decline would not have been possible without court leaders and community volunteers partnering to build programs to evoke change in the juvenile justice system. The purpose of this case study was to help the court understand the phenomenon and determine how community partnership-based programs aid a juvenile court in the southern United States in lowering the juvenile recidivism rate. Through the use of cross-sector collaboration and social justice leadership, programs such as Girls’ Book Club, boxing club, ethics class, mentoring, after-school tutoring, Girl Scouts, and Teen Court help restore youth to the community. The outcome of the study provided evidence of what contributed to the success which informed the development of a model for all juvenile programs across the state. Data gathered through a semi-structured interview process determined the factors, such as communication and information sharing, leadership capabilities, empowerment and enrichment opportunities for the youth and volunteers, and resource sharing among stakeholders, were key to the success of the program. Without the social capital afforded by the collaborations, which engage community leaders in the work of the juvenile court, the success of the court program would have suffered.