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‘How Are the Children?’ Juvenile Justice Symposium at St. Thomas School of Law, March 5

How the Minnesota legal and social-service communities can pull together to help at-risk youths is the focus of an upcoming Juvenile Justice Symposium at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

The public symposium, “How Are the Children? Exploring the Impact of Poverty, Violence and Incarceration,” will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in the Schulze Grand Atrium at the School of Law in downtown Minneapolis.   

The title, “How Are the Children?” comes from the Kenyan tradition of Harambee, a concept that calls for the betterment of each member of the community for the collective interest of all. Harambee is the Swahili word for “pulling together.”

The symposium is hosted by the university’s Community Justice Project which is part of the Legal Services Clinic and will feature keynote speaker Mary Johnson, founder and director of the Minneapolis- based From Life to Death: Two Mothers Healing Group.  She will share her story of faith and forgiveness following the 1993 death of her only child and the courageous meeting she had with the young man who took her son’s life.

The symposium will include lunch and four panel discussions.  The panel topics are:  Youths and Mental Health Issues, Youth-on-Youth Violence, Extended Juvenile Jurisdiction, and Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Adjudications.  Professionals from the legal and youth-services fields will lead the discussions.

The public is welcome.  Cost of the symposium is $20, which includes CLE credits for lawyers, pending approval.  Those interested in attending can register online at www.stthomas.edu/law/rsvp or mail before March 1.  For more information, call (651) 962-4960.

This event is co-sponsored by: Lawyers’ Council on Social Justice, The Mission Advisory Committee, the Criminal Law Association, St. Thomas More Society, Women Law Student Association, ABA Student Division, Native American Law Student Association and Black Law Student Association.

Collaborative Caring for the Underserved

An 80-year-old man fears eviction from the nursing home that has been his home for a decade. A family from a war-torn part of the world fears that deportation is a death sentence. The fabric of an underserved community is torn by societal injustive.

These people and communities, and so many more like them, face complex legal, psychological and social issues, and lack the resources to pay for the professional services they need.

Enter the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services of the University of St. Thomas. Working collaboratively, students from the university’s schools of Law, Professional Psychology and Social Work strive to meet the needs of underserved people as they gain valuable real-world experience in their chosen fields of study.

The bottom line? Students learn, needs are met and the community benefits. That’s the way it should be.

“The center is consistent with our mission both as an urban university and a Catholic university. That mission says we are committed ‘to meeting the diverse, changing needs of the community’ and fostering in our students ‘a tradition of service to the public welfare and an energetic, thoughtful approach to the challenges of contemporary life.’ The clinic offers an exceptional way for us to carry out our mission and help the less fortunate.”

Father Dennis Dease
President, University of St. Thomas