How To
Keep At-Risk Kids Out of Youth Detention Centers
Adolphus
Graves
(January
12, 2007)
Adolphus M.
Graves, Jr. chairs a multi-disciplinary review panel (known as
FAST-START) which meets three times a week to staff the cases of any
child
detained by law enforcement personnel within the previous 48
hours. He has established collaborative relationships with community
organizations as well as therapists and psychiatrists in an attempt to
reduce the rate of recidivism after a child has been adjudicated and
prior to his or her disposition hearing.
Mr. Graves also
chairs the Clayton Collaborative Child Study Team, created to
protect the welfare of youth in the community. As chair, he coordinates
the process by facilitating meetings with directors and chief officers
of every county agency who may identify youth with special needs arising
from their educational, mental health, deprivation and/or delinquency
status. Reflecting his community-oriented perspective is his work as a
contracted service provider for the Homeless Education Department within
Clayton County Public Schools.
On a more personal
level, Mr. Graves is president of Each One Reach Some, Inc.,
coordinating community awareness events and functions that aim to
increase community cohesiveness and prevent community deterioration.
The organization develops educational, physical, and cognitive-based
programs, specifically tailored to actively engage youth in pro-social
activities.
His previous
positions include program manager and juvenile probation officer for
Clayton County Juvenile Court, counselor for high-risk youth groups for
Planned Parenthood of Georgia, and youth counselor for the Harland Boys
and Girls Club in Atlanta. Mr. Graves earned a B.A. in Sociology with
an emphasis in Criminal Justice in 2000 from Morehouse College. He is
currently finishing Professional Juvenile Justice Administrator
Certification from the University of Nevada at Reno.
Helping People in a Community Work Together
Sheila
Williams (February 9, 2007)
Sheila
Williams is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Clayton
Collaborative Authority. She is also Assistant Vice President and Senior
Relationship Manager for Reliance Trust Company in Atlanta, handling
clients with a minimum asset base of $430 million dollars and
specializing in at-risk client retention and business development. Ms.
Williams has been named her division's “Top Business Development
Manager” for two years, bringing in business that has provided the
company with revenue of over $1.5 million dollars annually. One of the
highlights of her retirement service career is being one of the creative
forces behind the design of the Disney non-qualified retirement plan;
creatively using company stock options as the funding base. This program
was specifically set up for the President of Disney and is known through
out the industry as the single largest retirement plan payout to an
individual to this day.
In 2003, Ms. Williams made the decision to focus on
developing her own consulting business. She is the President and
Creative Director of Williams Consulting Firm. Williams Consulting
educates, guides, and manages small businesses and non-profit entities
to make them effective, efficient, and profitable. The company’s
mission is to make individuals committed, determined, and focused to
reach their goals. In 2004, Sheila was able to expand her company with
the addition of corporate and individual life coaching workshops and
youth personal finance instruction seminars. These two new branches of
her company have now become her life’s mission.
Ms. Williams lives consciously and believes that it
is her unequivocal duty to use her life, talents, and blessings to make
a difference her community. She has been a resident and community
stakeholder in Clayton County for the past seven years. Ms. Williams
witnessed first hand all of the changes that began to take place in
Clayton County over the past five years and wanted to use her voice to
make a change. In 2005, she participated in the first Grassroots
Leadership Institute of Clayton County.
How Online Data Can Help Community
Decision-Making
Sandy Harrison (March 9, 2007)
Sandy
Harrison is Professor of Human Services at Clayton State University and
the University's representative on the Clayton Collaborative Authority's
Executive Committee. She has a master's degree in psychology from
Indiana University and a doctorate in interdisciplinary studies from
Emory University.
From 1974 until 1990, she was a full-time faculty
member in the Department of Psychology at Mercer University Atlanta.
After brief forays into public school teaching and helping adolescents
at a private psychiatric hospital, she joined the Social Science faculty
at Clayton State. From 1995 until 2002 she directed the Learning Center,
an academic support unit for students, which eventually spun off the Center for Instructional Development, an
instructional support unit for faculty.
Since 2002, she has been designing and teaching
Human Services courses. In addition to her strong commitment to
community organizations throughout Clayton County, she demonstrates in
all her classes how computer technology can be used to identify,
improve, and expand community resources and opportunities.
Working with People Homeless in Clayton County
Tawana Tarno (April 13, 2007)
Tawana Tarno is Executive Director of Calvary
Refuge Center, the only homeless shelter in Clayton County to serve men,
women, and children. Ms. Tarno has been affiliated with the Center for
twenty years, at its original location and at its current location on
Thurman Road in Forest Park, GA.
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty through
Homeownership
Brenda Rayburn (May 11, 2007)
Formerly a Vice President with BellSouth, Brenda
Rayburn is currently Executive Director of the Southern Crescent Habitat
for Humanity. She leads Habitat's initiative to provide affordable
housing for low income people on the southside of metro Atlanta.
Church Beyond the Walls: Community Ministry
Rev. William Hill (June 8, 2007)
2006 Forum Summaries
2005
Forum Summaries (titled Team Coordination Minutes)
2004 Forum Summaries (titled Team Coordination
Minutes)
