Stepping Up for Youth: Making an Impact on the Intersection of Juvenile Justice and Behavioral Health

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Mike Brouwer is the Criminal Justice Coordinator for Johnson County, Kansas, with nearly 30 years of experience in behavioral health and criminal justice systems. He began his career in community mental health, focusing on transition-age youth, and later provided behavioral health services in the Johnson County Adult Detention Center for seven years. He went on to lead reentry services through a federal Second Chance Act grant and continued this work with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, where he helped establish the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Mike served as Douglas County’s Criminal Justice Coordinator before returning to Johnson County in 2021 in the same role. Throughout his career, he has managed multiple Bureau of Justice Assistance grants. He currently serves on the Kansas Governor’s Behavioral Health Services Planning Council and chairs the Justice-Involved Youth and Adults Subcommittee, where he supported development of the Kansas Stepping Up Initiative Technical Assistance Center. He also serves on the Kansas Fights Addiction Board and the Stepping Up Initiative Innovator Counties Steering Committee. Mike is a University of Kansas graduate and remains dedicated to advancing behavioral health, reentry, and justice system improvement efforts.

Megan Davidson, PhD, is a Program Director in the Behavioral Health Division of the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center. In this role, she oversees the Stepping Up Initiative, which is a national initiative focused on supporting counties with their efforts to safely reduce the overincarceration of people with behavioral health needs in local jails. She also leads several projects involving juvenile justice, behavioral health, crisis response, and brain injury. Megan has over 15 years of experience leading complex projects involving stakeholder and community engagement, research and evaluation, and technical assistance at the intersection of behavioral health and criminal justice through which she has supported many jurisdictions with the implementation and evaluation of systemic efforts intended to improve outcomes for individuals involved in those systems. Megan earned her PhD in Public Affairs with a Concentration in Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida.

Jennifer Lighthall, LCPC, serves as the Division Director for Children and Family Services at Johnson County Mental Health Center. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Webster University and is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Jennifer has worked in the mental health field for over 25 years, with extensive experience in community mental health. Over the past 20 years at Johnson County Mental Health Center, she has held multiple clinical and leadership roles. In her current role as Division Director, Jennifer oversees program and clinical operations, guides teams in delivering high impact, mission aligned services across the community and supports teams dedicated to serving children, adolescents, and their caregivers across Johnson County. She partners with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen systems of care, enhance program performance, and ensure responsive services that meet the evolving needs of Johnson County families.

Felicia Lopez Wright partners with states and local communities to strengthen their responses and improve outcomes for youth and adults with behavioral health needs who are at risk for, or involved in, the criminal justice system. She also contributes to projects focused on community responder programs, gender-responsive services for women in the justice system, and enhancing crisis and justice system collaborations. Since joining the CSG Justice Center, Felicia has provided tailored training and technical assistance to safely divert people from the justice system and increase access to mental health and substance use treatment. She is a licensed clinical social worker with experience providing mental health therapy to demographically diverse populations in various care settings, special education case management in a public school district, and short-term counseling at a community court program. She earned a BA in psychology from The College of New Jersey and an MSW from Rutgers University.

Clay is the Director of Special Projects/Early Intervention for the Kansas Department of Corrections. Clay has worked in the criminal justice field for the last 15 years with roles ranging from a juvenile corrections officer, juvenile probation officer, and an United States Probation Officer. Clay and his wife will celebrate 10 years of marriage this year and they have two children.

Sarah Schenek is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with over 20 years of experience in the social services field. She currently runs a private practice providing mental health services. Her professional background includes roles as an Intensive Supervision Officer in Community Corrections, Juvenile Services prevention specialist, Director of a Child Advocacy Center, forensic interviewer, and foster care case manager. She has extensive experience working with both victims and offenders across a variety of settings. Sarah holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Capella University and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from Samford University. Her areas of expertise include trauma and grief, play therapy with children, and couples and individual counseling. She is also a registered play therapist. She also serves on the USD 428 school board and the Central Kansas Community Corrections Advisory Board.

Stephanie Ueberall works with states and counties to improve outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system. Stephanie has also worked to reduce the overuse of jail through initiatives such as Stepping Up and the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge. She has extensive experience with youth and families involved in the justice system through direct service, research, technical assistance, and program design. Most recently, Stephanie was the director of violence prevention at the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, where she worked to enhance community-led youth gun violence prevention. Stephanie holds a BS in psychology from the University of Arizona and an MA in community psychology from the University of New Haven.

Marissa Woodmansee serves as the Director of the 20th Judicial District Juvenile Services in Kansas and brings more than 25 years of experience in juvenile justice, community case management, and the implementation of evidence-based practices. In her role, she oversees fiscal management, program operations, staff supervision, and strategic partnerships that support positive outcomes for youth and families across her district. Marissa earned a Bachelor of Sociology from Fort Hays State University with minors in Criminal Justice and Spanish, along with a certification in Leadership Studies. She is passionate about building collaborative partnerships, strengthening communities, and advancing effective, data-informed approaches that improve outcomes for yout