Pennsylvania’s Graduated Response: Integrating Adolescent Development into PA’s Juvenile Probation Departments

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Andrew Benner is the Chief Juvenile Probation Officer in Cumberland County, PA. Mr. Benner received his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice/Sociology with a Psychology minor from Moravian College in 1997, and obtain his master’s degree in Administration of Justice at Shippensburg University in 2002. Mr. Benner began his career in the juvenile justice field as a teacher/counselor at Bowling Brook Preparatory School in 1998. He was then hired by the Cumberland County Juvenile Probation Department as a school-based/community-based juvenile probation officer in the Carlisle Area School District until he was promoted to a supervisor position in June 2014. As a supervisor, Mr. Benner was integral to the implementation of evidenced-based practices and the Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES) in Cumberland County. Throughout his career, he has been recognized as a leader within the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice System. He began working with the Pennsylvania Council of Chief Juvenile Probation Officers in 2015 as Co-Chair of their Technology Committee and currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee. Mr. Benner expanded his involvement with the Chief’s Council as Co-Chair of their Graduated Responses Workgroup in 2018 and most recently as Co-Chair of their Provider Subcommittee.

Dr. Naomi Goldstein has collaborated with community stakeholders to use social science research to improve juvenile justice policy and practice to produce better outcomes for youth and communities for more than two decades. Dr. Goldstein’s research focuses on evaluating and guiding large-scale system reform in juvenile justice, including cross-systems efforts to 1) reform juvenile probation systems, 2) dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline, 3) create a positive approach to school policing, and 4) eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in police and justice system contacts with youth. Dr. Goldstein has served as an investigator or consultant on more than $20 million in grant funding, authored more than 150 publications, and contributed to national and state juvenile justice legislation and policy reports and to amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. She has served on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals, strategic planning and research advisory committees of national organizations, and juvenile justice work groups and policy committees. Using her translational research and implementation science expertise, Dr. Goldstein and her interdisciplinary JJR&R Lab also provide training and technical assistance to jurisdictions on juvenile justice reform efforts.

Angela Work is the Deputy Director of the Juvenile Court Judges Commission in Pennsylvania, where she previously worked as the Director of Administration and Grant Programs, and then Director of Quality Assurance in Juvenile Justice. In each of these roles, she provided court consultant services including technical assistance and advice to juvenile court judges and chief juvenile probation officers. Additionally, Ms. Work has served the Juvenile Justice System Enhancement Strategy (JJSES) Leadership Team as Co-Leader to Stage 3 activities. Ms. Work has sixteen years of experience in the juvenile justice system. Prior to joining the JCJC, Ms. Work was employed as a counselor at a juvenile sexual offender program, followed by employment in McKean County as a juvenile probation officer, and progressing to a Quality Assurance and Placement Specialist. At the 2015 James E. Anderson Pennsylvania Conference on Juvenile Justice, Ms. Work received the JCJC’s Juvenile Probation Officer of the Year Award. Academically, Ms. Work obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh with a dual major in Administration of Justice and Sociology, and a Master of Science degree in Education from St. Bonaventure University.