Transforming Juvenile Probation initiative underway in Hinds County

Transforming Juvenile Probation initiative underway in Hinds County

September 29, 2026

The Hinds County Youth Court recently gathered professionals who work with children and youth to discuss probation and diversion practices focused on supporting and encouraging young people.

About 50 people attended a Sept. 25 gathering at the SPACE Youth Diversion and Enrichment Center at the Jackson Medical Mall. Hinds County Court Judge Carlyn Hicks, who presides over Youth Court, organized the gathering to kick off what is expected to be a year-long effort aimed at transforming probation and diversion practices.

The Georgetown University Center for Youth Justice and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are providing consultation and technical assistance for the Transforming Juvenile Probation program. The goal is to guide and support an effort to transform system-wide approaches to juvenile probation. The work includes evaluation of current probation and diversion processes, collaboration across disciplines, identification of opportunities for change, and creation and implementation of an action plan.

Meeting participants included Hinds County Youth Court officials; law enforcement officers from Jackson, Byram and Bolton; Jackson Public Schools dropout prevention and truancy officers; Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services staff; Canopy Children’s Solutions staff; diversion program providers; juvenile prosecutors and public defenders; and others who work in the juvenile justice system.

Dante Green is a program associate with the non-profit Annie E. Casey Foundation. “In order for any real change to be sustained, we need all people at the table,” said Green.

Yumari Martinez, Executive Director of Catalyze Justice, said that even when programs divert youth from detention, a disproportionate percentage of Black youth are detained. He said that programs to address diversion must address racial disparity.

Judge Hicks said that the approach for probation services is more about coaching youth toward better behavior and less about refereeing their mistakes. “We don’t want to just hear from them when things are going wrong,” she said.

Judge Hicks has worked to identify opportunities to divert youth from the court system with support from community based programs including the Hinds County Children’s Coalition, Living with Purpose, Strong Arms Mississippi, Operation Good and others.

A year ago, the nonprofit Hinds County Children’s Coalition opened the SPACE Youth Diversion and Enrichment Center at the Jackson Medical Mall. The center offers tutoring, GED test preparation, job readiness and skill development, mental health services, mentoring and enrichment experiences.

Parent Marco Jackson talked about his son’s transformation after he came under the jurisdiction of the Hinds County Youth Court. His son was facing expulsion from school, but people who worked with the youth kept him on track with his education. At the end, “I saw a child that I had never seen before. He was able to come out and be really productive.”

Green said, “These young people need people who will walk alongside them.”

John Knight, Director of the nonprofit Living With Purpose, works with troubled inner-city youth to divert them from detention and help them find paths to success. Living with Purpose, founded by people who have faced challenges of poverty and involvement in the criminal justice system, offers mentoring and leadership development, education and workforce development, behavioral health and family support, and enrichment and prevention programs.

“Our kids can be saved,” Knight said. “We don’t throw away kids. We’ve got to show them by pouring into them, even when they mess up.”

Meeting participants broke up into small groups to identify some the obstacles they face. Some of the barriers they identified include:
•truancy and chronic absenteeism;
•lack of communication among government officials and community organizations;
•lack of resources and lack of information about existing resources;
•lack of transportation to access resources and services;
•mental health stigma;
•negative public perception of law enforcement;
•parental apathy.

Lack of resources resonated through the discussions, for some of the service providers as well as the people in poverty who need services. And sometimes, there’s a communications gap in which people needing the resources don’t realize there’s an organization ready to provide them. One woman at the meeting gave an example of a young girl who didn’t go to school because she didn’t have clean clothes. Someone directed the parent to a clothes closet stocked by Lanier High School Alumni.

Truancy involves parents and children. Stephen Johnson, Jackson Public Schools Assistant Director of Enrollment Strategy and Data Systems, said that when the school term starts, some parents don’t make their children go to school, and that escalates to chronic absenteeism.

Bolton Police Chief Ve’Nesha Blackmon, also a lieutenant with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office, said officers must strive to be role models for youth. She also said that good behavior starts at home. “It’s not a teacher’s job to raise your child. It takes everyone doing your part.”

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