by Richard Prior
Staff Writer
All 800 of the conventioneers who have been at the Adam’s Mark Hotel since Sunday would probably be just as happy in another line of work. Maybe happier.
But it won’t happen any time soon.
Participants in the Conference and Training Institute of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ) have been listening to nationally recognized speakers and taking part in workshops and worship services.
Sessions have been offered in cooperation with the National Religious Affairs Association (NRAA).
“We have people here from all over the United States and the entire spectrum of criminal justice,” said Matthew Hamidullah, president of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice. “We have commissioners of paroles boards, prosecutors, correctional officers, members of sheriffs’ departments, chiefs of probation offices.”
Workshops, many of which have been running simultaneously, have dealt with child support and incarceration, community service, Habitat for Humanity’s Prison Partnership, violence in the workplace, domestic violence and “Interrupting the Violence.”
Panels grappled with topics ranging from “Survival Skills for Ethnically Diverse Administrators” to “Street Gangs, Violence, Drugs, Crime and Death — The Writing is on the Wall.”
Participants have also received a videotape entitled “Outside the Walls: A National Snapshot of Community-based Prisoner-Reentry Programs.” The tape includes segments on education and employment, health, housing, family, public safety and faith.
“Our real focus would be in two areas,” said Hamidullah, who is also warden of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Estill, S.C. “First, we’re looking at ways to prevent people from entering the corrections system.
“And then, acknowledging the fact that you’re there, how do we get you out and get you to stay out? Education and jobs are the components. And it’s a front end and back end type of approach.”
The highlight Tuesday was a panel presentation, “The Justice Forum,” by five women working at the top of their professions.
Moderator was Veronica Ballard, vice president of NABCJ and chief of the Cook County (Ill.) Adult Probation Office.
Panelists were Cassandra Chandler, an assistant director in the FBI’s office of public affairs, who is in charge of all FBI training; Vicki Spriggs, executive director of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission; Dr. Maureen Black, a deputy director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; Mary Leftridge Byrd, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections; and Victoria C. Myers, director of the Division of Human Services with the Missouri Department of Corrections.
The forum gave women who are successful in the criminal justice field an opportunity to talk about their experiences and perspectives on leadership. The presentation was less about the differences between males and females than it focused on “the unique and creative management and leadership approaches of women.”
Speakers at Tuesday’s Scholarship Luncheon were Janie L. Jeffers, who was appointed a commissioner at the U.S. Parole Commission by President Clinton in 1999, and Jim Towey, deputy assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Towey grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Florida State University.
The Rev. Dr. Henry Lyons, former president of the National Baptist Convention USA, was the keynote speaker at Wednesday morning’s prayer breakfast. The Rev. Warren H. Dolphus, president of NRAA, was master of ceremonies.
The NRAA has served as “our primary national component,” said Addie L. Richburg, chief strategist for the NABCJ. “Churches are located in the central community. Many are located directly in crime zones. They are probably the most consistently located institution in our country with regards to being at the epicenter.”
The NABCJ last held its conference in Jacksonville in 2002 and boosted President Bush’s Ready for Work initiative. The program pairs inmates with faith-based mentors who help with employment and transitional skills.
Operation New Hope in Jacksonville is a key element in transitional employment, including case management, help with job searches and, in some cases, actually acquiring jobs.
“We have an obligation as an organization to respond to what’s occurring in our country today, with African-Americans being disproportionately numbered in crime and criminal justice consequences,” said Richburg. “We, as as criminal justice professionals, lend our expertise to assist other stakeholders to find ways to decrease the likelihood of crime and facilitate in transition and healing.”
All members of NABCJ and the NRAA are volunteers, she said. At an average estimated value of $16.50 an hour for their services, volunteers donate billions of dollars in in-kind services and experience.
The featured speaker at tonight’s Bennett Cooper Awards Banquet will be Donna L. Brazile, who worked as campaign manager for Gore-Lieberman 2000. She is chair of the Democratic National Committee’s Voting Rights Institute and adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Hamidullah stressed the organization’s drive to educate the public about criminal justice issues.
“We make it a human toll issue — the catastrophic effect on families, the social calamity of crime impacting America,” he said. “It’s not an issue from across the tracks. This is an American issue, just as much as the issue of terrorism.”