FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Midland Attorney appointed Director, Michigan School Justice-Partnership

MIDLAND MI (January 16, 2014) – The Legacy Center for Community Success announced today that Midland attorney, Angela M. Cole, has been appointed Director of the Michigan School-Justice Partnership project. The role was made possible through a $100,000 grant to The Legacy Center from the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation. In this role, Cole will lead a statewide effort to reduce the “school to prison pipeline” in Michigan.

“We are fortunate to have a person of Angela’s experience and background leading this effort,” said Jennifer Heronema, President and CEO of The Legacy Center. “She will be able to identify evidence-based models and best practices and rapidly disseminate them across the statewide network resulting in a broad collective impact.”

A two-day summit was recently held in Ann Arbor of experts on juvenile justice, law enforcement,  juvenile judges, education, mental health, social services and other youth serving agencies across Michigan. Participants from 73 counties heard national and state speakers including Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan Supreme Court Justices Mary Beth Kelly and Bridget M. McCormack, Department of Human Services Director Maura Corrigan, and Department of Education Superintendent Michael Flanagan. Dorene S. Allen, Midland County Probate and Juvenile Judge, the summit chair, indicated that “kids who are suspended or expelled are more likely to drop out altogether, and when they drop out, the likelihood that they’ll get involved in some kind of criminal activity increases dramatically. The statistics are chilling; of Michigan prisoners, 49 percent do not have a high school diploma or a GED. This pattern is so common it is being called the ‘school to prison pipeline’.”

The summit developed a three-year “Michigan School-Justice Partnership” plan with three objectives; keeping kids in school, achieving higher graduation rates, and reducing delinquency. Cole will be leading the effort to define and implement plans to accomplish these objectives. She will be working in collaboration with Home Teams formed in the participating counties to coordinate plan development and to provide implementation assistance and guidance to the county teams.

“I am very confident that with the strong collaboration among the county teams, we will be successful in reducing juvenile delinquency and thereby improving the quality of life for the people of Michigan,” added Allen.

About The Legacy Center

The Legacy Center for Community Success (TLC) was established in 2004 to identify outside-the-classroom barriers to learning and development and collaborate with other organizations to provide interventions that allow all children, youth and families to flourish and thrive. TLC has four organizational units, including Literacy Services, Early Childhood Development, Youth Development and Healthy Families. TLC also specializes in the evaluation of program outcomes. Visit our website (www.tlc4cs.org) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tlc4cs.org) for more information.