Dr. William Barton accepting the Natalie S. Bimel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Leader

Dr. William Barton receives national award for juvenile detetion reform efforts

     Sept. 24, 2008 -  Indiana University School of Social Work Professor William Barton was given a national award Wednesday for his outstanding contributions to juvenile detention reform.

     The award was presented at the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative National Inter-Site Conference at the Marriott Hotel in Indianapolis.

      The announcement of the award at a packed ballroom luncheon caught Dr. Barton by surprise. His shoulders jerked back when he heard his name announced.

    The Natalie S. Bimel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Juvenile Detention Reform by a Community Leader was announced by Bart Lubow, director of the Program for High Risk Youth of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

     Lubow explained Dr. Barton has a long history in juvenile detention reform, having been involved in the Casey Foundation’s first venture in the that field in Broward County, Fla. in the late 1980s.

    “But it is not the length of his career that we honor today,” Lubow explained. “It is the example he has set these past three years as a member of the Indianapolis community who saw fit to deploy his special skills and devote his spare time on behalf of his home town’s detention reform efforts.”

     Dr. Barton helped local juvenile detention officials make sense of its detention patterns and to “design, test and track the results of its new risk assessment instrument,” he added. “This was not work performed as a consultant. It was work performed as a volunteer, as a community member.”

     Lubow cited a letter from Marion Juvenile Court Judge Marilyn Moores in which she noted, “The technical assistance and data analyses contributed by Dr. Barton resulted not only in a risk assessment instrument and new policies and practices, a reduction in the number of children securely detained, the closing of two detention units, and a race-neutral instrument – his work encouraged and inspired us.”

     The judge noted that because of Dr. Barton, “we came to see – at the start of our efforts – that we could redesign a system which protected public safety and which was more fair and less discriminatory.”

     After recovering from his surprise, Dr. Barton accepted the award and spoke of how inspiring it has been to see a diverse group of stakeholders representing all aspects of the system and the community come together to bring about changes in juvenile detention system.

     “I am so proud to be part of the effort here in Indianapolis.”

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