April 18, 2023: Deputy Chief Probation Officer, Brad Michnevich, presented at the Sonoma County Family, Youth & Children’s Services and Juvenile Probation County Self-Assessment launch event. This event begins the process, required every five years of assessing ways to improve services for achieving safety, permanency and well-being for families, youth and children. The event was just the starting point of offering community members and service providers a way to express what they feel is working well and what changes are needed in order to best meet the needs of families, youth and children served.

Mr. Michnevich spoke to improvements made in Juvenile Probation Services that have greatly reduced the number of youth requiring out of home placement. Currently, Sonoma County Probation only has four youth in out of home placement. However, he also highlighted some disparities in the juvenile justice system regarding the over representation of youth of color in the system. He expressed hope in addressing the disparities through this system improvement process and working with the many program providers and stakeholders that were present for the launch event.

Joining Mr. Michnevich at the event, helping with translation services, leading focus groups, and offering expertise and insight, were several additional Probation employees, including Kris Hoyer, Bridget Beck, Cynthia Ricci, Scott Dipman, Ana Saldana, Darrin Holm, Haunani Pakaki, Iris Olvera, and Vanessa Fuchs