John A. Tuell, Director, Child Welfare-Juvenile Justice Systems Integration Initiative jtuell@cwla.org
John A. Tuell serves as the Director for CWLA's Child Welfare-Juvenile Justice Systems Integration Initiative and the CWLA Project Director for the MacArthur Foundation Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice Initiative. Mr. Tuell was appointed to this position in August 2003.
He began his tenure with CWLA in July 2001 after accepting the position of Director of the CWLA Juvenile Justice Division. His current responsibilities include
management and oversight for a national training and technical assistance initiative designed to promote coordinated and integrated child welfare and juvenile justice system on behalf of delinquent youth with previous histories of maltreatment
CWLA management of and participation in the MacArthur Foundation's Models for Change: Systems Reform in Juvenile Justice Initiative, and
oversight for the range of activities and tasks of the CWLA Juvenile Justice Division.
Mr. Tuell has also previously maintained responsibility for a set of core program divisions within the Program Operations center for CWLA. Mr. Tuell developed a four-phase training and technical assistance process to assist state and local jurisdictions in accomplishing this work.
Mr. Tuell has been an author or contributing author to numerous publications and issue briefs that support the work of the Child Welfare - Juvenile Justice Systems Integration Initiative and address other relevant issues impacting the juvenile justice system, including:
Before accepting his position with CWLA, Mr. Tuell served in the U.S. Department of Justice from 1997 to 2001, during which time he was the Deputy Director of the State Relations and Assistance Division in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, providing managerial oversight to grant manager staff, six grant programs, the Comprehensive Strategy for Serious, Chronic, and Violent Offenders Initiative, and the Juvenile Accountability Incentive Block Grant Program.
Mr. Tuell worked in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for 17 years in a variety of practitioner and management capacities, including probation officer, field office probation supervisor, intake officer (handling status offender, delinquency, domestic relations, and abuse and neglect complaints), and an administrator at a 22-bed, residential treatment facility for serious and chronic juvenile offenders.
Mr. Tuell earned his Bachelor of Social Work degree from James Madison University and his Master of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from George Washington University. He is the proud father of two sons, Austin (18) and Zachary (13).
Janet K. Wiig, Director, Juvenile Justice Division, and Senior Consultant jwiig@cwla.org
Since November 2007, Janet Wiig has served as Director of CWLA's Juvenile Justice Division, which provides national leadership and technical assistance to promote integration between the juvenile justice and child welfare systems and to reform juvenile justice.
Janet is responsible for the division's overall operation and administration, which includes the presentation of special programs, model policy and program development, and other initiatives to carry out the division's mission, goals, and objectives.
Janet came to the League as an outside consultant in 2003 and was hired on staff as a senior consultant in 2005. She has more than 25 years' experience with government and nonprofit organizations in the fields of child welfare and juvenile justice. During that time, she has served as Assistant Commissioner and Director of Children's Services at the Minnesota Department of Human Services; Director of the CASA program and a Court Administrator in the Los Angeles Juvenile Court; an Assistant County Attorney in Hennepin County, Minnesota; and Executive Director of the Institute of Criminal Justice at the University of Minnesota Law School.
She has been an advisor, consultant, or board member to several national and state organizations, including the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, the California Children's Lobby, the Children's Law Center of Minnesota, and the New England Resource Center for Children and Families.
Janet's policy and program development expertise has been demonstrated through her work as a researcher, trainer, and author. She is nationally recognized for her pioneering work in the area of very young offenders, having developed a crime prevention initiative to address children younger than 10 who have committed delinquent acts. She is recognized as a leader on the relationship between child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency, having been the principal author of the CWLA publication Guidebook for Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare System Coordination and Integration, to help state and local jurisdictions address that relationship.
Janet is knowledgeable about a variety of juvenile justice and child welfare topics, and her areas of consultation have included program design, policy analysis, caseflow management, best practices review, and multisystem collaboration.
Janet holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Social Work degrees from the University of Minnesota, and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Sorrel Concodora, Program Coordinator, Juvenile Justice Division sconcodora@cwla.org
Sorrel Concodora has served as Program Coordinator for the Juvenile Justice Division at CWLA since July 2007. This position supports and enhances the work of the Juvenile Justice Division, assisting in the development and coordination of the National Juvenile Justice Symposium; The Link, the JJ Division's online quarterly newsletter; and publications promoting the work of the division.
Sorrel's web-based research skills will provide the most current information on topics involving dual jurisdiction youth and help maintain the division's website. She will participate in several national collaborative efforts that advocate sound legislation, policies, and procedures.
Sorrel came to CWLA after receiving her masters in forensic psychology from Marymount University. Sorrel served as an intern in CWLA's mental health program from January to May of 2007, when she revised and edited guidelines to help mental health and substance abuse practitioners assess children in the foster care system. Sorrel received a bachelor of science degree in psychology from the University of Central Florida in 2004. During this time, she gained experience through her volunteer work in women's and homeless shelters by tutoring and providing child care and teaching health and wellness classes.
Sorrel achieved scholastic honors of Delta Epsilon Sigma at Marymount University and was considered a Florida Bright Futures Scholar while attending University of Central Florida.
