Juveniles in Court & Available for Adoption

Guests Judge Troy Braswell and Project Zero Executive Director Christie Erwin. 

If you would like to explore adoption visit https://theprojectzero.org/index.php 

Emmy award winning film maker Nathan Willis is a long time partner with Project Zero to help find waiting children the right forever home. 
https://nathanwillisfilms.com/about 
https://www.youtube.com/@ProjectZero1/videos

Transcript

00;00;03;06 - 00;00;25;11
Judge Troy Braswell
Yeah, I get asked all the time, and I'm glad you asked. What's the number one thing that makes the biggest difference in a kid that comes to your court? And I would say it's a parent that decides I've got a parent. I can't keep doing things. The same way that we've been doing them. And I have accountability and responsibility through that.

00;00;25;14 - 00;00;33;29
Judge Troy Braswell
Once that happens, get me out of the way. I serve no purpose because you have that. You don't need a court.

00;00;34;02 - 00;00;39;09
Narrator
This is season three of the Smart Justice Podcast. A Chance at Life.

00;00;39;12 - 00;00;45;25
Paul Chapman
Crime and punishment are hot topics. Are there solutions different than what we're hearing about at a national level?

00;00;45;26 - 00;00;50;19
Judge Tjuana Bryd Manning
Kids find themselves just struggling to survive, doing the best they can.

00;00;50;22 - 00;00;56;11
Paul Chapman
There is a different way to approach justice that has a better return on investment.

00;00;56;13 - 00;00;57;03
Misha Martin
We don't want.

00;00;57;03 - 00;01;02;08
Misha Martin
People to be dependent. We want to help them get to stability.

00;01;02;11 - 00;01;08;05
Paul Chapman
That seems to strengthen both law enforcement and courts.

00;01;08;07 - 00;01;11;17
Jerome Strickland
The number one goal in most cases, we want reunifications.

00;01;11;17 - 00;01;19;04
Paul Chapman
And tie that together with community resources and then track the impact to communities and better outcomes.

00;01;19;11 - 00;01;21;16
Secretary Kristi Putnam
The best place for a child who's in our.

00;01;21;16 - 00;01;22;28
Secretary Kristi Putnam
Foster care system is with a.

00;01;22;28 - 00;01;23;12
Secretary Kristi Putnam
Family.

00;01;23;18 - 00;01;27;10
Paul Chapman
And we're calling this approach Smart Justice.

00;01;27;12 - 00;01;45;28
Narrator
Smart Justice is a work of Restore Hope and partner organizations. Restore Hope is a software and services organization that helps communities achieve better outcomes for justice and child welfare efforts. Smart justice is focused on optimizing the system by improving the relationships among its parts.

00;01;46;01 - 00;01;48;21
Music
A chance in life.

00;01;48;23 - 00;02;21;23
Paul Chapman
Welcome back to Season three of Smart Justice A Chance at Life, where we're talking about the child welfare system. And in this episode, we're going to talk very particularly about youth who are in the legal system. And then also when things don't go well, if they've been placed into foster care. So, Andrew, we know that it is very difficult on children, especially as a start to age. They’re youth.

00;02;21;23 - 00;02;43;24
Paul Chapman
They're teenagers, they're aging out. And many times those children can actually enter the legal system where they've got issues with truancy, other behavior problems, or even committing some crimes. If you're in the system as a youth, what perspective outcomes look like for that individual?

00;02;43;26 - 00;03;08;16
Dr. Andrew Baker
The stats aren't good. I mean, they're just whether in our state or nationwide, for a kid over the age of 12, and then if that kid is to stay in care all the way through the time in which they can age out. Obviously being able to age out and emancipate yourself at 18, which many do, that even though they don't necessarily have the support and the structures in place.

00;03;08;18 - 00;03;28;07
Dr. Andrew Baker
You have some organizations who are doing great work in trying to help Immerse Arkansas being one of them and can't say enough good about what they're trying to do. Timothy Hill Ranch is another one because it's just really, really difficult and.

00;03;28;10 - 00;03;30;00
Paul Chapman
It's a hard time in life anyway.

00;03;30;00 - 00;03;31;00
Dr. Andrew Baker
It's a hard time.

00;03;31;07 - 00;03;32;00
Paul Chapman
To raise kids.

00;03;32;00 - 00;03;51;29
Dr. Andrew Baker
It's it's a hard time to be a teenager in our country. Let's just be honest. And people are like, well, but bear in mind that, you know, back in your day look nothing like today. These little things right here change and everything changes. Everything. And so, you know, one of the pieces of it is it is really hard.

00;03;52;01 - 00;04;11;00
Dr. Andrew Baker
And I am constantly motivated in working with kids who are over the age of 12 that find themselves in the system to just see, can we help you build some resilience? Can we help you have some wins, whatever that might look like? You know...

00;04;11;00 - 00;04;24;25
Paul Chapman
It really goes to the chance at life. I mean, if you're in the system at 12 and above, then your future outlook is is pretty bleak. Doesn't mean that you're doomed, but the statistical outcomes are not good.

00;04;24;27 - 00;04;47;12
Dr. Andrew Baker
Well, you know, for me, it's very personal. I have the privilege of connecting with the young man who was in the system. We actually served on a panel together for DCFS at a training event where all the supervisors across the state who were brought together and I was supposed to be on that panel talking about foster care, I mean, talking about this from a foster parent perspective.

00;04;47;14 - 00;05;15;00
Dr. Andrew Baker
And he was on the panel talking about it from the kid perspective and being a kid and... Articulate, oh, my word, was he articulate unbelievably articulate, was already serving. I mean, he was he was beating the odds in every way. And in passing, he said his dream was to become a translator for the United Nations. And I was going to be leaving the country to go to Central America. Thanks to a lot of people jumping through a whole lot of hoops

00;05;15;03 - 00;05;41;06
Dr. Andrew Baker
he got to board a plane with me and went and was my translator in Nicaragua and just great and just I can't I can't say enough. But, you know, he lost his life in returning to the streets and got the wrong place at the wrong time as people would say. It wasn't something that he did. I mean, all of that has now come to public light kind of what happened in his situation.

00;05;41;06 - 00;06;10;14
Dr. Andrew Baker
And again, he was unbelievable and doing it right. But the system that he found, the community he found himself in, it wasn't it wasn't going to happen. People hear the the negative negative. Man, the love I got to experience with that dude and I wish he was still here. I was in Nicaragua this summer and somebody reminded me and they wanted to know where my friend was.

00;06;10;14 - 00;06;34;08
Dr. Andrew Baker
And yeah, you know, I wish that whole situation was different. Would I... if I could go back in that moment when we first met, would I do it again? I would do everything we did again. Again, the stats for a kid over the age of 12 are... they're not good. They're hard. It's another level when you start talking about teens, it's another level.

00;06;34;08 - 00;07;02;26
Dr. Andrew Baker
When you start talking about the judicial system in regards to juveniles, we get some kids who've done some heinous stuff. There's no two ways around it. And I'm not going to be a person to try to make the wrong that they've done right. That's not the answer. We've had some kids that have seen some really, really bad stuff, and the state is in a position that we we have to take care of them.

00;07;02;28 - 00;07;10;18
Dr. Andrew Baker
They're not a problem to be solved. They're a person to be cared for. There's a big difference there.

00;07;10;20 - 00;07;43;04
Paul Chapman
You know, I really kind of view that as a real opportunity. The juvenile justice system is an opportunity that when a kid starts to to get in trouble and we're not locking them up, but they're in court, that's a real opportunity to intervene in a way that that prevents the likely future victims adult crime, locked up for a long times and then and then getting into that particular return, which is not good statistically on recidivism and kind of outcomes.

00;07;43;07 - 00;08;04;26
Paul Chapman
So we had the opportunity to go meet with a very innovative judge, a juvenile judge in the state of Arkansas, Judge Troy Braswell in Faulkner County, and he has had some really incredible outcomes in that county for youth and juveniles that are in his court.

00;08;04;29 - 00;08;07;14
Paul Chapman
So, Judge, tell me about the district you cover.

00;08;07;17 - 00;08;20;15
Judge Troy Braswell
Sure. So my name is Troy Braswell. I have the honor of being a circuit judge in the 20th judicial district. That covers Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy County. So I've got Court in Conway, Clinton and all the way up to Marshall.

00;08;20;19 - 00;08;22;15
Paul Chapman
And what kind of cases are you covering?

00;08;22;16 - 00;08;34;23
Judge Troy Braswell
Sure. So in all three counties, I handle our juvenile delinquency cases. I handle our juvenile FINS cases, which can be truancy as well. And then in Faulkner County, I handle 50% of the adult criminal docket.

00;08;34;25 - 00;08;38;27
Paul Chapman
And you also serve on the Child Commission. What is?

00;08;38;29 - 00;08;47;02
Judge Troy Braswell
I'm currently on the Arkansas Supreme Court Commission for Youth and Families. I was previously the chair of the Youth Justice Reform Board for the State of Arkansas.

00;08;47;03 - 00;09;09;18
Paul Chapman
You know, in this issue of Smart Justice, we're really kind of exploring how would we prevent individuals from coming into foster care if kids are in care? How is it that we come around that family and some kind of support and maybe increase the opportunities for reunification and afterwards? What does support look like? So.

00;09;09;20 - 00;09;27;23
Judge Troy Braswell
You know, as you mentioned, it all really goes hand in hand. And so a case may start out where a kid is not in the foster care system and in the middle of the case or at the end of the case, that may end up being something that that happens. And we obviously get kids that come into court that are currently in the foster care system.

00;09;27;28 - 00;10;02;22
Judge Troy Braswell
One thing that's important to me is that every case is different. And I think for a long time in juvenile court, it's been a cookie cutter approach. And what we noticed is it was really kind of already predetermined what the outcome was going to be based solely on the offense that they were in court for. And so I got a sheet of paper that had listed out kind of the main juvenile offenses that come through the court and out next to it was the most likely outcome of that case, 12 months probation, $250 fine, community service, whatever.

00;10;02;24 - 00;10;25;29
Judge Troy Braswell
And that really stuck out to me. We're telling kids before they even come see the judge, hey, it's a theft of property. This is the most likely outcome that you're going to get. And we really missed the boat on that because as you know, they're all different. They're coming from different homes and different backgrounds and experiences. And we've got to be willing and able to adapt to meet those needs.

00;10;26;02 - 00;10;48;09
Judge Troy Braswell
And so one of the first things that we did is volunteer to be a pilot court for a new risk assessment tool where families come in when they have contact with the court and they sit down just like we are right now, and they're asked questions about kind of their home life, their social background, have they witnessed violence in the home criminal history of the family?

00;10;48;12 - 00;11;12;13
Judge Troy Braswell
They take a mental health assessment, a substance abuse assessment. And then based on that, after the interview is conducted, there's a report that's generated and it really lists what areas of need and what areas of risk does each kid have in a particular case. Forget about why they're in court. It doesn't have any... It's not, hey, why did you steal the candy bar from the gas station?

00;11;12;20 - 00;11;24;29
Judge Troy Braswell
You didn't even talk about that. What do you have going on in your life? That's good. What are areas that we need to work on? And then through that, we try to come up with what I call an individualized court plan.

00;11;25;04 - 00;11;34;23
Paul Chapman
So what are the results now, all these years later that you've kind of implemented that assessment and and holistic look at one of your litigants. What what's happened?

00;11;34;24 - 00;11;54;18
Judge Troy Braswell
Yeah. So one of the things that I noticed first was it's one thing to know what your areas of risk and areas of need are that you don't have anything positive going in the community. You don't have good peer to peer interactions and you may have some substance abuse problems, you may have some self-esteem issues, suffer from depression, anxiety.

00;11;54;21 - 00;12;16;26
Judge Troy Braswell
Now what do we do with it? And so we began to develop community partnerships. UCA is one of our big partners, Deliver Hope here in town, is one of our big partners, United Way and Centennial Bank is one of our partners and just started reaching out to them to say, Hey, what are some things that we can get together on and offer programs and services?

00;12;16;26 - 00;12;38;00
Judge Troy Braswell
And the goal of that is not just to make a kid sit through class. The goal of that is if you have a kid that's in high risk of being a violent offender or high risk of coming back to court, right, then we need to match services to be able to bring that down. Because at the end, when a kid completes probation, we want that risk factor to be lower.

00;12;38;03 - 00;12;40;01
Judge Troy Braswell
That's how we know if we've made a difference.

00;12;40;01 - 00;12;41;02
Paul Chapman
Have you seen that occur.

00;12;41;03 - 00;12;56;23
Judge Troy Braswell
Absolutely. But we were we were mocked by some stakeholders that this would not work. And do you really think that parents that are going through these really bad situations, that they're going to open up to you and kind of show you all their warts, if you will?

00;12;56;26 - 00;13;17;15
Judge Troy Braswell
What we've seen is a lot of times I think our officers are going, okay, you know what? We're good. Like you, you've given us enough. We're good, right? But here's something that I didn't anticipate. I had a young girl in here recently that was involved in a school fight and I take school fights very seriously. It's a very it can be a big problem.

00;13;17;17 - 00;13;43;08
Judge Troy Braswell
And she came in and it surprised me because she looked very sweet. Seventh grade, very meek. She admitted that she was involved in the school fight. And so before I addressed her on that issue, that's when I'm able to stop and read the assessment. Well, here's what I found out. She was in a car with her two siblings when she was about five years old and maybe six.

00;13;43;10 - 00;14;06;29
Judge Troy Braswell
And there was a wreck and her and her siblings made it out of the car, but her mom did not. And they watched her mom burned to death, and the kids at school were making fun of her about her mom. That allowed me to connect with her in a completely different way than for me just to sit up on the bench and point my finger and say, You can't act this way, you can't do this.

00;14;06;29 - 00;14;24;04
Judge Troy Braswell
You know better. And if you don't, this is what's going to happen to you. And I'm confident that when she left the courtroom, she knew what she had done was wrong, that she had been built up and given an opportunity to make it right and to be able to deal with it the next time that it happens. That's where you win.

00;14;24;07 - 00;14;31;29
Judge Troy Braswell
You know, during that time, our recidivism rate has dropped by at least 33%. We've reduced the number of delinquency cases...

00;14;31;29 - 00;14;32;20
Paul Chapman
Over what period of time is that Judge?

00;14;32;21 - 00;14;51;19
Judge Troy Braswell
The first I think... the measurement was the first three years of our use of the risk assessment tool. That's a hard stat to keep up with because you have continual cases coming in. How far do you track them out? There's a lot of different ideas on that. Some people will say all you're doing is being soft with the kids.

00;14;51;26 - 00;15;09;26
Judge Troy Braswell
You're letting them get away with stuff. Okay. Find me one kid in this community that's come in front of me that says I'm soft. You're not going to find them. What I hope that they say is he was smart with the way that he handled me. He listened. He took my case serious. And he implemented these things to help me.

00;15;09;28 - 00;15;38;15
Judge Troy Braswell
That's the key. And so community safety is a huge deal. I was a former prosecutor, juvenile court judge. It matters the decisions that we make in this courtroom. It matters if I let a kid out of jail or not. It matters if I put them in or not. So I keep track of, you know, cases and still to this day, since the use of our tools, there have been 53% fewer delinquency cases filed in Faulkner County during that time period.

00;15;38;18 - 00;16;02;26
Judge Troy Braswell
So this is what it tells me. Yes. We're taking each case individually. Yes. We're not dropping the hammer on every kid. Right. But we're putting these programs in place. And we've seen a decrease in juveniles charged as juveniles in juvenile court. That's paying attention. If the number had spiked and we had a 53% increase. That would tell me we're being soft.

00;16;03;01 - 00;16;05;16
Judge Troy Braswell
This tells me that we're being smart and that's working.

00;16;05;19 - 00;16;20;11
Paul Chapman
It seems like an investment to me. I mean, you're looking at 55% fewer delinquency cases. There's there's the operation of just managing all of that. But also there's what's happening in the community because of that.

00;16;20;13 - 00;16;44;11
Judge Troy Braswell
There is truth to the idea that the more that a kid comes to court, the more likely it is that kid might end up in jail. Once that kid's in jail, the more likely it is that they commit a new offense, which means it's more likely that they go back to jail, which then ultimately means it's more likely that they then do what? They commit an offense as an adult, which makes it more likely that they go to prison.

00;16;44;13 - 00;17;04;29
Judge Troy Braswell
And so we spend a lot of time as a state, rightfully so, addressing the adult system right. If you want to make a huge difference in prison overcrowding, you need to look at juvenile courts across the state of Arkansas. That's where the investment should be. And I'm not saying anything negative about all the things that have been done on the adult side.

00;17;05;00 - 00;17;18;25
Judge Troy Braswell
I get it. But we've got to focus on what's going on in juvenile court and the kids because, I mean, we talk about that's our next generation, that's our future. The same is true for the prison population.

00;17;18;27 - 00;17;20;29
Paul Chapman
Let's talk about the book club that you've started.

00;17;21;00 - 00;17;41;27
Judge Troy Braswell
Absolutely. You know, we've talked a lot about, you know, just having a diverse group of kids that come through our court. And then the Girls Book club has been phenomenal. The only bad part about it is having to actually tell a young lady that she has to go participate in the girls book club. There's a lot of eye rolling.

00;17;41;27 - 00;18;01;24
Judge Troy Braswell
I've been very concerned about eyes being stuck right in the back of their heads. Some huffing. And then you fast forward 60 days, 90 days when the kid comes back and and I'll say, well, how was how is the Girls Book club? And they'll say, well, it's good. Great. What was good about it? Well, really, like the other girls, it was nice being around them.

00;18;01;27 - 00;18;22;07
Judge Troy Braswell
They understood kind of where I come from. They've been through what I've been through. Great. Anything else? Yes, sir. It sparked a period of growth in my life. Right. And so there's like, a big thud, and that was me falling out of my chair, you know, like, who are you? You know? And I asked her. I said you were upset that you came to the program.

00;18;22;09 - 00;18;41;10
Judge Troy Braswell
What? What's the difference? And she said, you know, reading that book, it made me realize that that girl's been through the same stuff that I've been through. And if she can do it, I can do it. And I knew that I had people around me, so I wasn't alone. You know, I can't tell a girl that. I can't provide that to her.

00;18;41;10 - 00;19;02;28
Judge Troy Braswell
I can say nice things and try to build them up, but she's got to get that from someone that's in a similar situation that's going through what she's going through. And so when you bring those girls around each other, they can build each other up. And so that's been really fun. I keep a list of Post-it notes with some of my favorite sayings, and that that's right up there at.

00;19;02;28 - 00;19;04;25
Paul Chapman
Sparked a period of growth.

00;19;04;25 - 00;19;25;28
Judge Troy Braswell
Sparked a period of growth in my life, you know, I use it all the time in court. We partnered with United Way initially for a grant to start a Girl Scout troop. You know, there are there are a lot of kids that get to participate in those type of activities. And there are a lot of kids that don't. And so we said, what would it look like if we did a Girl Scout troop?

00;19;26;00 - 00;19;45;14
Judge Troy Braswell
They say that we were the first court in the southern region of the United States to have a Girl Scout troop for court involved youth. There are now several in the state of Arkansas. There are some in Louisiana, Missouri, Texas. It's cool. And you know what it takes? It takes not being afraid to mess up, not being afraid to fail.

00;19;45;21 - 00;20;18;07
Judge Troy Braswell
And at the end of that Girl Scout troop program, the kids, the girls come into court and they they create a poster and they come up with ideas for new programs for the court. And they get up and they share, Hey, I would like to see a program, one of those programs was an art program. So, you know what we have now we have an art and social program for the girls that are involved in our court that are very artistic.

00;20;18;12 - 00;20;47;14
Judge Troy Braswell
and that that's their outlet. And that came because some 14, 15 year old girl said y'all should offer this. That's something that's really cool to see that to see that happen. And then and then just one more is our juvenile court 101 class. My chief of staff, Leanna Brown, she's amazing. And she said, What's it look like if we provide some education to the kids and their families about just what it's like to be in the justice system right?

00;20;47;14 - 00;21;08;24
Judge Troy Braswell
Like what? What is all this? What's next? How do we prevent from coming back? We have our public defender and prosecutor come in to just explain to the kids, hey, look, this is my role in court. Here's what can happen. Here are things that matter. Here's appropriate courtroom decorum. Providing some of that education piece to kids and families.

00;21;08;27 - 00;21;20;06
Judge Troy Braswell
It's a huge deal and then gives them some some motivation and hopefully some support to say, hey, look, you can do this. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. And there is kind of a light at the end of the tunnel.

00;21;20;08 - 00;21;24;06
Paul Chapman
How many FINS cases do you see on just in a given month or?

00;21;24;08 - 00;21;57;12
Judge Troy Braswell
FINS cases stands for a family in need of services. And so what the statute or the law says about FINS is habitually absent from school - truancy. Habitually absent from home. And then it has this really big catch phrase that says in really any other reason that the court finds that you need services. Right? And so truancy is really the something that is a problem. Since COVID, across the state,

00;21;57;12 - 00;22;19;09
Judge Troy Braswell
and this is one of the biggest conversations that I'm having with other judges across the state is What happened? And, you know, we know what happened. What happened is we shut down our schools, we sent kids home, we put them in a room with a device or multiple devices. They couldn't go anywhere. They couldn't do anything. And they got sucked into their phones and their tablets.

00;22;19;12 - 00;22;46;13
Judge Troy Braswell
And their identity is now based on their interactions on social media. And so we've seen a huge increase, especially in young girls with increased anxiety and depression that just will not go back to school. What can we do collectively to work with families and these kids before they just end up standing in front of a judge for not going to school?

00;22;46;15 - 00;23;02;26
Judge Troy Braswell
Because the reality is, if you send a kid to me, that's missed 15 days in October, right? So August to October, they miss 15 days. Well, when you send that over to me, they're not going to be in front of me the next day. They've got to get in line. And so it may take 30 days before they can come see me.

00;23;02;26 - 00;23;28;00
Judge Troy Braswell
Well, then they missed another five days. So you see it builds very quickly. Right. And so we've got to be able to do something quicker on the front end, hopefully to keep kids out of out of court. The more importantly, keep them in school. And families have to be engaged in that. And I think if they see community coming around them and saying, hey, we're willing to do something different, do you need something to help you, deliquency will go down

00;23;28;03 - 00;23;33;05
Paul Chapman
Are you able to court a court order, anything for the parents, like in the delinquency case?

00;23;33;09 - 00;23;35;15
Paul Chapman
Oh yeah, absolutely.

00;23;35;17 - 00;23;56;11
Judge Troy Braswell
You know, we had a young girl that that came through that it was some truancy. She had a delinquency case and she came in and I ordered the mom to go complete a parenting class. So you think a girl doesn't like a book club? Let me tell you something. Telling a parent they got to go to parenting class is a whole nother level of frustration.

00;23;56;13 - 00;24;23;09
Judge Troy Braswell
We came back to court several months later. The young girl walked in, completely different person. She was on Conway's JROTC program. She had her uniform on. She looked amazing. So proud of her. Great report. I saw the mom sitting back here. She's crying. She's got her hand up. It's like, Oh, here we go, right here we go. Said, Yes, ma'am.

00;24;23;11 - 00;24;48;14
Judge Troy Braswell
You have something you want to say? She's sobbing. You remember when you made me go to that parenting class? Yes, ma'am, I do. I was not happy with you. No, ma'am, you were not. She said, I know. And I went and I pulled up to the place and I sit outside and she said, You know what? I don't want to be here, but if I'm going to have to be here, I'm just I want to find out one thing as a parent.

00;24;48;18 - 00;25;04;11
Judge Troy Braswell
Just one thing. Maybe there's something I don't know. She walked in there and realized for the first time, so she said she was Judge, I didn't even know you could change the password to your WIFI at the house. So you didn't know that? She goes, No.

00;25;04;14 - 00;25;05;29
Judge Troy Braswell
I had no idea.

00;25;06;01 - 00;25;29;07
Judge Troy Braswell
And I said, that's made this difference. And she's like, Oh, yes, it has. Oh, yes, it has. As soon as I get lip, as soon as they don't do what I tell them to do, I change the password and they can't log in. You know what they do? I said, No, ma'am. She goes, They get it right. And she said, So thank you for making me go to the parenting class, because I never would have known that.

00;25;29;09 - 00;25;53;06
Judge Troy Braswell
Thank you for saving my daughter. And I said, No, thank you for being mom. Thank you for saving your daughter. And she said, You know what, Judge? I appreciate that. Here's the other thing. My younger son, who was not in my court, he had been slipping up. And now that bigger sister is taking care of her responsibilities. He's on the straight and narrow.

00;25;53;08 - 00;26;28;05
Judge Troy Braswell
And if he tries to slip up, my daughter is stepping up and being a leader in the home so we can partner if you're willing. If you're willing to partner as a parent, we'll support you. I have a I have... I actually have two people on my staff that have been through the court system in different ways. My intake officer was a mother of a young man that came to my court who I locked up and I remember her because when her kid finally did well, was coming off of probation.

00;26;28;08 - 00;26;50;19
Judge Troy Braswell
She read me a long letter that said, This has been awful as a mom. But now that I've seen how y'all handle cases and how you work with people, I am so thankful that if this was going to happen, it happened in Faulkner County because I don't know how it would happen somewhere else. And I've got my son back.

00;26;50;21 - 00;27;20;11
Judge Troy Braswell
This is somebody that wants to use her life experience that's not been great at times with her kid to come in and say I owe it to get back. And she's she's doing amazing things. And so she came to us and said, hey, I would like to... I would like to start a mom support group. And so she started a mom support group called In the Trenches And, you know, she loves it.

00;27;20;11 - 00;27;28;00
Judge Troy Braswell
I think she gets a little bit too much joy out of it, but she likes it when a mom will come in and say, we don't know what it's like. She's like, oh, yes, I do.

00;27;28;04 - 00;27;28;22
Judge Troy Braswell
You know.

00;27;28;29 - 00;27;51;13
Judge Troy Braswell
Let me tell you, you know what else she does? Every week she goes over to the juvenile detention center and sits down with the kids. Maybe she brings a pizza, maybe she brings some fruit. Kids love the fruit. Some of them never had it before. She was surprised. She doesn’t have to do that. That's not a part of her job responsibilities.

00;27;51;16 - 00;28;11;19
Judge Troy Braswell
That's because she's been a mom. She's been through it. And so we've got people on staff that have been through the system and have said, I wouldn't be better without it. I want to come back and serve. And so we've got to continue to do that.

00;28;11;22 - 00;28;55;24
Paul Chapman
So judges like Judge Troy Braswell are able to intervene and help families and youth exit from the system and get better outcomes. But sometimes when we've taken a child into foster care, even though reunification is a goal, it just doesn't work out that way. And and then the judge issues an order which is called a TPR. They terminate parental rights and therefore what then happens is the legal rights of the parents now are severed and that child becomes available for adoption and the state starts looking for a forever family.

00;28;55;26 - 00;29;02;00
Paul Chapman
And the state has a real partner in that. In Project Zero.

00;29;02;02 - 00;29;32;13
Dr. Andrew Baker
They do. What Christie Erwin and her team have done and Project Zero is it's one of the shining lights, I think, in the Arkansas. Yeah, it is what they've done for our state, more importantly, what they've done for kids. It's challenging because all the majority, if you go to the Project Zero website, the majority of those kids that are there are older and because usually the narrative is people aren't looking to adopt a teenager.

00;29;32;15 - 00;29;53;25
Dr. Andrew Baker
It is a challenge and it's a challenge in our state because we have a lot of kids who are there and they're just looking for a home in what again Christie and her team have has done for kids in the state. And I'm excited that the folks listening to this are going to get to meet Christie and learn a little bit more about Project Zero.

00;29;53;27 - 00;30;19;29
Christie Erwin
Project Zero is a nonprofit with one goal, and that goal is to have zero kids in foster care waiting to be adopted. We have been around for almost 12 years, and by the grace of God and a lot of other factors, we have been able to be a part of over 1200 adoptions. Project Zero was born out of an organization called the Pulaski County Adoption Coalition.

00;30;20;01 - 00;30;48;01
Christie Erwin
The coalition was a grant that was all over the state, and it was people that were passionate about adoption attorneys, adoptive parents, DCFS staff, other organizations. And it was beginning to dwindle. The grant funds were were running out and that time was closing that window. And so we decided to go ahead and become a 501c3. And we started doing a few things to help facilitate adoptions.

00;30;48;04 - 00;31;14;25
Christie Erwin
My husband, Jeff, and I traveled to Austin. I was doing a breakout session at an adoption conference, and a pastor stood up and said that if Christians specifically were doing what we were called to do, what we are called to do, there would be zero kids in foster care waiting to be adopted in the United States. And we got home and I just could not shake that.

00;31;14;25 - 00;31;32;24
Christie Erwin
That just kept reverberating. There would be zero kids in foster care waiting. And so Jeff and I were talking about it and he just out of the blue said, well, you know, the coalition's ending, why don't you just repurpose this and call it Project Zero? And so not many people know that he was the impetus behind that name.

00;31;32;26 - 00;32;01;07
Christie Erwin
But so we did and we went we went to the state and we talked to them and we became very strategic in what we were going to do to accomplish this goal, what our purpose was then, 12 years ago almost is our purpose today. So it's really three pronged. It's raising awareness about the need. So many times people are aware of kids overseas who need to be adopted, and rightly so.

00;32;01;10 - 00;32;26;23
Christie Erwin
They need to be. But they're not as aware that there are around 114,000 kids in the United States of America who today have had their parental rights terminated and who have no family. So that was one of our goals. And we we are kind of known for thinking outside the box within the parameter of the rules. But we we really do push the envelope because we believe our kids are worth that.

00;32;26;26 - 00;32;58;03
Christie Erwin
We do the art gallery. We have professional photographers around our state who come together and use their gifts and talents to capture the hearts and personalities of our kids. And it's just amazing. It's amazing to see the difference between photos I used to see back in the day and photos that come now from a professional photographer who, we are very particular because we want our kids to feel all the value that they that they have.

00;32;58;03 - 00;33;23;23
Christie Erwin
And so we do that. We have three exhibits that travel the state, one in northwest Arkansas, and two that kind of filter out from central Arkansas. And they go to churches and businesses and different events and that kind of thing. And then we have the only online gallery. And so that particular gallery is where people inquire about kids. And so, you know, raising awareness is critical.

00;33;23;26 - 00;33;58;25
Christie Erwin
The second thing is probably even more critical, and that is building hope in waiting kids while they wait. And so to do that, we do all kinds of things. We have connection events every month where we bring waiting kids together with families who have completed the process and who are waiting to adopt. So they come in to a non-threatening environment, be at a ballgame or a we do project prom where we have girls come to buy prom dresses, or whether it's our big events like Candyland Christmas or Disney extravaganza.

00;33;58;28 - 00;34;20;02
Christie Erwin
And we allow them, the kids, just to have fun and to to do what kids do without the heaviness and the weight of what these kiddos are carrying. And in the middle of that, beautiful things happen. In the middle of that, families are born. And then the last thing is to connect and to help connect waiting kids with the right forever families.

00;34;20;05 - 00;34;51;02
Christie Erwin
And I say right because any family is not going to do. That's not what we're looking for. We are looking for families that fit what our kids need and who will allow them to grow, to heal, to bloom, and to blossom into what God has created them to be. And so we work in very close partnership with DCFS. I got a message about this particular 20 something wanting to volunteer at our event next next week.

00;34;51;02 - 00;35;11;29
Christie Erwin
But his name was Kyler and he had been waiting for six years to be adopted. He would come to every single connection event and be glued to my shoulder. He always wanted to know if I had brought him Hot Tamales, Takies and Jungle Juice, which sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't. But he’d tell me. Said Miss Christie,

00;35;11;29 - 00;35;34;26
Christie Erwin
I'm your bodyguard. And I was like, Perfect. You know, I may need one. Perfect. So he would just be right there. I'd be talking to families, he'd be standing there, you know, he had some some special circumstances and and some needs, you know? And I just often, as we would move the gallery, you know, I would just wonder who who is out there that's going to be the right family for Kyler.

00;35;34;28 - 00;35;52;24
Christie Erwin
I think it was about three or four years ago now. We were at the Disney extravaganza and I noticed out of the corner of my eye a man in a military-like flight suit, like he had just come from something and a woman, and they were with Kyler. And I thought, That's so nice that they're hanging out with him and visiting with him.

00;35;52;27 - 00;36;12;04
Christie Erwin
And I was just flipping around through the event and kept noticing that they were still together. And I saw them sitting on the ground eating lunch together. And I thought, this is interesting. And I couldn't wait to get to our little mailbox that has all of our inquiries in it at the end of the event to see if his name was anywhere on there.

00;36;12;07 - 00;36;40;07
Christie Erwin
And I got home and in the exhaustion of the day, I just picked up those forms and just started kind of rifling through. And there it was in big letters. Kyler It was the only child that this family had inquired about. And so, I mean, I cannot express the joy that I felt just seeing his name, but there's so much more to it than that because there's a process. They've got to learn about him.

00;36;40;09 - 00;37;02;00
Christie Erwin
And DCFS has got to learn about the family. And so a few weeks down the road, we heard that this family had been selected for Kyler, and there was rejoicing among our ranks and among the adoption specialists that we had worked with for him. And so it was a very slow transition. And he was moved into this family.

00;37;02;02 - 00;37;30;19
Christie Erwin
And the following summer I got to go to court when his adoption was finalized, and the judge asked him, you know, why? Why do you want to be adopted by this family? And he said, Because I've been waiting for them my whole life. And the power of that statement, was not lost on me because, you know, you would think, okay, he's been waiting six years.

00;37;30;22 - 00;37;58;15
Christie Erwin
He comes to events. No one asks about him. You know, he we did a wonderful short film and it was it was awesome. And yet there were not, you know, people standing in line. But yet, God intends us to fight this fight. So if it's six years, if it's six months, I feel the personal weight of that. And I feel like, you know, Kyler deserved that.

00;37;58;17 - 00;38;23;17
Christie Erwin
And so he's in his twenties now and he lives on his own and he has a family. Then we realized that a few years ago, probably about eight or nine years ago, that allowing kids to be seen... Hearing the number of waiting kids, it it moves you, it stirs you seeing their faces can... has literally led to kids being adopted, just seeing a face.

00;38;23;20 - 00;38;52;20
Christie Erwin
But then there's something about giving them a voice that has changed everything radically, changed everything. Because when we give them a voice by shooting short films featuring them, and I think to this point we've shot about 700 short films, we give them the opportunity to share their own truths in their own words and in their own way, and as much or as little as they want to.

00;38;52;23 - 00;39;29;06
Christie Erwin
And it gives them, it gives them hope to be able to do that and to know that someone is listening. Two or three weeks ago when we were doing it, we did a we call it a short film blitz, and we do these weeks often. And I was sitting in the interviews all day and I just, you know, I just said, if every person, if they could sit in on one interview and listen to one child share, we'd be at zero because there's there's no way you can unhear what you've heard or unsee what you've seen.

00;39;29;09 - 00;39;55;14
Christie Erwin
And to see children in tears because they don't have a family. And regardless of what sacrifice that's going to take on the other side of because we're not naive, we know you know, I know personally as an adoptive parent, I know from talking to hundreds of adoptive parents, there is a sacrifice involved. But isn't there always a sacrifice involved in what God calls us to do?

00;39;55;17 - 00;40;05;04
Christie Erwin
And so allowing people to know and have them be equipped to take on what God's called them to do.

00;40;05;06 - 00;40;16;03
Abrianna 
I want to be an attorney for DHS kids. I'm DHS kid, and my attorney fights for me. And I would I like all kids to know someone is.

00;40;16;03 - 00;40;16;19
Abrianna 
fighting for them,

00;40;17;11 - 00;40;52;17
Abrianna 
even if they don't feel like it sometimes. If I had a superpower, I want it to be healing people because a lot of people look okay on the outside, but they're hurting on the inside. And if I could make somebody even for a day feel better, then I would want to do that. Everybody deserves to be loved. I been in foster care for, oh, seven years I think.

00;40;54;11 - 00;41;16;07
Abrianna 
I've done a lot of stuff in the past, but I'm doing good because I've been at group home for a year and that's my longest placement. I want to be adopted because I feel like everybody deserves a family. I would like to be able to stay in one place and it would be like a for sure spot, and there's not a chance.

00;41;16;10 - 00;41;17;17
Abrianna 
That I can just up and leave.

00;41;17;17 - 00;41;22;02
Abrianna 
One day. I'll be there for the rest of my life.

00;41;22;04 - 00;41;46;17
Samuel
I've always liked reading and writing. I write a lot of short stories and a couple poems. I plan on writing a book, fantasy, probably. I think Back to the Future is one of the classic science fiction movies. The person who came up with the idea to have the time machine be in the DeLorean.

00;41;46;17 - 00;42;07;06
Samuel
To me, they're a genius. So my plan is to go to culinary school to be a private chef. I like to cook everything, but I like making shrimp broil. It's shrimp, cornbread, potatoes and sausage all boiled together with Creole seasoning. I've been in.

00;42;07;06 - 00;42;09;17
Samuel
Foster care for.

00;42;09;19 - 00;42;45;14
Samuel
Almost two years now. It's been chaotic and stressful, having to constantly be worried you're going to move around a lot. Not really being able to just, like, fully unpack because you kind of know you're going to have to pack it up again soon anyways. I do want to be adopted that way I can have people in my corner consistently and not be bouncing around all the time. I don't have an ideal family in mind.

00;42;45;14 - 00;43;09;17
Samuel
I do want someone who will, a family who will listen and try to understand and not make assumptions. I would get too settled down and not have to be worried. I would get to have people that I can go to when I need help. Give me advice reassure me

00;43;09;20 - 00;43;16;07
Jaylee
I dream of being adopted. I pray every night that I will find that family.

00;43;16;09 - 00;43;52;20
Jaylee
Yeah. So it's really my dream. I just want to be with good people. I grew up with my family, but it was never a family. I wasn't treated right. I was neglected for most of my life. And I've been in foster care. I've. I've seen a taste of what family can be. And I wanted it so that I would say I want a family to go to Thanksgiving with and to come to Christmas with and decorate Christmas tree.

00;43;52;20 - 00;44;30;10
Judge Tjuana Bryd Manning
I want all those things and I yeah, it's just so beautiful. I see how beautiful family can be and I want one so bad. I would wish that somebody would see this video or meet me at one of the adoption events and and want to inquire about me and learn about me and would be my family. That's what I wish that that right person comes and I know they will, ‘cause.

00;44;30;12 - 00;44;59;12
Trey
I like to go to school, play basketball, run track. I'm on the basketball team. Don't play a certain position right now. We're kind of getting it all set up, practicing. My favorite basketball player is Michael Jordan. I'm part of FBLA and National Honor Society, FBLA. It stands for Future Business Leaders of America. It just helps you to get to know business better just in case you want to pursue that career in the future.

00;44;59;20 - 00;45;34;21
Trey
Yeah, I want to have contracts with businesses and clean them, go between and organize, and I want to be in charge of something and have control over something. National Honor Society. It's a thing you get invited to do If you have a good grade average and good behavior. I'm a very relaxed, calm, chill person, very smart. Adoption is being chosen by somebody being with them permanently.

00;45;34;24 - 00;46;07;04
Trey
Family is the people that surround you, support you, even love you and help you out. If I was to get adopted, it would be like it'd be a stable foundation in order to just grow from there. Just a family that’s supportive and help me be better. Just help me be a better person. If I could have one wish, I would wish to get adopted.

00;46;07;07 - 00;46;20;27
Trey
I think if I had a family, I would definitely increase my chances of being more successful.

00;46;20;29 - 00;46;43;17
Desiree
I would like to be a family health counselor, but first I would like to go to college and get the degrees to become a family health therapist. I would want to be a family health therapist because I've been through a lot, so I want to help people that's been through a lot because I feel like it’s the best thing for me is because I like helping people and being there for people.

00;46;43;17 - 00;47;17;24
Desiree
So I feel like I'll be a really good therapist. I would like to be adopted because I want someone to love me. For me, I would want a family to come in and take me, not hurt me because I've been hurt enough and I would want one to take me in love me, treat me right respect me and I will respect them.

00;47;17;27 - 00;47;42;19
Judge Tjuana Bryd Manning
I want a family. I haven't had one in a long time. I still want my family back, even though they hurt me. I understand they wasn't trying to, but I still just want my family. I want to be part of somebody's family or I want to be a part of my own family. And I don't care how old I am, I don't care.

00;47;42;21 - 00;48;01;19
Judge Tjuana Bryd Manning
And I would love a family to just take me in and love me and not hurt me.

00;48;01;22 - 00;48;21;24
Narrator
Thanks for joining this episode of Smart Justice. If you would like to learn more about Judge Braswell’s court, Christie Erwin and Project Zero, check out the Smart Justice magazine at SmartJustice.org. You'll also find Christie Erwin’s book, The Middle Mom on Amazon, to learn more about her heart for adoption. Join us for our next and final episode of Season three. - There is a Solution.

00;48;23;21 - 00;48;45;24
Narrator
Smart Justice season three hosts are Paul Chapman and Andrew Baker. Special thanks to Nathan Millis films for sharing the Project Zero shorts. Our Season three theme song, A Chance at Life is written and produced by Arkansas artist Jason Truby. Musical credits include “Here with You” by Moments and “Believe in Me” by Moments.

00;48;45;26 - 00;48;48;23
Music
For the first time.

00;48;48;26 - 00;48;53;10
Narrator
Smart Justice is a work of Restore Hope. To learn more visit SmartJustice.org

00;48;53;10 - 00;49;04;02
Music
Two broken pieces made a brand new design and gave this soul

00;49;04;05 - 00;49;05;17
Music
A chance in life.