JJAM's 2024 Mid-Winter Conference
Live & In-Person!
March 14-15
Please join us at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort,
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Register for the conference by clicking on the link : JJAM MID-WINTER CONFERENCE PROGRAM REGISTATION (Deadline for registation is 2/23/2024)
Reserve your room now by clicking on the link : MID-WINTER CONFERENCE RESERVATION @ SOARING EAGLE CASINO AND RESORT
Choose the “Book now” tab at the far right top on the home page, change promo code to group code and enter code JJAM31324. You will then need to go to March 2024, and the reserved dates will be highlighted in green, with all other dates showing as unavailable. You can also call 877 232 4532, option #1, and refer to Juvenile Justice Association of Michigan.
Room rates are good until February 21, 2024.
***To be eligible for tax exemption, please fill out and submit this form via fax or email, as stated at the bottom of the form. You will then receive a tax exempt certificate from the Chippewa Indian Tribe. To be tax exempt, the room will need to be paid for by the tax exempt entity (county/state/non-profit credit card or check). SOARING EAGLE TAX EXEMPT FORM
Mid-Winter conference presenters and bio's:
Ron Grooters, (Friday morning presenter)- Juvenile Sex Offender Assessments and Treatment
Ronald Grooters holds a Masters of Social Work Degree from the Grand Valley State University. Prior to receiving his master’s degree, Ronald received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Michigan State University. Early in his career Ronald primarily worked with adolescent sexual abusers (assessment and treatment) while a senior clinician in two residential facilities. In these facilities he became a team leader and provided training and supervision to residential staff and therapists. Ronald has since been working with the Department of Corrections and Office of Community Corrections on an outpatient basis, assessing and treating adult men who have a history of sexual behavior problems. He has specialized testing experience with the ABEL and LOOK Assessment instruments, various risk assessment protocols for men and boys struggling with sexual and non-sexual violence and is certified to provide assessments using the Psychopathy Check List Revised, ABEL Assessment and Look Assessment instruments. Ronald is the director of clinical services through his own private practice at Homeward Bound Therapeutic Services. This agency provides outpatient assessment and treatment services for private referrals and court-ordered clients with sexual behavior problems. He is currently assessing and treating clients both pre and post-conviction in several counties throughout Michigan. Ronald is a clinical member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), and a board member of the Michigan chapter (MI-ATSA) where he had previously served for ten years as president. Overall, he has over 30 plus years in the assessment and treatment of sexual abusers.
Clinton Wirtz, (Friday afternoon presenter)- Sex Offender Registration
Clinton Wirtz is a Juvenile Justice Trainer with MDHHS Office of Workforce Development and Training. He received his BA in Criminal Justice, and has an MA in Psychology. Clinton has been with MDHHS in Juvenile Justice and Children’s Protective Services for 25 years. He currently trains all MDHHS Juvenile Justice Specialists & Juvenile Justice Supervisors, the Michigan Juvenile Justice Assessment System, and assists in training the MDHHS secure juvenile residential facilities at Bay Pines and Shawano Center.
Dr. Jeremy S. Norwood, (Thursday presenter)- Human Trafficking
Dr. Jeremy S. Norwood is currently a Staff Attorney at Legal Services of South-Central Michigan. Prior to his taking a full-time position as an attorney at LSSCM, Jeremy taught Sociology, Global Studies, and Criminal Justice at Spring Arbor University for sixteen years. In addition to his teaching duties, Jeremy served as Chair of the Department of Sociology, as well as Chair of the Academic Senate. For his dissertation at Michigan State University, Jeremy conducted research on labor trafficking in Western Michigan. Upon the conclusion of his doctoral degree, Jeremy, his colleagues, and students began hosting conferences on human trafficking at Spring Arbor University. Jeremy then began doing trainings and workshops for all sorts of professionals -- from dental hygienists to counselors to realtors -- and has conducted over one-hundred trainings in person and virtually over the past ten years. For the majority of those trainings, Jeremy has partnered with Ms. Joyce Dixson-Haskett, a survivor of human trafficking. In addition to conducting trainings on human trafficking, Jeremy has traveled extensively and enjoys spending time with friends and family around the Jackson (MI) area.
Kyler Rilett, MS (Thursday presenter)- Problem Behavior asessments and treatment
Kyler Rilett holds a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology with a specialization in Family Violence, and is currently in the final stages of his clinical internship to complete a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Forensic Counseling. During undergrad, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Criminal Justice Endorsement. Kyler is currently employed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of South Central Michigan where he holds the position of Program Supervisor and Therapist. Prior to these positions, Kyler has also been a Forensic Interview and Victim Advocate while at the Children’s Advocacy Center and still fills in for these roles as needed. Kyler also has prior professional experience as a 911 Dispatcher, a Campus Safety Officer for two separate universities, and as both a Juvenile Detention Officer and Treatment Specialist at the Jackson County Youth Center. Kyler is also a former member of the Jackson County Human Trafficking Task Force. He has experience in presenting and training on the topic of human trafficking and has in-the-field experience of working directly with child and adolescent victims.
Joyce Dixon (Thursday presenter via Zoom) - Human Trafficking Survivor story
Joyce Dixson-Haskett, LMSW, ACSW, SAP is one of the front runners in the fight against “Human Trafficking”. She advocates daily for the freedom and restoration of dignity and value to those affected by this heinous and corrupt system. Joyce is a Survivor of Human Trafficking and has been commissioned by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to sit on the Governor’s Commission for Human Trafficking in the State of Michigan.
She is also a front-runner in the advocacy for children of incarcerated parents. Her clinical model, Levels of Response to Traumatic Events, (LORTE) has been described as “The Most Sensible Approach in Assisting Children with Incarcerated Parents.” More professionals have gone on to say; “There are no known programs, including programs in the OJJDP Model Programs Guide, which deal exclusively with the effects that the incarceration of a parent has on a child and address the core issues as the LORTE model does.”
Joyce holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Michigan and is the founder and owner of Daylily Health LLC in Royal Oak, Michigan; a thriving clinical practice that tackles and defeats mental health problems in the ‘concrete, the abstract and the Spiritual. But more importantly, she was an incarcerated mother, for 17 ½ years. She knows first hand how the incarceration of a parent adversely affects the children. Joyce began fighting for the rights of women who had been battered and abused, and for their children, while she was yet behind bars; and continues to work diligently on behalf of this “elite” population. She currently resides in the Houston, Texas area where Daylily Health 2 is being birthed.
Joyce is the author of: L.O.R.T.E. (Levels of Response to Traumatic Events) A Vital Aid in Serving Children of Incarcerated Parents, IUniverse, Inc., New York, Bloomington; and is published in Women at the Margins: Neglect, Punishment, and Resistance: Figueira-McNonough and Sarri, Haworth Press, 2002; African American Biography, Volume 6, U.X.L, Engelbert, 2000, in addition to numerous articles, speaking engagements and trainings.