Indiana Supreme Court Justice Steve H. David recently received national recognition for his work with children in court. Justice David was presented with the Annie E. Casey Foundation Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Distinguished System Leadership Award. He accepted the award on behalf of the Court family saying, “My role is easy when you have the talented team that we have in Indiana.”
JDAI aims to move low-risk youth from secure detention into community-based alternative programs. The national recognition is the highest award given by the Casey Foundation Juvenile Justice Strategy group to a system stakeholder. The award was presented to Justice David by Gail D. Mumford, senior associate at the Casey Foundation and program manager of the initiative. Justice David credits the success of JDAI to the courts’ collaboration with executive and legislative branch leaders. “Hoosiers are dedicated to helping children. A special thank you goes to my colleagues on the Court, DCS Director Mary Beth Bonaventura, the DOC’s Mike Dempsey, and ICJI’s David Murtaugh. The Legislature and Governor Mike Pence are integral to our success.”