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Laura Shipman, Program Director of the Betty K. Marler Center in Colorado, was selected to speak at the Adult Juvenile Female Offender (AJFO) Conference held in Hartford, Connecticut. The AJFO Conference is held during the fall season, selecting a different state and representative organization(s) from that state each year. Participants who attend represent a diverse array of practitioners, state administrators, program directors, women who have been justice involved, advocates and researchers who are experts in the areas of reentry, incarceration, juvenile justice, trauma and gender responsive programming. Many of the participants and speakers are from federal, state and local organizations; with a strong representation from Canada and other countries. Ms. Shipman has been a presenter for the AJFO Conference for over fifteen years.
This October, Ms. Shipman provided training on "Safety from the Inside Out", looking at the culture of safety within a residential program through transition to the community for adolescent female offenders. Key concepts that were illustrated included: understanding how trauma impacts a young woman's perspective of physical, emotional and interpersonal/intrapersonal safety; recognizing signs and symptoms the young woman may display behaviorally when she feels unsafe and possible interventions to utilize; identifying how program practices can potentially compromise a young woman's sense of personal safety; providing a working knowledge of the primary issues that lead young women back into delinquency as well as identifying what has helped young women reclaim themselves and move past their lives of delinquency. The training workshop was interactive and provided participants with evidenced-based interventions. Ms. Shipman was able to share her many years of experience working with young women to provide participants with helpful information and safety tips to apply to their current practices.
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