Raise the Age Implementation: Successes and Challenges

Kyle graduated from Appalachian State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education. He then attended North Carolina Central University School of Law and obtained his juris doctorate in 2003. Kyle is the Juvenile Court Resource Prosecutor for the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys and has been a career prosecutor since 2005.  He was recognized as a Board-Certified Specialist in State Criminal Law by the North Carolina State Bar in 2009, a certification he still maintains. He is a member of the Criminal Justice and Juvenile Justice and Children’s Rights sections of the North Carolina Bar Association and currently serves as the treasurer for the Criminal Justice section. Kyle is also a member of the Catawba County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council and serves on the Board of Trustees for NCIOLTA with the North Carolina State Bar. Finally, Kyle serves on the Prosecutor Advisory Board for the Juvenile Justice section of the National District Attorneys Association. 

Lisa Weinreb is a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County. She has been a prosecutor for 31 years working in the area of child abuse, domestic violence, gang prosecution, identity theft and insurance fraud and Juvenile Justice. Now retired, at the time of this webinar she was the Chief of the Juvenile Branch of the San Diego District Attorney’s Office.

For 20 years, Lisa Weinreb was an adjunct Professor at California Western School of Law in San Diego where she taught Trial Practice, Advanced Criminal Prosecution, Forensic Evidence, Culture and the Criminal Justice System and White Collar Crime. Ms. Weinreb has instructed for the California District Attorneys Association, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the National District Attorneys Association. Ms. Weinreb received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989 and her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in 1992.

Jennifer Gilroy Ruiz is the Chief of the NYC Law Department’s Family Court Division.  The  Division is the second largest and only prosecutorial Division in the Law Department.  The extraordinary staff members of the Division work 365 days/nights-a-year across all five boroughs of NYC in approximately 30 locations.  The work is constant, because it affects the lives of children, families and community members through Juvenile Justice and Intergovernmental Child Support practice.   Jennifer has served as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn and a Court Attorney in Family Court.  She  initially joined the Law Department in 1990 and returned in 1996. She has held the positions of trial attorney, supervisor and Borough Chief. In 2012, she was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief of the Family Court Division and later to First Deputy Division Chief.  She has extensive experience in leadership, law office management, criminal and juvenile justice and intergovernmental child support.  Through her work, Jennifer has played a key role in advancing all the Division’s major initiatives, including the Crossover Youth Practice Model, Raise the Age, Cross-designation of staff through Memoranda of Understanding with District Attorneys’ offices, the Citywide Firearms Task Force, Restorative Justice, and Community Outreach and Engagement. 

Marcia Hazelhorst has worked in the field of juvenile justice and child welfare for the past 27 years. Marcia currently serves as the Executive Director of the Missouri Juvenile Justice Association (MJJA). Solely dependent upon donations and memberships, MJJA brings together juvenile justice and child welfare system professionals and agencies, interested organizations, private corporations and individuals who are committed to improving the Missouri system for the sake of children and families. Marcia is a Department of Public Safety Peace Officer Standards and Training Program (POST) Specialist Instructor in the areas of Child Abuse and Neglect and Juvenile Justice and Procedures. She is recognized by the Missouri Department of Public Safety as the Juvenile Justice Subject Matter Expert. Marcia is the recipient of the Coalition of Juvenile Justice 2023 Marion Mattingly Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Marcia served as the State Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) Coordinator from 2015-2022 and is a 2013 graduate of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Applied Leadership Network. Marcia worked for the 13th Judicial Circuit, Juvenile Division for seventeen years holding several positions within the Court including Deputy Juvenile Officer, Supervisor and Detention Superintendent.  Marcia Hazelhorst holds a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice from Lincoln University.