[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15937]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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           RECOGNIZING COMPREHENSIVE JUVENILE SERVICES, INC.

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize an 
organization that is committed to redirecting the lives of youth and 
their families in western Arkansas. Comprehensive Juvenile Services, 
Inc., of Fort Smith, AR, helps youth who experience difficulty within 
their families, have problems in school, or face other challenges that 
result in them being at risk of or referred to the juvenile justice 
system. Comprehensive Juvenile Services is celebrating 40 years of 
incredible, invaluable service to the community, and I want to 
congratulate them on this milestone.
  Incorporated in 1976, Comprehensive Juvenile Services is a private, 
nonprofit community-based youth services agency. It serves 1,000 youth 
each year in Sebastian, Crawford, Franklin, Logan, Scott, Polk, and 
Montgomery Counties. CJS is supported by and receives guidance from 
community leaders as it seeks to help children and youth who are 
susceptible to delinquency or have encountered legal problems and need 
positive influences to help get back on track toward a happy and 
successful adolescence.
  CJS provides support to these children and their families in a 
variety of ways. It employs caseworkers to assess a youth's individual 
problems and develop case plans, provides aftercare to those in custody 
of the Department of Youth Services, offers one-on-one mentoring 
opportunities, operates an emergency shelter for at-risk youth, and 
features other programs including treatment for major behavioral 
problems, mental health assessments, and therapy and parenting classes.
  The commitment that CJS has demonstrated for youth in western 
Arkansas is inspiring. The men and women of the agency put their hearts 
and souls into helping children and teens improve their situations and 
strive for better outcomes at home, at school, and in life generally. 
In one of many success stories, a former client named Sherry went 
through a difficult adoption where she experienced major conflict with 
her adopted family. Through the help of Community Juvenile Services, 
Sherry completed a program at the Girls Shelter of Fort Smith and is 
now a Department of Child and Family Services caseworker herself, 
advocating for children and helping to make a difference in their lives 
the same way that CJS did in hers.
  I am so proud of the work that Comprehensive Juvenile Services has 
done over the past 40 years. They truly are changing lives, one child 
at a time. I want to congratulate everyone involved with CJS on a job 
well done, and I look forward to hearing many more success stories in 
the years to come.

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