Barbara Troolin is the Director of the Special Education Policy Division, which is responsible for providing support, training and technical assistance to educators and other stakeholders in providing service to students with disabilities and their families. Prior to coming to the department, Ms. Troolin served as the Director of Special Services overseeing the areas of special education, Title I, ELL (English Language Learners), health services, homebound instruction, early entrance to kindergarten and other projects at South Washington County Schools. Prior to serving in South Washington County Schools, Ms. Troolin was the Manager of the Monitoring and Compliance Division at MDE. She received her B.S., M.S. and Ed.S. degrees from St. Cloud State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

A discussion of trends both current and future related to juvenile justice including: rates of juveniles entering the system; profile of youth entering the system; the use of evidenced-based practices in working with delinquent youth including the use of out of home placements; the role of Juvenile Detention Alternatives

Dr. Chris Bray is the Deputy Commissioner of Community Services with the Minnesota Department of Corrections.  She has 35+ years working in the criminal justice system including prisons, halfwayhouse/group homes, county  probation, Family Court investigations and recommendations in custody disputes.  Dr. Bray has 20 years in administration supervising probation officers and managing a variety of divisions in two community corrections agencies.  She came to the Minnesota Department of Corrections as Assistant Commissioner in 2003.  After a leave to complete her PhD at the University of Minnesota, she returned to DOC to oversee a Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Initiative.  Dr. Bray's current oversight duties include probation and supervised release throughout the state, Sex Offender risk assessment and community notification, Licensing and Inspection of Jails and juvenile correction/detention facilities; oversight of state subsidy funding to counties; Oversight of all IT functions related to the DOC; and Oversight of Red Wing Correctional Facility for serious, chronic, juvenile offenders.

Kevin Spading is Project Director of The Minnesota Prevention Resource Center, a project of the Minnesota Institute of Public Health (MIPH). He is responsible for overall project management, collaboration with numerous organizations, agencies and community groups working on prevention issues, assessment of prevention-related needs and development of new materials. MPRC provides support to people who work to promote the public health and prevent the problems caused by substance abuse.