The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention announced today that William Mitchell College of Law Professor Sarah Deer was selected to be a member of the Attorney General’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence. The task force will identify promising practices, programming, and community strategies used to prevent and respond to children’s exposure to violence.

The Defending Childhood Task Force is comprised of 14 members. Professor Deer, a Native women’s advocate and member of Amnesty International USA’s Native American and Alaska Native Advisory Council, was chosen to join the team based on her advocacy work with intersecting tribal law and victims’ rights.

Over the course of the year, the task force will conduct four public hearings across the country to learn from practitioners, policymakers, advocates, academics, and communities about the extent and nature of the problem of children’s exposure to violence in the U.S., both as victims and as witnesses.

Based on the hearings, a final report will be issued to the Attorney General presenting findings and comprehensive policy recommendations. The report will serve as a blueprint for preventing children’s exposure to violence and for mitigating the negative effects experienced by children exposed to violence across the U.S.

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD) will provide technical assistance to the task force. NCCD promotes just and equitable social systems for individuals, families, and communities through research, public policy, and practice.

For more information about the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, visit www.nccd-crc.org.

For more information about Attorney General Holder’s Defending Childhood initiative, the Defending Childhood Task Force, and the upcoming hearings, visit www.justice.gov/defendingchildhood/.