Bio
Scott Bernard Peterson
Scott.Peterson@GlobalYouthJustice.org
Scott Bernard Peterson is the leading authority around the globe on juvenile justice programs commonly referred to as youth court, teen court, peer court, student court, and youth peer panel. For almost two decades now, Mr. Peterson has successfully championed the global youth justice movement to historic heights in America and increasingly around the globe. Mr. Peterson currently serves in a number of capacities to include president and founder of Global Youth Justice, LLC and as a consultant/contractor on number of projects with local, national and international organizations.
Mr. Peterson’s efforts to advance the global youth justice movement have earned him numerous prestigious national awards such as the 2003 Paul F. Chapman Award from the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice and the 2006 Lewis Wickes Hine Award from the National Child Labor Committee. Mr. Peterson has been published on the subject of global youth justice programs in professional journals published by National Juvenile Detention Association, American Correctional Association, Council of State Governments, Reclaiming Children and Youth International, and “Law Now: Relating Life to Law in Canada” among numerous others. Scott Peterson’s achievements and career in championing the global youth justice movement are now profiled in both the 2008 University textbook from Prentice Hall titled “Corrections in the United States: A Contemporary Perspective” and in the upcoming College textbook titled “Juvenile Justice in America”, the 6th Edition from Prentice Hall in 2010.
Mr. Peterson began his public service career in his home state of New York immediately after graduating from the State University of New York at Buffalo with a degree in Public Policy and Administration in 1991. Mr. Peterson graduated in June and began helping to open a new homeless youth shelter in July of that same year. After the homeless youth shelter was operational and serving the community, Scott then got to work on leading a community coalition to establish a new innovative juvenile justice program called “youth court” in 1993. Scott worked full-time at the Lewis A. Swyer Homeless Youth Shelter for three years and then full-time at the Colonie Youth Court for three years. New York State’s popular three term Governor George E. Pataki presented Scott with a New York State citation, flag of the Empire State flown over the NYS State Capitol, and he appointed Scott to a statewide criminal justice appointment in appreciation of Scott’s public service contributions to New York. Mr. Peterson also received an American flag flown over the United States Capitol from Congressman Michael R. McNulty in recognition of his civic and service contributions to New York – the Empire State.
After six years of public service in New York, Mr. Peterson relocated to Washington, D.C. at the age of 27 to begin his next public service career in the Executive Branch of the United States Government, where he would work for more than a decade at the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) within the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). During this decade of federal service Scott would successfully advocate for an unprecedented $10 million dollars in federal funding from six different federal agencies for purposes of advancing the youth justice movement in America. During this time, Scott also managed and developed high profile juvenile justice programs across the United States totaling more than $250 million dollars in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Mr. Peterson worked for almost eleven (11) years at the USDOJ in the National Training and Technical Assistance Division, State Relations and Assistance Division, and Demonstration Programs Division. Mr. Peterson began federal service in 1997 and left federal service in 2008 at the age of 38.
Mr. Peterson served as a senior advisor to both the United Nations and UNICEF on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. He is the recipient of Public Service Awards from the United States Attorney’s Office in 1997 and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in both 2006 and 2008. Mr. Peterson graduated from the prestigious Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Citizen Academy in May of 2007. Scott represented the United States Government at the historic “2002 Worldwide Special Session on Children: A 10 Year Global Summit” where he organized a joint American and Afghanistan Session on “youth court” and “children incarcerated with adult criminals” for more than 400 world leaders and policy makers. Mr. Peterson has worked on global youth justice projects with the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Netherlands, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Native American and Alaskan Native Tribes and Councils, and the Iraq Ministry for Youth Sports and Recreation among others.
Mr. Peterson led the effort to bring global superstar and philanthropist Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Washington, D.C. and he helped expand this early childhood literacy and reading program to numerous new communities throughout Alaska. In addition to Dolly Parton, Mr. Peterson has met and been photographed with historical figures such as Janet Reno and Sandra Day O’Connor, the first women in America to ever serve as U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Mr. Peterson is the recipient of the Lewis A. Swyer Award for his efforts to improve the lives of runaway, homeless and throwaway youth and he received the President’s Award for his efforts to implement new and maintain existing essential services for low-income seniors in New York State.
Scott B. Peterson was interviewed on ABC’s Worldwide News in June of 2008 by nine (9) time Emmy award winning news journalist Brian Ross. More than 10 million people watched iconic news journalist Brian Ross interview Scott, as the whistleblower in the federal grant making scandal at the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Peterson took an inconvenient stand against the federal government and exposed the cronyism, public deception, fraud, and abuse taking place at the U.S. Department of Justice by high ranking Presidential appointees who were misappropriating tens of millions of tax payer dollars intended for fair competition to benefit our most vulnerable children and youth. The announced competition turned out to be anything but fair for the more than 500 plus local, state and national organizations that submitted applications for tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Peterson’s actions led to both House and Senate investigations and hearings and an Office of the Inspector General Investigation. Mr. Peterson plans to do much more in the coming years to improve the integrity and transparency of competitions for federal taxpayer funds to include lobbying for full disclosure on the scores and rankings of all applicants and other freedom of information disclosures that increase transparency in government.
Global Youth Justice, LLC and Www.GlobalYouthJustice.org were launched in 2009 by Mr. Peterson at the age of 39. They are the latest of more than one hundred and fifty (150) initiatives Mr. Peterson has spearheaded to advance the Global Youth Justice Movement since 1993. A record 1,200 of these programs are now operational on several continents around the globe. A staggering 250,000 youth are now involved each year in these local youth justice programs to include both those youth referred for minor crimes and offenses and their peers who are volunteering to act as youth judge, juror, attorney on these real juvenile crimes, violations, and/or offenses.
Scott has served as a speaker and trainer at more than 225 local, state, national and international conferences and events. Mr. Peterson has visited more than 100 local youth court, teen court, peer court, student court and youth peer panels in more than forty (40) states on three continents. Mr. Peterson has spoken at more than a dozen state youth and teen court association conferences to include Colorado, California, Washington, Alaska, Tennessee, South Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and others. Scott Peterson chaired the national committee to establish the National Association of Youth Courts, Inc. in 2007. Scott was invited as leading authority on global youth just programs to speak at and participate in the historic launch of the first global youth justice program in Europe in 2007. In Europe, these programs are called “peer panel” and the first one was launched in Preston, England in September of 2007. Several new “peer panels” have already been established in Europe, and several others are in various stages of development, as the Global Youth Justice Movement takes hold on another continent.
Mr. Peterson served as the National Director for Criminal and Juvenile Justice at YouthBuild USA and in just one (1) year he secured them their largest ever-competitive federal grant. In September 2009, United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced YouthBuild USA would receive a $9 million dollar competitive juvenile justice mentoring grant from Scott’s former employer - the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention/United States Department of Justice. In 2009, Scott also had the lead on writing and preparing yet another successful federal grant that lead to the launching of the Corporation for National and Community Service and YouthBuild USA Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) national project that would initially deploy more than 100 adult volunteers to work in low income and distressed communities where local YouthBuild programs are striving to break the cycle of poverty. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Washington, DC presented Scott B. Peterson with their “Community Outreach Award” in September of 2009.
In addition to serving as president and founder of Global Youth Justice, LLC and as a consultant and contractor on a number of projects, Scott is busy on a number of other fronts. In 2009, he served as a consultant for the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, Global Issues Resource Center and the Corporation for National and Community Service among others. He also serves on the federal mentoring council at the Corporation for National and Community Service; as an expert consultant to the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice in Switzerland; is a member of the National Association of Peer Programs Professionals and the Coalition for Juvenile Justice; and he is steadfast and stronger than ever in his resolve to further advance the Global Youth Justice Movement here in America and increasingly around the globe. Scott’s latest and most ambitious plans now involve the transition of his Global Youth Justice, LLC to become an International Non-Profit Organization (NGO) not later than June 30, 2011.
Scott currently resides in Massachusetts and part-time in New York. He can be reached at Scott.Peterson@GlobalYouthJustice.org. Visit Scott Peterson’s new www.GlobalYouthJustice.org and join the more than 10,000 adults and youth from around the globe already subscribed to the upcoming TheMonthlyNews@GlobalYouthJustice.org from his new Global Youth Justice, LLC.