The Meritorious Service Award was established in 1995 to recognize the important contributions that ABA sections, divisions, and forum committees make to the life and work of the Association. The Award is given to the ABA entity that has sponsored a program, project, or other initiative during the year that is of extraordinary benefit to the profession, the public, and/or the Association.

Spearheaded by James Baird, a partner with the Chicago Law firm of Seyfarth Shaw and a past Chair of the Section, and coordinated by Dr. Diane Stone of the Nancy B. Jefferson School, the project targets the approximately 1 million youths in the United States who must face the traumatic experience of first time incarceration. Many of these youths have committed no crime. They are placed in detention facilities while their cases are processed, or because they have nowhere to live.

To address this problem, the Section created an orientation video to help youths new to the Cook County, Illinois, temporary detention center. The video, a joint project with the Cook County Temporary Juvenile Detention Center, the Nancy B. Jefferson School—the center’s onsite school—and Seyfarth Shaw, explains the procedures, surroundings, and expectations youths will encounter at the Cook County center.

"There is a real need for this type of orientation tool in facilities across the country," Baird said. "Many of the children who come to detention centers are confused and afraid, and some can’t read or fully understand written instructions, so a video becomes a more effective introductory tool."

The video depicts a typical day at the center, including classes, meals, and recreation time, and covers such topics as how to earn and lose privileges and the right to legal assistance. Youths are also informed about staff available to assist them, including doctors, teachers, and counselors.

Although produced for Cook County, Illinois, the Section created the video as a model that other detention centers in the United States could adapt to address a problem of truly national scope. In the next phase of the project, the Section plans to have the videotape translated into Spanish and develop materials that detention centers across the country can use to create their own detainee orientation guidance videos. A limited number of videos are available to detention centers on request. For a copy of the video, or for more information contact, Jackie Baker at 312/988-5652 or e-mail jbaker@staff.abanet.org.

From left to right: ABA Section Officers Conference Chair Dianne Dailey, 2000-01 Section Chair Pat Arey, and ABA President Martha Barnett at the award presentation in Chicago, August 3.

From left to right: Section Chair Pat Arey, Dr. Diane Stone, and Past Section Chair Jim Baird.