Fran Stern

As the Center's Special Projects Manager, Fran Stern provides training and technical assistance support to federal and state leadership and program staff in systems-change efforts and guidance on cross-agency collaboration benefiting youth and families.

Ms. Stern has more than a decade of experience providing project management and training and technical assistance coordination focused on juvenile justice, child welfare and community, family, and child needs. She is also experienced at coalition building and facilitating meetings of multidisciplinary groups, including most recently in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, as well as the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and various federal agencies to enhance the capacity building and community engagement among high-poverty communities and on behalf of at-risk young people.

Ms. Stern has researched topics including disproportionate minority contact, educational access, adolescent brain development, mental health, substance abuse, youth aging out of foster care, workforce development, and how different agencies and organizations address these concerns. She also has provided onsite support to the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice and the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention through the Concentration of Federal Efforts contract. Finally, Ms. Stern has supported OJJDP’s mission to engage youth and families more meaningfully by organizing and participating in a variety of listening sessions, supporting the internal family and youth engagement staff training, and supporting the Coordinating Council member agencies’ focus on moving from passive engagement (i.e., requiring grantees to engage) to active, institutionalized engagement.