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Martine Wehr, JD, has been working with youth and issues concerning families for over 25 years. The spectrum of her experience with youth includes teaching elementary school students and incarcerated youth, working with autistic children, developing youth fitness programs, creating and directing programs for at risk youth ,contributing as co author to a guide for juvenile court judges on special education and juvenile delinquency and advocating for developmentally disabled youth and adults who come into contact with the criminal justice system as ether victims, alleged offenders or perpetrators. Collaborating with a wide variety of community partners has led her to create a unique event geared specifically to help parents of teens find and learn about resources in their community. Side by Side: A Partnership in Parenting is a free conference that brings together elected officials, judicial officers, law enforcement agencies, local school districts, social services and health care, community and faith based and non-profit organizations to provide parents of teenagers with the support resources to support them as they raise their teenagers. This event, the first if its kind in scope and quality, stemmed from her and her husband’s own personal challenges seeking resources for their struggling teenage daughter. Ms Wehr is the founder and director of Juvenile Consulting Services, LLC, an organization providing programs for at risk youth, parents and organizations servicing those populations. Her signature program, Youth and the Law, a juvenile diversion program provides legal awareness education and critical decision making skills to youth along with parenting education focused on parenting the challenging adolescent. In addition, she is a Certified Anger Management Professional for adolescents and adults and a Parent Educator with the AJNovick Group. She is the co-author, with Ari Novick, PhD of a new parenting program, Parenting in the Twenty-first Century: 10 Tools for Better Parenting”. For the past five years, she has worked with delinquent youth providing diversion programs, co-founding and directing DECISIONS, a legal awareness program for juveniles and their parents. In addition, she has presented drug and alcohol educational programs for first time juvenile offenders. Her dedication to youth is reflected in not only her work experience, but her volunteer work, educational achievements and personal values. In addition, Ms Wehr has made numerous presentations focused on issues related to youth to a variety of youth related organizations. Topics include: Motivating Students for Life, Addressing Substance Abuse in Teens, Juvenile Violence, Bullying, Law Enforcement Partnership with Community Resources to Help Youth and Parents and Diversion Programs for Youth. Organizations served include Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, YMCA, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Whittier Law School Center for Children’s Rights and Capistrano Unified School District. She has served as a volunteer with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) and has been a volunteer with the Orange County Probation department since 2003, being nominated for volunteer of the year in 2006. She has provided incarcerated youth with inspirational guest speakers, educational field trips and opera performances, exposing detained youth to the arts and alternative pro-social activities. Ms. Wehr is also a regular mentor for the wards. In addition, she has created and provided a street law program to several alternative high schools, teaching at risk youth the juvenile justice system, history of law and the consequences of criminal activity. She has also volunteered with the Foundation of the Junior Blind, Crime Survivors and Trauma Intervention Programs (TIP).
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Ms Wehr earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Social Behavior, Cum Laud, from the University of California, Irvine with an emphasis in Child Development. She received her Juris Doctor from Whittier Law School as a fellow at the Center for Children’s Rights. As part of her legal education, she was an intern with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Juvenile Services Bureau and three Orange County Superior Court juvenile court judges. She is also a contributing author to the Orange County Juvenile Court Judges Special Education Resource Book and has written Affluence as a Risk Factor for Juvenile Delinquency. During her law school experience she developed symposia at Whittier Law School focusing on juvenile delinquency and local intervention programs. She has also developed the Children’s Book Drive for Whittier Law School and the Laguna Niguel Chamber of Commerce providing books to children who appear in juvenile court. Ms Wehr’s passion for helping youth and families have been an integral part of her life. Her belief that children are always worth our best efforts are reflected in her tireless efforts to support youth and families in our community. She enjoys life with her husband, Dana, in Laguna Niguel. Their adult daughter, Hannah, is a current UCI student, and Martine is pleased to say, they all survived the turbulent waters of adolescence! She is a member of the California Crime Prevention Officer’s Association, the Laguna Niguel Chamber of Commerce and a board member for the Bogifit Foundation, an organization dedicated to the health and fitness of youth. |
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