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Colleen Curtin, Chief Deputy Director
Colleen Curtin joined the Governor’s Office of Gang and Youth Violence Policy (OGYVP) in 2008 and was appointed chief deputy director of the office in January 2011. In partnership with national, state and local stakeholders, she works to recommend state program and policy reforms, including coordinating and increasing the efficiency of state government efforts to address gang and youth violence.
Ms. Curtin brings 16 years of experience working on innovative juvenile justice and crime prevention projects at both the state and local levels. At OGYVP, she has facilitated state and local partners on efforts to implement evidence-based practices, developed a statewide inventory of gang and youth violence programs and funding streams, coordinated annual competitive grant rating processes and established the OGYVP web site.
Prior to joining OGYVP, Ms. Curtin was with the Attorney General’s Crime and Violence Prevention Center from 2002 to 2008, where she staffed the California Community Relations Service. In this role, she worked with schools, law enforcement and community organizations to develop and facilitate the Safe Passage Partnership, a multi-agency collaboration to coordinate safety resources around some of the most dangerous and gang-infested high schools in Los Angeles and other cities.
In 2002, Ms. Curtin was appointed to the Sacramento County Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Commission and served as a commissioner for four years, where she inspected public and private juvenile facilities. She began her career as a probation officer with the Sacramento County Probation Department in 1995, where she managed a community-based diversion program for first-time offenders. Ms. Curtin earned a Bachelor’s degree in Government and Spanish from Saint Mary’s College of California and a Master’s degree in Social Work from California State University, Sacramento.