October 2, 1998
Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens
(615) 322-2706
| |
October 2, 1998 Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens (615) 322-2706 |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Andy Shookhoff, who has devoted his career to working with troubled children and families since his days as a Vanderbilt law student, has been named associate director of the Child and Family Policy Center at the Institute for Public Policy Studies (VIPPS).
"My return to the University is simply the continuation of a professional and personal commitment to children that has been inspired, nurtured and supported by my friends and colleagues at Vanderbilt for the past 24 years," Shookhoff said.
The former juvenile court judge for Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County served on the faculty of the Vanderbilt Law School from 1980 to 1990 and directed the Juvenile Law Clinic. He also is a 1977 graduate of the law school.
Shookhoff brings a national reputation in the area of juvenile justice and family law to his new position at Vanderbilt, according to Bill Purcell, director of the Child and Family Policy Center. "His eight years on the bench have enhanced that reputation and given him a unique perspective on many of the policy issues that are the center's focus. These include collaborative and early intervention efforts with schools, health care providers, social service agencies and community groups such as churches and neighborhood organizations," Purcell said.
The Child and Family Policy Center, which began at VIPPS in 1996, serves as a bridge between state and local officials and policy experts to evaluate and promote child and family programs.
Shookhoff is especially interested in working on local grass roots initiatives that strengthen families.
"Among the specific areas on which I plan to focus are home visitation programs for young parents and their newborns, parent mentoring for young families, tutoring and mentoring programs for school-age children - especially for those experiencing difficulties in elementary schools - and after school programs," he said. "In addition, I will continue efforts to improve the child protection/foster care system, including adoptive family recruitment and support."
Shookhoff has a strong interest in the role of the faith community and the role of the business community in developing and implementing strategies for addressing those issues.
Also, he is looking forward to working with Vanderbilt students and faculty again on interdisciplinary collaborations and bringing a "real world" perspective to public policy debates. Shookhoff said he has never viewed learning, research, community service and public policy involvement as separate or unrelated activities. One of the ties to Vanderbilt he maintained while on the bench was his serving on the John F. Kennedy Center Leadership Council.
"As a student and faculty member, I was actively involved in the community and in efforts to shape public policy. As a judge for the last eight years, I worked to develop innovative programs to address the challenging problems the juvenile court faced. I relied heavily on the research of those in the academic community to understand what works, what does not, what is a promising approach and what is not," he said.
-VU-
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately
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in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute,
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