California Church IMPACT is the legislative advocacy arm of the California Council of Churches, which supported a state bill that it says would make sentencing for youths fairer. Email through the website.

Shannon Wight is associate director of the Youth Justice Campaign of Oregon’s Partnership for Safety and Justice. The campaign is working to keep juveniles out of the justice system and to raise the age at which Oregon youths can be tried as adults in criminal matters.

Kimo Uila is director of juvenile justice services for the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He has a background in faith-based juvenile justice advocacy in that city.

Javier Stauring is director of Faith Communities for Families and Children, which held a Juvenile Justice Week of Faith in Februrary 2010 with events across California.

Verne Rainey is the program manager for juvenile services for the King County Superior Court, which covers Seattle. Among services provided is a mentoring program pairing juvenile offenders with mentors from area churches.

Greg Kepferle is CEO of Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, Calif. He has testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives about maintaining and increasing funding for juvenile justice programs.

Dennis Gibbs is director of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles’ Prism ministry, which focuses on “restorative justice” for the incarcerated, including juveniles.

Bradley J. Widstrom is an assistant professor of youth and family ministries at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colo. The youth and family ministry department offers a master’s degree in youth and family counseling with a focus on at-risk youths.

Don Smarto is chairman of the Juvenile Justice Ministries Network of Texas, an organization of Christian groups and individuals who work with juvenile offenders. It holds statewide roundtables on juvenile justice issues and is based in Dallas.