Sarah Bingham is a Doctor of Social Work (DSW) Candidate and a social innovation strategist who is fully committed to helping communities and students find the resources they need to impact young lives in the fight against juvenile delinquency. She will complete her DSW from the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and hopes to expand on the 1 of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW) Ensure Healthy Development for All Youth. Sarah has over a decade of experience providing services and support to at-risk youth and families in the community. As a former employee of Georgia’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), she has worked extensively with youth group homes and community service providers advocating for resources for juvenile youth and their families. Her expertise is in juvenile and child welfare policy, child advocacy, youth risk prevention, and social impact innovations. Sarah has received certificates of training in trauma-informed care, mandated reporting, PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act), CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children), Protecting Youth from Gangs on Social Media, Teen Matters – Meeting The Needs Of Adolescent Youth, Motivational Interviewing, is a certified IMPACT Trainer, and a candidate for certification in Aggression Replacement Training (ART)® Facilitation.
Sarah is dedicated to the social work profession and genuinely believes it is her calling to destigmatize and change the social norms associated with juvenile youth being viewed as “problems to be managed” by unlocking their potential. During her tenure as a social work practitioner, she witnessed countless juvenile youth exiting residential settings struggle to avoid delinquent engagement in their communities and recidivate. Seeing a lack of access to community resources and mentors for juvenile youth exiting the juvenile residential programs compelled her to create Make-It-Click, Inc.