Youth Services Insider heard not a word about this in juvenile justice circles, but we have learned that Michael Jones of the National Partnership for Juvenile Services (NPJS) was indicted in Franklin County, Ky., on six counts of “willful filing of false tax returns with the Kentucky Department of Revenue for the tax years 2005 through 2010.”
Jones, 44, led the Training and Resource Center at Eastern Kentucky University. When NPJS was formed in 2004 as the merged entity of four smaller juvenile associations, Jones served as managing director for years under former leader Earl Dunlap, and then became the interim CEO when Dunlap retired in 2010.
He stepped back to managing director in late 2011 when a member of the NPJS board, Carol Cramer Brooks, was named CEO.
YSI will try and find some more details on exactly what Jones is accused of; according to the press release announcing the indictment in April, he faces up to five years for each count and a fine.
Here are things we do know:
According the local paper, the Richmond Register, Jones was not working for the university at the time of the indictment. And, the Register cites Eastern Kentucky spokesman Marc Whitt saying it was counsel for the university that actually asked the attorney general’s office to investigate Jones. It is not clear from the announcement whether the tax returns in question are Jones’ personal returns, or some organizational returns from either the training center or NPJS.
During his brief tenure on top of the partnership, the organization did manage to snag two, $200,000 grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. One was to assist the Annie E. Casey Foundation with its Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, The other was to help establish the National Center for Youth in Custody, which is jointly operated by NPJS and the Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators.
Jones lists three current employers on his LinkedIn page:
- President at Organizational Management and Planning
- Managing Director at National Partnership for Juvenile Services
- Consultant at Family Resource & Youth Services Coalition of Kentucky
There is no trace of Jones on the list of NPJS leadership on the organization’s website.