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Supreme Court appoints Court Improvement Task Force for Youth Courts January 13, 2026 The Mississippi Supreme Court recently appointed Supreme Court Justice Jenifer Branning of Philadelphia and Court Improvement Program Director Vicki Lowery of Jackson as co-chairs of a task force that will make recommendations to strengthen and improve court processes for children and families.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Children’s Bureau, which provides grant funding to the states, requires participation by a multidisciplinary task force as a condition of awarding court improvement grants. The most recent HHS grant totaled $399,995. The Supreme Court reconstituted the task force as the Court Improvement Program Statewide Multi-Disciplinary Task Force. The group’s first meeting will be held on Jan. 30 at 10 a.m. in the first floor meeting room at the Gartin Justice Building at 450 High Street in Jackson. The Supreme Court appointed 31 people to the task force, including judges, leaders and staff of the Department of Child Protection Services and others who work in the child welfare system. In addition to Justice Branning and Lowery, task force members are:
• Lee County Court and Youth Court Judge Staci Bevill of Tupelo and Lafayette County Court and Youth Court Judge Tiffany Kilpatrick of Oxford;
• Marion County Youth Court Referee Renee Porter of Columbia;
• Chancellor Troy Odom of Brandon;
• Choctaw Tribal Court Supreme Court Chief Justice Holly Peters of Philadelphia and Senior Youth Court Judge Shanna Burr of Philadelphia;
• Department of Child Protection Services: Director Andrea Sanders of Brandon; CPS agency quality assurance/continuous quality improvement lead Ryakko Hickman of Starkville; CPS Child and Family Service Plan/Annual Progress Services Report lead Karen Austin of Terry; CPS Legal Counsel Kym Gore of Jackson; CPS Agency Permanency Division Director and Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention lead Ta’Shia Gordon of Madison; CPS Deputy Commissioner of Child Welfare Kimberly Wheaton of Jackson; CPS Deputy Commissioner of Clinical Supports Devon Loggins of Jackson;
• Children’s representation attorney, guardian ad litem and former Mississippi College School of Law Professor Shirley Kennedy of Ridgeland;
• Attorney Jennifer Morgan of Brandon, of the Office of the State Public Defender;
• Court Appointed Special Advocate leads Mindy Brown of Pascagoula and Frances Allsup of Pascagoula;
• Key service providers including Amanda Futral of Ridgeland, Youth Villages; Shea Hutchins of Clinton, Canopy Children’s Solutions Chief Solutions Officer; Christina Bach of Ridgeland, Interim Executive Director of Catholic Charities; Gretchen Cook of Jackson, Chief Executive Officer, Methodist Children’s Home; Ron Veazey of Ridgeland, Interim Executive Director, Sunnybrook Children’s Home;
• State Department of Education Executive Director of Compulsory School Attendance Enforcement and Dropout Prevention Michelle Rhodes of Pelahatchie and Associate State Superintendent Bryan Marshall of Brandon;
• Parents and youths with lived expertise in the child welfare system, including Christina Simmons of Bay St. Louis, Chelsea Mitchell of Brandon, Adelaide Anderson of Jackson, and Nykeya Gray of Jackson;
• AOC Youth Court Division attorney Wendy Shelton of Seminary; and
• Child welfare lawyer Chad King of Madison. #### |
