About John A. Calhoun

An internationally renowned public speaker, Jack Calhoun, in his “retirement,” manages the 13-California City Gang Prevention Network for the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families.  In 2007, he published Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America and in 2011, Through the Hourglass: Poems of Life and Love.

Jack has spent a lifetime attempting to improve the lot of children and families and the communities in which they live. John DiIulio, one of the country’s leading criminal justice experts and former Assistant to the President of the United States calls Jack “the most articulate and persuasive proponent of early intervention in reducing crime and delinquency in the nation’s history.” John Bridgeland, former Director of USA Freedom Corps and the President’s Domestic Policy Council said of Jack, “His work has helped countless children, strengthened and made safer our communities, and has strengthened the fabric of our Nation.”

President Carter appointed Jack to the nation’s top children’s job, Chief of the Children’s Bureau, Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), where he oversaw such programs as Head Start, Child Welfare, The Center to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect, the Office of Domestic Violence and the Office for Families. 

For 20 years, Jack served the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), America’s focal point for crime prevention, as its President and CEO. NCPC’s work included award-winning public service advertising, training and technical assistance, management of the 4,500-member Crime Prevention Coalition of America, and demonstration programs in neighborhoods, entire cities and with and for youth.

Jack has served as Vice President of the Child Welfare League of America, and, from 1976 to 1979, was the Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, and chair of both the Adolescent and the State of the Family Task Forces.

Jack’s career is studded with firsts. At NCPC, Jack designed and ran path-breaking initiatives including: Youth as Resources, a program, which eventually involved over 400,000 youth nationwide, that asks youth to identify social issues that concern them and then design and run projects to address those issues. Jack was one of the first to articulate that disconnection from family, school and neighborhood—isolation—was one of crime’s prime causes, and that youth needed to be offered a positive role in helping to reshape their communities. He created programs in neighborhoods most beset by crime, basing those programs on a twin philosophy: prevention of crime and building vital communities that do not produce crime.  He helped to pioneer entire jurisdiction-wide initiatives, which combined crime-fighting with community and youth development strategies in 32 major cities across America, and he designed the path-breaking Embedding Prevention in State Policy and Practice, a six-state initiative designed to convince selected states to invest in communities and families up front rather than waiting for expensive back end solutions. Realizing the potent role the faith community could play in preventing crime and violence and building hopeful neighborhoods, Jack designed and launched FASTEN—Faith and Services Technical Education Network.

Jack has administered large agencies and has helped to change policy, law and practice. While in Massachusetts, he drafted and saw through to passage the Nation’s first pre-trial diversion law. Under President Carter, he helped to write and then saw Congress enact the landmark Child Welfare and Adoption Act of l980 (PL 96272), called by Dr. Wade Horn, former ACYF Commissioner, “one of the three most important laws affecting children in the last 100 years.”  Starting as a teacher and community organizer, he designed and administered youth and community development and job training programs in Massachusetts as well as “Urban Court,” one of the nation’s first victim/victimizer/citizen mediation initiatives, which, subsequently, became a prototype for restorative justice strategies throughout America.

Jack has lectured at major universities, written a book, authored articles and editorials, and is in demand as a keynote speaker here and abroad.  He has been President of the Board for the Center for Youth as Resources and the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime. He serves on the Advertising Council’s Advisory Board and the boards of Reclaiming Youth International, Community Renewal International, and the editorial board of the American Public Human Services Association.

Jack has testified before city councils, state legislatures and Congress.  He is a frequent guest on the media, including appearances on the Today Show and Larry King Live.

Jack has been listed in WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA and WHO’S WHO IN THE WORLD for more than a decade.  He received the l998 Award of Recognition from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the 2002 Spirit of Crazy Horse Award from Reclaiming Youth International and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.  Upon his retirement, NCPC established the John Calhoun Fund for Youth Involvement in Creating Safer, More Caring Communities, and the Center for Youth as Resources established the Jack Calhoun Youth as Resources Fellowship.

A graduate of Brown University, Jack holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from the Episcopal Divinity School, a Master’s Degree with honors in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Heidelberg College in Ohio.

Jack’s wife of 40 years teaches in Fairfax County, Virginia.  A father of two, Jack describes himself as a smitten grandparent, a gardener, traveler, amateur singer, avid tennis player and poet, and a piano player best heard by people with impaired judgment.

Contact: phone, 703-785, 2312 (cell); e-mail, HopeMatters@verizon.net; mail, 2147 Royal Lodge Drive, Falls Church, Virginia, 22043, and web www.hopematters.org

An internationally renowned public speaker, Jack Calhoun, in his “retirement,” directs the 13-California City Gang Prevention Network for the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families. “In April, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice named him as Senior Consultant to its newly-launched National Forum to Prevent Youth Violence.” In 2007, he published Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America.  In January 2011, he published Through the Hourglasss: Poems of Love and Life.

Jack has spent a lifetime attempting to improve the lot of children and families and the communities in which they live. John DiIulio, one of the country’s leading criminal justice experts and former Assistant to the President of the United States calls Jack “the most articulate and persuasive proponent of early intervention in reducing crime and delinquency in the nation’s history.” John Bridgeland, former Director of USA Freedom Corps and the President’s Domestic Policy Council said of Jack, “His work has helped countless children, strengthened and made safer our communities, and has strengthened the fabric of our Nation.”

President Carter appointed Jack to the nation’s top children’s job, Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families (ACYF), where he oversaw such programs as Head Start, Child Welfare, The Center to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect, the Office of Domestic Violence and the Office for Families.

For 20 years, Jack served the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), America’s focal point for crime prevention, as its President and CEO. NCPC’s work included award-winning public service advertising, training and technical assistance, demonstration programs and management of the 4,500-member Crime Prevention Coalition of America.

Jack has served as Vice President of the Child Welfare League of America, and, from 1976 to 1979, was the Massachusetts Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, and chair of both the Adolescent and the State of the Family Task Forces.

Jack’s career is studded with firsts. At NCPC, Jack designed and ran path-breaking initiatives including: Youth as Resources, a program that asks youth to identify social issues that concern them and then design and run projects to address those issues. Jack was one of the first to articulate that disconnection from family, school and neighborhood—isolation—was one of crime’s prime causes, and that youth needed to be offered a positive role in helping to reshape their communities. He created and oversaw programs in neighborhoods most beset by crime, basing those programs on a twin philosophy: prevention of crime and building vital communities that do not produce crime. He helped to pioneer entire jurisdiction-wide initiatives, which combined crime-fighting with community development strategies in 32 major cities across America, and he designed the path-breaking Embedding Prevention in State Policy and Practice, a six-state initiative designed to convince selected states to invest in communities and families up front rather than waiting for expensive back end solutions. Realizing the potent role the faith community could play in preventing crime and violence and building hopeful neighborhoods, Jack designed and launched FASTEN—Faith and Services Technical Education Network.

Jack has administered large agencies and has helped to change policy, law and practice. While in Massachusetts, he drafted and saw through to passage the Nation’s first pre-trial diversion law. Under President Carter, he helped to write and then saw Congress enact the landmark Child Welfare and Adoption Act of l980 (PL 96272), called by Dr. Wade Horn, former ACYF Commissioner, “one of the three most important laws affecting children in the last 100 years.” Starting as a teacher and community organizer, he designed and administered youth and community development and job training programs in Massachusetts as well as “Urban Court,” one of the nation’s first victim/victimizer/citizen mediation initiatives, which, subsequently, became a prototype for restorative justice strategies throughout America.

Jack has lectured at major universities, written a book, authored articles and editorials, and is in demand as a keynote speaker here and abroad. He serves on many boards and has been President of the Board for the Center for Youth as Resources and the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime. He serves on the Advertising Council’s Advisory Board and the boards of Reclaiming Youth International, Faith and Public Life, OK Kids and the editorial board of the American Public Human Services Association.

Jack has testified before city councils, state legislatures and Congress. He is a frequent guest on the media, including appearances on the Today Show and Larry King Live.

Jack has been listed in WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA and WHO’S WHO IN THE WORLD for more than a decade. He received the l998 Award of Recognition from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the 2002 Spirit of Crazy Horse Award from Reclaiming Youth International and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Upon his retirement, NCPC established the John Calhoun Fund for Youth Involvement in Creating Safer, More Caring Communities, and the Center for Youth as Resources established the Jack Calhoun Youth as Resources Fellowship.

A graduate of Brown University, Jack holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from the Episcopal Divinity School, a Master’s Degree with honors in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Heidelberg College in Ohio.

Jack’s wife of 38 years teaches in Fairfax County, Virginia. Jack describes himself as an avid tennis player, a besotted grandparent, a gardener, traveler, amateur singer and poet, and a piano player best heard by people with impaired judgment.

Contact: phone, 703-785, 2312 (cell); e-mail,hopematters@verizon.net; mail, 2147 Royal Lodge Drive, Falls Church, Virginia, 22043, and web www.hopematters.org