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Justice Services is excited to announce it is promoting Hannah Legerton to its new Youth Justice Division Manager position. In her previous role in the department as a Grants Manager, Hannah ran the Safety and Justice Challenge grant from the MacArthur Foundation aimed at safely reducing the local jail population. “Hannah’s background in improving community health coupled with her experience working on youth justice initiatives makes her well poised to excel in this role. We are excited to see her transition to this new position and expand youth justice programming,” notes Justice Service Director Tiffany Iheanacho.
The Youth Justice Division Manager is a new position for Justice Services and it’s focused on leading community partners in planning, developing, monitoring, and evaluating established and emerging priorities of youth justice initiatives. This position will work collaboratively with partners to increase coordination of community resources to provide high-quality, trauma-informed intergenerational support to youth and their families to increase safety, accountability, and resilience. It will also be responsible for coordinating the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Council, a long-standing youth justice program in the County.
"I am honored to advance the established and emerging youth justice work in Buncombe County,” says Hannah. “This is an exciting time in Buncombe County’s Justice Services with commitments to improving systemic practices, to partner with community, to innovate, and to advance equity. It is a privilege to be a part of the Justice Services team, and we have great opportunities to collaborate with partners to support youth, young adults, and their families through the intentional expansion of the Youth Justice Division.” Hannah begins her new position effective July 15, 2021.
Professional Bio
Hannah’s previous work focused on advancing youth and young adult justice system reform, maternal and child public health, and building cross-sector collaboration for collective impact. Before joining the Justice Services Department, Hannah worked at MAHEC in partnership with Buncombe County's Health and Human Services Community Health Improvement Process to advance equity in birth outcomes, mental health, and cross-sector collaboration to undo racism. Previously, Hannah worked to advance youth and young adult justice reforms in Massachusetts, including managing a campaign to raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction to include young adults ages 18-20. She has also worked directly with youth through educational, arts-based, and alternative-sentencing organizations. Hannah holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Davidson College. Having grown up in Asheville, Hannah returned to town in recent years, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters.