- Coming up on American Black Journal, a nonprofit that changes the lives of homeless youth is celebrating a milestone anniversary.

I'll talk with the head of Covenant House, Michigan.

Plus Michigan's longest serving current judge is here to talk about his career as he prepares to step down after 44 years on the bench.

Don't go anywhere.

American Black Journal starts right now.

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(upbeat music) - Welcome to American Black Journal.

I'm your host, Stephen Henderson.

Our first guest leads an organization that has opened its doors to homeless youth for the past 25 years.

Covenant House Michigan has emergency shelters in Detroit and in Grand Rapids.

The nonprofits educational and vocational programs and support services help these young people get on a path to a brighter future.

I spoke with executive director Meagan Dunn about the organization's milestone anniversary and the current state of youth homelessness.

Here's where I wanna start.

Homeless youth, I feel like, suffer from a double invisibility problem.

Right?

I think the homeless are largely invisible to us in many ways.

We don't think about them, we don't think about their needs nearly enough, but then their children, I think, are kind of obscured by even more because if we think of them we think of them in the context of their, of their parents and their problems and not their particular problems.

And we don't see them for kind of who they are and the really distinct challenges that they often face because they aren't with their parents.

So many of them are out on their own.

And so, Covenant House has always been one of my favorite places because it really does get that and it really does focus on on these youth as individuals with really specific needs.

- Absolutely.

Yes.

We've been headquartered here in Detroit for 25 years so this year is our 25th anniversary.

We also have a presence in Grand Rapids.

So about four years ago we opened a second shelter there.

And it really gives us the unique perspective that we are challenged with meeting the needs of our youth on both sides of the state.

And, quite frankly, Stephen, the needs are very much similar.

They're very much the same.

The needs of the youth in Detroit are remarkably close to those in Grand Rapids.

So, it's just something that that all of us need to work towards.

- Yeah.

So, let's talk a little about the work, the specific work you guys do there at Covenant House.

Where do kids come to you from and what are some of the things that you find when they come to you, what do the needs look like?

- That's a great question.

It's really interesting, the data is showing us because we really are a data-driven organization.

So quarterly we create these data, these reports and it really helps us drive our work.

So the data is suggesting to us that, at least in the last year, almost a third of our youth are coming through the foster care system.

So once they age out, you know, they hit their 18th birthday, the state, you know, sends youth where, you know, different places that they need to go.

So, about a third of our youth come here directly from the foster care system.

To your point earlier, many of our youths, their parents or parent or guardian are also experiencing some form of homelessness.

So it's, you know, they come to us from a myriad of reasons.

You know, many of them come to us having experienced some pretty extraordinary trauma and also have, you know, some challenges when it's related to mental and behavioral health.

So, we, you know, we accept all of them.

We ensure that the first thing that they feel here at Covenant House is that it is a place of peace, because for many of them they are coming from the exact opposite of that.

So we wanna make sure that they feel safe, that they feel at peace, and then we get into everything else.

- Yeah.

I also wanna talk about mental health, because I know that at Covenant House, you're really focused on- - Yes.

- The mental health of homeless youth.

And it's a huge part of, of what they, what they present as needs when they show up there.

- Exactly.

So, the last data that I, that I reviewed over 60% of our youth are self-reporting that they have some sort of mental or behavioral health challenge.

And so that number is sharply up.

It doesn't necessarily mean that it wasn't always there.

I think that the stigma around behavioral and mental health challenges is changing and the perception around that.

And so it's a lot, I feel that people in general, particularly youth, are a lot more open to saying, "Hey I'm having a mental health problem here."

"I am experiencing high amounts of anxiety."

"Here are my triggers."

They're very, very direct about that now, which we appreciate.

It helps us, in fact, do our work a lot better.

So, in my role when I'm seeing that sort of data, it's telling me, hey, I need to go out, build more partnerships, raise more money so we can hire more social workers and therapists and those that can address those needs from a mental and behavioral health standpoint immediately.

You know, there's lots of other programs that we provide but before we can even enroll someone in a jobs training workforce readiness program, we have to make sure that they're stable.

So that is, the numbers alarming.

- Yeah.

I also wanna talk about the successes there at Covenant House.

I mean, you encounter these youth at a pretty low point in their lives, but you're remarkably effective at moving them to better spaces.

Talk about some of the ways that you send them to better lives.

- Those are the real bright spots.

And you know, your question is so timely because just yesterday I was in Grand Rapids and I had the opportunity to walk one of the young ladies out that has been with us since September.

And she, you know, she was crying, the staff was crying.

It was good tears though, because she had come to us again she had been with us since September.

In that time, she was able to finish her GED.

She has been able to secure a job and she was able to secure her own apartment with a low-income housing voucher.

So, those are the kinds of stories that we love to see because this work in our mission, this work in human services is incredibly, it's incredibly heavy.

So when we are able to experience those sorts of stories that gives us all the fire to say, okay let's go out and let's do it more.

Our data is telling us that the longer that our youth are with us, the better their success rates are.

So they're, we see much more transitions to stable housing, better opportunities for them to not just get a job, but to get on a career path.

So, we have lots of success around that.

Many of our youth leave us both having secured their GED in many cases, enrolled in some sort of post-secondary education, whether it's community college or four year education, and they also have jobs.

So, that's our, that's our real goal.

So for them to come through our doors, again, to make them feel safe and secure, to be able to build that trust, and then so that they're able to successfully exit our program so that they can end that cycle of homelessness.

The age group that we work with is so critical because we are really trying to catch them before they become chronically homeless.

And as you know, once someone reaches that state the barriers are so much higher, the challenges for them are so much more incredible.

So, for the time that they're with us, if we're able to help stop that cycle of homelessness I feel that we are doing a better job in the long run so that they don't return to that cycle.

And sometimes they do, unfortunately, and they come back to us and we start the whole thing all over again.

But we've seen many successes and we're really grateful for that.

- Yeah, yeah.

I'm also curious about the pandemic and it's effect on youth homelessness is not something we've heard a whole lot about, but I'm sure at Covenant House you're seeing upfront how that has changed, perhaps the face of youth homelessness or the difficulty of saving people from it.

- Definitely.

So, you know, during the pandemic, many human service organizations, not many, but all of us had to lessen our capacity just from a safe perspective.

So it was a really, but we worked really well with the city of Detroit, with the health department, with city leaders on where else we could place these young people so they weren't just on the street.

But I feel that the level of isolation that many of them felt just given that there was very little interaction, we were not able, one of the many, and other organizations experienced this too, we have lots of partners that come on campus that facilitate programs, that do mentorship programs that volunteer with us.

And we had to limit that for at least the first two years of the pandemic.

And we're beginning to bring that back now.

But that isolation definitely had an impact on every single person on our campus whether they were employed or whether it was our youth.

I think it's also a reason, Stephen, that we are able, that we're starting to see that increase in the need for behavioral health services because everything, I mean we all were impacted in different ways through the pandemic.

And so, adding, you know, the experience of homelessness on top of it, I think it's just, you know, really, really made that number increase from a mental health perspective.

- Yeah.

Well, again, congratulations on on the new post and on 25 years for Covenant House.

It's such a vital organization here in the city and in Grand Rapids.

And thanks for joining us here on American Black Journal.

- Glad to be here.

Thank you so much.

- Our next guest is retiring at the end of this year after serving 44 years on the bench.

Judge John Murphy currently sits on the third Circuit Court of Michigan.

He's the longest serving active judge in the state.

He's also the longest serving state elected African American judge.

I sat down with Judge Murphy to talk about his story, judicial career, and the importance of African American representation in the legal profession.

Judge John Murphy, welcome to American Black Journal.

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

- Thank you, Mr. Henderson.

- Yeah.

So, so 44 years on the bench and you are about to wrap it up and step down.

Tell me, tell me why, what is it about this moment?

What is it about this time that tells you, you've had enough?

- Well, actually I have not had enough.

(laughing) I'm enjoying myself and there are constitutional provisions.

- Oh, right.

- Won't allow me to go further with another election once you meet or reach a certain age.

- Right, right.

- And, I'm unfortunately at that point, so.

- Yeah.

So, you know, I wouldn't have guessed you were that age.

You don't look nearly that old.

- But I appreciate it.

I do appreciate it.

I'm very pleased.

I try to live a healthy lifestyle.

And, I feel good.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So, so let's go back to the beginning, 44 years ago.

It's 1978.

Detroit is a very different place.

Tell me what brings you to the bench at that time and what it was like.

- In law school, I had a professor, a professor Edward Littlejohn.

He was the professor dean at Wayne State at that time.

And I had him for a couple of classes and he would tease me and would refer to me as Judge John Murphy.

At that time, Murphy was a very popular name in the judiciary.

And he teased me, make reference to me as Judge Murphy.

And I, I guess it, it was kind of prophetic and it kind of stuck with me and he's still, and we're still in communication.

And that was the kind of impetus for me looking at the judiciary as a career.

And so, in 1978, there were a couple of vacancies in the old common pleas court, and I threw my hat in the ring, ran for one of those two spots and was fortunate enough to get elected along with Judge Lucille Watts.

- Mm.

Yes.

- And that got the ball rolling.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Actually, when I was a child Judge Watts lived around the corner from me for a time.

So, so talk about what it was like for an African American on the bench then.

It was, it was not as common for African Americans to get elected to the bench, to get appointed as it is, as it is now.

Talk about those early years.

- The early years were, were fun years for me in the sense that the common police court was a very small court.

It was only 13 judges on that court.

And at that time there were, substantial I think, African American representation on that court.

We had approximately, half the bench were African American and we were led by a chief judge at that time, Frederick Byrd and he has a long history and from the recorder's court to the referee and traffic court.

So he brought a lot of the community spirit into that small court.

It was the collection court for the state and the county specifically.

- Yeah.

- And it was not as represented as the entire bench in the state of Michigan but in that small court we had about 50% representation.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Maybe a little less, maybe a little less, but it was a wonderful little court.

- And so, from there you go to, you go to the Circuit court, is that right?

- No, there was a stop in between.

The common police court was eliminated and the 36th District Court was in that.

- Yeah.

- So all of the judges on the common pleas bench were sort of grandfathered into the new 36th District Court.

And we served there for I would say, maybe four years.

And then, I decided I wanted to run for the Wayne County Circuit Court.

The district court at that time, as you know was a Detroit court, still is.

So, I had to run countywide in order to obtain the seat that I have now.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

And, and what are some of the things that, that stand out to you over the time you've been on the third Circuit?

Again, the city's very different.

I feel like the law is somewhat different.

The courts are different than they were then.

What are some of your best memories of this time?

- Well, the Circuit Court has a variety of jurisdictions and I had a number of cases that kind of stand out in my mind that were important cases in terms of the constitution.

I had the opportunity to make certain rulings in the area of the Michigan Constitution.

One was the right to privacy.

I was in a situation on a case wherein the sexual practices of individuals was being prosecuted, specifically gay individuals were being prosecuted for their sexual practices.

And I made a ruling that the right to privacy would protect what individual adults would do in the privacy of their homes.

And I looked at the Michigan Constitution, specifically Article one and concluded that the Michigan constitution, when you look at all of the rights, they result in a right to privacy that would be protected.

And that ruling stands today.

Fortunately for the citizens of Michigan, we do have a right to privacy.

And we are protected from the state action to that extent.

It's a wonderful thing that we have that right and that right, that ruling, I should say, was not challenged.

And it's still on the books today.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And in the other areas, I've had a number of areas that I worked on, stand out in terms of cases.

One would be, another would be, in the area of sexual harassment.

I had a case dealing with the first female, Millwright, in the state, and she was harassed unbelievably so.

She worked over at Chrysler, over at the Jefferson North Point and being the first Millright, she caught it.

And so, much so that she was, her coworkers urinated in her toolbox.

If you can believe that, that happened.

And the jury rendered a verdict in her favor.

It was the largest verdict in the state.

And I believe the largest verdict in the country in a sexual harassment case, hostile environment is the legal term.

And that case stood out and the case was called Alice Gilbert versus Chrysler Corporation.

- Hmm.

- I've had so many different cases, Stephen.

- Yeah.

- That I can't really.

- Yeah.

No.

But those are two, those are two big ones.

- Very big.

And that it really speaks to the influence that that judges in the judicial system have on our, on our lives, on the way we conduct our work and the way we conduct our private lives.

So, before, before I let you go, judge I'm curious, what's next?

What are you going to do after you leave the bench?

- Well, I plan to work and assist the lawyers doing alternative dispute resolution issues.

I will sit as an arbitrator in the private sector and a facilitator in the private sector.

And I wanna bring all of that 44 years of experience to bear to maybe resolve cases in a non-adversarial situation.

I hope I can add help to that.

You know, we've really been backed up with these cases in light of the pandemic and a lot of the live courtroom situations were put on hold.

And so now we have a huge backup of cases because of that.

And if we can find alternatives to the actual court process on some of those cases, it would, I think be a great thing.

And I plan to help in that process.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Well Judge John Murphy congratulations on 44 years and good luck.

And- - One more thing, Stephen.

- Yeah, sure, go ahead.

- That I plan to do it is getting a lot of fishing in.

(laughing) - There you go.

Right.

Gonna say, no leisure?

- The courtroom overlooks the river.

- Oh.

- And every April, May, I see the guys out on the river walleye fishing.

And I'm looking at those people fishing, I'm in the courtroom and I'm looking at them.

Well, coming up April, I'll be out there and I can wave to the judges.

- You can wave up to the courtroom.

Right.

- To a courtroom.

'Cause I'll be out there.

- Yeah.

Very nice.

Congratulations and thanks for joining us on American Black Journal.

- Oh, it's my pleasure.

My pleasure.

- That's it for us this week.

Thanks for watching.

You can find out more about our guests at americanblackjournal.org and you can connect with us anytime on Facebook and on Twitter.

Take care and we'll see you next time.

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