Leadership
Julie Truschel
Founder and CEO
Julie Truschel is the Founder and CEO of the SAW Project, a nonprofit organization she formed in 2018. She has worked in various capacities of juvenile and adult corrections since 1985, with work experience within institutions, reentry programs, and community supervision. Truschel has provided independent consulting services to government agencies as well as national and international private companies, with an emphasis on a continuum-of-care model that addresses the unique risks and needs of the individual.
Truschel has worked with men, women, juveniles and specialized caseloads, both within institutions and in the community. Working with researchers in the 1990s changed her life as she learned that people could be helped through evidence-based practices. She assisted community corrections administrators to integrate evidence-based practice into their operations in an effort to reduce costly cycles of recidivism. In conducting this work, she learned there was little information being shared globally in best practices for community corrections – the result was the birth of the Supervision Around the World Project. The intent of the SAW Project is to gather and share positive stories and models globally so that corrections and rehabilitation professionals can learn from each other and enhance lives.
Key Accomplishments
- Worked with research pioneers during 1990s studies of reentry success to identify and determine evidence-based practices in criminal justice. As a component of this process, served as a national audit team member to complete on-site program reviews utilizing the Correctional Program Assessment Inventory tool.
- Led the design team in creating a day reporting center model that integrated evidence-based practices and is used today nationwide. This model has become a standard in the successful practice of reentry clients’ continuum of care.
- Worked with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts/Federal Judicial Center in Washington D.C. and participated as a member of the Administrative Office team to design, implement, and integrate new programs within the Federal Probation system. This operational reform position included a seat on the national Evidence-Based Practices Working Group.
- Provided consultation services to the Napa County Probation Department in redesigning operations and supporting the integration of evidence-based practices. The Napa County Probation Department was awarded the American Probation and Parole Association’s President’s Award at the Association’s Annual Training Institute in 2014. The President’s Award recognizes exemplary community corrections programs which serve to advance the knowledge, effectiveness, and integrity of the system, and recognizes visionary organizations that have exemplified the management and innovations necessary to lead community corrections into the next decade.
An Effective Voice in Community Corrections
Since 2018, Truschel has delivered more than a dozen presentations to international audiences of correctional professionals and has been an effective voice on reforming how lives can be changed through effective interventions. She has also been featured in community corrections journals and industry podcasts. Recent presentations and group discussions have included:
- American Probation and Parole Association, Houston, TX
- American Corrections Association – International Committee, Minneapolis, MN
- World Congress on Probation and Parole, Sydney, Australia
- International Corrections and Prisons Association, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- International Rotary World Peace, Los Angeles, CA
- American Probation and Parole Association, New Orleans, LA
- Association of Paroling Authorities International, Arlington, TX
- American Probation and Parole Association, Boston, MA
- International Corrections and Prisons Association, Virtual
- World Congress on Probation and Parole, Ottawa, Canada
- American Probation and Parole Association, Los Angeles, CA
Truschel has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s degree in Organizational Management. She served on the Program Committee for the 2015 World Congress on Probation and Chairs the International Relations Committee for the American Probation and Parole Association.