Maureen Farrell serves as the Regional ATOD Prevention Coordinator for Metro Minnesota in Region 7. Maureen is a Youth Development Specialist & Community Programmer. She has worked in building healthy communities for over 25 years in public schools, public health and law enforcement arenas. She recently came from the Carver County Sheriff's Office as the Restorative Practices Coordinator where she was in charge of the juvenile diversion program. She also served as a MN state trainer & MN Board member in Restorative Practices. For several years she co-convened the ATOD Action Team for Carver Co. with Judge M. Fahey. She holds a Master's degree in Education from the Univ. of MN and is a Certified Prevention Professional.
As a Restorative Practices Specialist, she developed one of the first restorative law enforcement model diversion programs in Minnesota for Carver County, where she facilitated over 500 Restorative Conferences and Community Circles. This included several school based incidents where she worked with School Resource Officers (SRO’s) and school staff. She served on the Minnesota Restoratives Services Coalition (MRSC) as a board member for several years and was a keynote speaker at the “Growing the Connections” regional restorative conference in 2010.
Maureen has previously served District 112 as:
- one of the two original “Parent Involvement Coordinators”
- developed the GEMS female adolescent enrichment program that she coordinated
- co-developer of “Club Mid” that expanded into the Community Ed. Programs
- started first Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at the middle school
- youth development/prevention speaker for staff and parents through the years on several topics, including: “Teens & Technology/sexting”, Bullying, Restorative Measures in Schools, Alcohol-Tobacco-& other Drugs (ATOD) prevention strategies, Creating Healthy Communities that support positive youth development
- as a strong youth & family advocate, she rallied to organize and successfully change policies for later school start times for District 112.
Maureen’s new role as a Regional Prevention Coordinator brings her back into the role of ATOD prevention work. Previously, she co-convened the ATOD action team in Carver County with former county attorney Judge Mike Fahey. This was part of the early Carver County Health Partnership efforts where she served as vice-chair.
