Christian Minor is marking 10 years at the top of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association. Few people in Tallahassee have had more say over how Florida treats kids who get in trouble, or drawn less attention for it.
FJJA is the statewide group representing the private providers that contract with the Department of Juvenile Justice. Florida Politics noted his hiring at the time; he came over from Bridges International, where he ran legislative affairs. Colleagues in the provider world think the milestone deserves more notice than it is getting.
“Christian Minor has quietly become one of the most influential champions for children and families in Florida,” said Robert Patterson, FJJA’s President and the CEO of Tampa-based Bay Area Youth Services.
“While many of the public victories in juvenile justice bear the names of legislators, agency leaders, or elected officials, Christian has worked tirelessly behind the scenes bringing people together, solving problems, building consensus, and ensuring the needs of young people remain at the center of public policy.”
Minor’s best-known win may be Florida’s juvenile expunction law. HB 195, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May 2022, lets young people who complete a diversion program clear qualifying arrest records, and it extended an earlier misdemeanor-only version of the law to most nonforcible felonies. Those records otherwise follow kids into job interviews, college applications, military enlistment and housing searches.
FJJA helped write the bill, and it did not draw a single no vote in either chamber, 115-0 in the House and 38-0 in the Senate. Minor called it “a monumental piece of workforce development legislation that strikes a balance between public safety and providing kids with second chances to overcome their mistakes.”
“Christian understands that a mistake made as a teenager should not define an individual’s future,” Patterson said. “His work on juvenile record expunction has created life-changing opportunities for countless young people across our state.”
Minor also pushes for prevention services, such as the emergency shelter, counseling and family support the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services provides, so children never enter the system in the first place.
He has argued for years that the early help is good policy. “When we keep kids from going deeper into the system, we increase public safety, we save taxpayer dollars and ultimately we’re keeping families whole,” he said last month at the Florida Network’s annual meeting in Sarasota.
In budget fights, Minor has kept providers at the table in the Capitol, on everything from prevention and intervention to residential treatment, community programs and pay for the front-line youth care workers who keep facilities running.
“Christian’s effectiveness comes from his credibility, integrity, and commitment to collaboration,” Patterson said. “Whether he is working with agency leaders, legislative leadership, community providers, or advocacy groups, he has consistently demonstrated that meaningful reform happens when people come together around solutions.”
Under Minor, FJJA has grown into a leading statewide voice for juvenile justice providers and the people who work for them. It has pushed for research-based practices, staff training and policies that account for how young people grow and develop.
“Florida’s juvenile justice system is stronger today because of Christian Minor’s leadership,” Patterson said. “His work has impacted policy, funding, provider services, and most importantly, the lives of countless young people. As he reaches this milestone, he deserves recognition for a decade of service that has left a lasting mark on our state.”
Minor joined Converge Public Strategies as a Partner in January 2023 and now serves as the firm’s co-Chair in Tallahassee, a role he holds alongside the FJJA job.
Minor and his wife, Millie, welcomed a daughter, Paige, earlier this month.
Congratulations, Christian.
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Ed. note: This story was drafted with assistance from AI. Editorial judgment, sourcing, and final review were performed by Peter Schorsch and the Florida Politics editorial team.