DON SMARTO, Chairman, National Representative

Don has been working with high risk and incarcerated youth for twenty-five years. He was a juvenile probation officer, director of a residential adolescent drug abuse program, and an assistant superintendent of a maximum security juvenile institution. Don has authored five books and will have completed his seventh book by November 2003. His research and ministry have taken him to 886 prisons in 10 countries. After twelve years as Director of Prison Ministries at the Billy Graham Center, Don focused on at risk and incarcerated youth by forming Dallas based Youth Direct Ministries, that conducts evangelism events in facilities nationwide.

Don has taught at six colleges and universities including Juvenile Delinquency classes at Wheaton College and Trinity University. He has served the Illinois Attorney General on a Gang Taskforce and the Illinois Governor on a commission dealing with high risk youth. He directed a residential teen drug abuse program that received national attention on NBC News. His book Justice & Mercy is considered required reading by those in prison ministry and his book Keeping Ex-Offenders Free is widely regarded as a "classic" book on aftercare. Thousands have used the book as a textbook and a training manual because of the practical applications for churches and volunteers.

Don has authored nine books and is working on a tenth book on juvenile literacy.

In 2007, Don was a speaker at a White House Conference. His subject was Juvenile Reentry.

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