NSU Commencement - Graduate 2017

23 D istinguished H onoree C ommencement S peaker for M orning C eremony Ginger Lerner-Wren , J.D., is a presiding Broward County Court judge and pioneer of the nation’s first therapeutic Mental Health Court—recognized as a model for similar diversion courts nationwide. Elected as a Broward County Court judge in 1996, Lerner-Wren was appointed by the county’s chief judge in 1997 to preside over the Mental Health Court, which diverts mentally ill defendants charged with misdemeanor and nonviolent offenses into community-based treatment centers as an alternative to incarceration. In 1999, the Mental Health Court was a focus of the White House Conference on Mental Health. It was the model for the federal Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2000. In 2002, Lerner-Wren was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. On the judiciary, Lerner-Wren served as the public guardian of the 17th Judicial Circuit, directing the operations of the Office of Public Guardian. She was responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of disabled adult clients in need of a legal guardian and case management support. In addition, she worked collaboratively with community- based senior mental health and social service agencies and long-term care facilities. She assisted and consulted with Broward County’s Adult Protective Service in matters of abuse and neglect. Lerner-Wren received her B.A. from the University of Miami in 1980 and her J.D. from NSU’s Shepard Broad College of Law in 1983. She has taught as an adjunct professor in psychological studies and criminal justice doctoral programs at NSU. She has received numerous honors and awards. In 2016, she was named judicial representative for the executive committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. She is also a past recipient and an annual cochair and presenter at the Broward County National Alliance on Mental Illness Times Awards. In 2015, Lerner-Wren received the Award of Excellence/Advocacy Leadership Award from the National Council for Behavioral Health. She was the recipient of the Broward County Crime Commission 2013 Justice Leadership Award and was a top finalist at the 2013 Innovating Justice Awards at The Hague Institute for the Internationalization of Law (HiiL Foundation) in The Netherlands. Lerner-Wren has served with the Broward County Women’s Hall of Fame (2000), United Way of Broward, National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Florida Initiative Suicide Prevention, and many other boards and organizations. She is a speaker at national and international conferences on topics including the Mental Health Court, therapeutic jurisprudence, recovery, the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, trauma-informed problem-solving justice, and how to create cultural change.