Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has appointed a member of the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics to the state’s newly- recreated state Committee on Juvenile Justice.

Laura Benjamins, M.D., M.P.H., professor of Pediatrics, will serve a three-year term as a member of the committee beginning Aug. 2. Dr. Benjamins represents licensed individuals with experience in preventing and addressing mental health and substance abuse needs in delinquent youth and youth at risk of delinquency.

The committee is tasked with the development and review of the state’s juvenile justice plan. Following the release of recommendations from the governor’s Juvenile Justice Reform Task Force, the new Michigan Committee on Juvenile Justice includes a tribal representative and increases representation of community-based services and support for young people.

Dr. Benjamins is board-certified in pediatrics and adolescent medicine, and sees patients ages 9 to 26 years old. She provides primary and specialty care. As an adolescent medicine physician, she has received additional training to identify and treat the medical and emotional issues many teens experience.

Dr. Benjamins, a 1998 graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, is the daughter of Professor of Neurology Joyce Benjamins, Ph.D. She completed pediatric residency training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and fellowships in Adolescent Medicine and Joint Primary Care at McGovern Medical School and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.