Shauna Franklin Epps
Shauna Franklin Epps was born on September 30, 1949 to Nina Christian Franklin and Harry M., or “Julian,” Franklin, in Richmond, Virginia. At the age of seven, her family left West Point, Virginia, due to limited educational resources brought by segregation. They moved to Newport News, where they lived on Moores Lane and, later, in the Denbigh area. From early on, her parents were both heavily involved in the community. After moving to Newport News, Epps’ mother worked at Crown Savings Bank for a while before joining her husband at their family-owned restaurant, the Plaza Drive Inn, which served as a community and political hub until its closing in 1979. Additionally, Epps’ father served as a member of the Political Action Committee, where he worked with other community leaders to expand Black political power, and worked as campaign manager for Jessie Rattley and Bobby Scott in the 1970s.
Initially, Epps attended Carver Elementary School and Carver High School, two of the city’s all-Black schools. Later, she attended the newly-open and nominally-integrated Denbigh High School, where she graduated in 1967. She then attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee and graduated in 1971 with a degree in psychology, with an emphasis on education. Following graduation, she married and moved with her husband to several cities in the United States where she held a variety of positions before eventually returning to Newport News and entering the field of Social Work with the city’s Health Department. In 1976, she began working at the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (VA DJJ) Hampton Court Services and served as the Probation and Intake Officer for ten years. With this position, she prepared court-ordered reports and helped the youth and their families navigate the legal process. She later held a number of supervisory roles: she supervised the Probation Unit from 1986 to 1993 and the Intake Unit from 1993 until 2003.
Epps then began a position with the VA DJJ Central Office and served as the Disproportionate Minority Contact Coordinator until 2007. In this capacity, she coordinated the VA DJJ’s efforts to address disproportionate minority youth involvement and confinement in the juvenile system. From 2008 to 2011 she served as the Disproportionate Minority Contact Policy Specialist where she assisted in providing jurisdictions involved in the MacArthur Foundations Models for Change Juvenile Justice Initiative. In 2012, Epps became the Interagency Services Coordinator for Juvenile Justice and Mental Health on the Norfolk Community Services Board, spending a year identifying and creating plans to address gaps in the mental health and juvenile justice systems. Finally, between 2013 and 2023, Epps worked as the Virginia Juvenile Community Programs Manager for the Norfolk Department of Human Services. During this time she created and maintained evidence-based programs for juveniles in the City of Norfolk. She also worked closely with the youth and their families to minimize further court involvement. After retiring in 2023, she has continued to be an active community member.
-Interview and biographical information recorded in 2024.