Purpose · Practice · People
Meet the Team
This is the team behind Just What Works — built from the ground up by people who have done the work, lived in the rooms, and committed to making what happens inside treatment environments actually matter.
Ground-Level Tools
Every resource on this platform is built from real-world experience inside residential treatment — not theory handed down from a distance. If it's here, it has been tested on the floor.
Sustainable Change
One training doesn't change a program. This work is designed to become the way you operate — not a workshop you attend once and forget. The JUST WHAT WORKS process is built to stick.
People First
Staff, youth, families, law enforcement, social workers — everyone who touches this work deserves tools that respect the complexity of what they're doing. This platform is built for all of them.
The People Behind the Work
Built by people who showed up.
Jason Rinker holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy, both from Azusa Pacific University, and is a certified ATD Master Trainer. His career path — from Direct Care worker to Training Manager — gave him a ground-level understanding of what actually works inside treatment environments, and what gets in the way.
He currently serves as Project Director for the Just What Works Project, funded through California's Department of Social Services, where he works alongside agencies and systems to improve treatment outcomes across the state.
Through a partnership with Echelon Front and the organization Why Do You Stop Me?, Jason has helped bring a leadership model tested on the battlefield and the streets to first responders — equipping law enforcement not only for more effective interactions with group home populations, but for stronger leadership across their entire community role.
His vision for every person who uses this site is that the JUST WHAT WORKS process becomes more than a resource. It becomes the way they run their organization and the way they do treatment. These tools and videos are built on real-world experience and organized to help you work more efficiently, lead more effectively, and enable sustainable change — equipping agencies, staff, and those in your care to adjust to whatever comes next and do just what works.
David K. Owens brings a rare 360-degree perspective to the work of improving youth outcomes — one shaped by direct experience inside every layer of the juvenile justice and residential care system. His career spans probation, the Juvenile Court Division where he served as a Court Clerk, and six years as an Administrator for an STRTP facility, giving him an operational understanding of this work that few can match.
David holds an Associate's degree in Liberal Studies from Fullerton College and is completing his Bachelor's in the same field at California State University, Long Beach (December 2026). He also holds a State of California STRTP Administrators Certificate and a ProAct Trainer certification — credentials that reflect both the academic rigor and the on-the-ground demands of this field.
That combination of probation, court operations, and direct care administration gives David insight into where systems connect and where they break down. He understands what staff face on the floor, what administrators carry at the leadership level, and what the courts and probation system need from the programs they partner with. He brings all of it to the Just What Works mission.
David is committed to contributing these real-world insights to a platform built around practical tools and honest resources — helping agencies, staff, and those in their care work smarter, lead better, and do just what works.
Jacob Arechiga brings a seasoned background in content creation, brand strategy, and digital marketing to the Just What Works Project. With years of experience developing high-impact content for organizations across multiple industries, Jacob has built a reputation for translating complex ideas into clear, compelling communication that reaches the right people at the right moment.
His work with companies ranging from emerging brands to established enterprises has sharpened his instinct for what resonates — how to build an audience, sustain engagement, and convert meaningful content into lasting organizational impact. That expertise is now directed toward a mission that matters deeply to him.
Jacob discovered the Just What Works process and immediately recognized something different: a framework that brings genuine purpose and meaning to the work happening inside residential treatment. He believes the clarity and structure of the JUST WHAT WORKS approach doesn't just improve programs — it gives the people doing the work a language for why what they do matters. That conviction drives how he produces, edits, and presents every piece of content on this platform.
As the creative force behind the podcast production and the visual identity of the project, Jacob ensures that every training, video, and resource reflects the same standard the framework demands — purposeful, uncomplicated, and built to make a difference.
Partnerships & Affiliations
Who we work alongside.
Echelon Front
A leadership consultancy founded by Navy SEALs, bringing battle-tested frameworks for extreme ownership and leadership to law enforcement, first responders, and residential treatment professionals.
Why Do You Stop Me?
An organization dedicated to improving the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve — bridging the gap between first responders and the youth populations they encounter daily.
California Dept of Social Services
The Just What Works Project is funded through CDSS as part of the GOALS Grant initiative, working alongside agencies across California to improve residential treatment outcomes at a systems level.
Funding & Mission
The work is funded for you.
Every resource on this platform — every training module, every video, every tool — is free. That's not an accident. The GOALS Grant through the California Department of Social Services exists precisely to remove the financial barrier between the people doing the work and the tools that help them do it better.
Grant funding allows this project to focus entirely on quality and impact rather than revenue — which means everything here is built to work, not to sell.
GOALS Grant
Funded through the California Department of Social Services in support of improving residential treatment for youth across the state. All training materials, resources, and tools are provided at no cost to agencies and individuals.
Ready to Start?
The work starts with a conversation.
Book a free call with Jason. No pitch — just an honest conversation about what your program needs and how the Just What Works process can help.
Talk to a Real Person →