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20th Judicial Circuit Juvenile Justice Advisory Board Comprehensive Plan In accordance with section 985.664 (2), Florida Statute, each Juvenile Justice Circuit Advisory Board shall develop a comprehensive plan for the circuit. The comprehensive plan shall include data review and analysis of each county in the circuit and benchmarks that may include but are not limited to: Reducing juvenile delinquency Decreasing Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Preventing and diverting youth from entering the juvenile justice system Increasing the use of alternatives to secure detention Working to establish community resources to increase prevention, alternatives to detention and community interventions Section 1: Mission statement: Include the overall mission of your board in relation to the mission of the Department; incorporate abovementioned benchmarks as focal points of your mission. DJJ’s Mission: To increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency through effective prevention, intervention and treatment services that strengthen families and turn around the lives of troubled youth. Mission: The mission of the 20th Judicial Circuit Juvenile Justice Advisory Board is to reduce juvenile delinquency within our circuit through persistent application of our knowledge, resources, and status as community members and juvenile justice advocates. Section 2: Benchmarks – Please list any and all benchmarks you plan to be assessing as a JJCAB Benchmark 1: Reduce juvenile delinquency. Benchmark 2: Prevent and divert youth from entering the juvenile justice system. Benchmark 3: Work to establish community resources to increase prevention, alternatives to detention, and community interventions. Section 3: Now take each benchmark from Section 2 and apply a SWOT analysis: Include strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as it pertains to juvenile benchmarks within each county; this may help you determine the best opportunities to achieve your growth goals. It also helps you identify which areas need more direct focus. Benchmark 1: Reduce juvenile delinquency. 1. Strengths: Delinquency referrals in Lee County decreased from 300 to 125 from 2008-2013. Total juvenile arrests in Circuit 20 have declined significantly since 2006. For example, in Lee County, youth drug and alcohol crimes declined by 21% and youth property crime by 21% between 2011-2013. Seventy-four percent of youth in Lee County were at a lowrisk level to reoffend, five percent high-risk, nine percent moderate high risk, and eleven percent moderate risk (Juvenile Assessment Center of Lee County 2014 Annual Report). The reduction is delinquency has been observed throughout the circuit. 2. Weaknesses: Funding resources for programs that address problem behavior that can lead to delinquency Availability of transportation to existing programs that reduce delinquency 3. Opportunities: Investment in afterschool and/or summer programs to reduce delinquency Mandate educational programs for youth who drop out of school Enforce truancy mandates earlier Increase involvement of community partners; increasing court diversion programs, neighborhood accountability boards, and other pertinent programs 4. Threats: Loss of funding for existing programs that reduce delinquency Inconsistent funding sources Changes in legislative focus Lack of community volunteers and mentors Social and environmental aspects: family instability, lack of parent involvement, and influence of gangs in our community Changes in youth perception towards marijuana use 5. Which areas need focus: Benchmark 2: Prevent and divert youth from entering the juvenile justice system. 1. Strengths: Civil citation programs, which provide an alternative to an arrest for youth who commit minor crimes, are implemented by law enforcement and service providers in the circuit. Neighborhood Accountability Boards, a volunteer-driven restorative practice, provide an alternative in lieu of the traditional juvenile justice system for arrested youth who commit minor offenses. Intervention programs, such as, Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), is a partnership with Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Human Services, which primarily works with first time juvenile offenders who have committed a violent crime such as a misdemeanor or aggravated battery. 2. Weaknesses: Stable and sustainable funding resources for programs that address problem behavior that can lead to delinquency. Family involvement and collaboration. Transportation to and from diversion programs. 3. Opportunities: Increase involvement of community partners. Increase court diversion programs, neighborhood accountability boards, and other pertinent programs. 4. Threats: Youth failing from Diversion Programs due to lack of parent involvement and/or support. Lack of available space/facilities for youth diversion programs. Lack of community involvement in youth diversion programs Reduction of funding for Diversion Programs. 5. Which areas need focus: Benchmark 3: Work to establish community resources to increase prevention, alternatives to detention, and community interventions. 1. Strengths: Circuit 20 has a plethora of service providers that have prioritized prevention, alternatives to prevention, and community inventions. o Juvenile Assessment Centers o Drug-Free Coalitions o Lee Memorial Health System o MADD, SalusCare o Lutheran Services, among other. 2. Weaknesses: Availability and sustainability of funding for prevention, alternatives, and community interventions. Sufficient providers to meet community needs. 3. Opportunities: Changes in legislative focus to fund more preventative programs and alternatives. Aid in the collection of data for the identification of needs to help providers apply for grant opportunities. 4. Threats: Decrease in funding. Lack of community participation and collaboration. Lack of availability of additional funding to increase overall prevention and diversion programs. 5. Which areas need focus: Section 4: KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators): These will be critical in understanding how/why a specific issue still exists, help streamline the identification of improvements/regressions, and highlight proposed solutions to problems. 1. Issues: Youth gang involvement Increase in child abuse and neglect Substance use and abuse Delinquency Truancy 2. Improvements/regressions: Program/Service Enhancement Prevention programs Youth Target Age Population Policy recommendations Delinquency Interventions Community Challenges 3. Solutions: 4. Goals: Identify goals that can be achieved within a 3 year time span. Break down these goals into six-month increments in order to stay on track. What do you plan to do? Specifically within each county? Which areas will you focus on? Etc. 1. Increase community awareness of youth issues 2. Increase collaboration and communication of efforts 3. Advocate for availability of funding for the enhancement of programs Additional comments: Section 5: Operations Plan: How to transform goals and plans into reality; assess individual projects that will provide the baseline of your overall goal; how will these be accomplished? Human resources available to execute plan? If not, how will you obtain them? 1. Increase community awareness of youth issues With the collaboration of members of the advisory board, participating agencies will actively disseminate essential information to build awareness in the community on youth issues. 2. Increase collaboration and communication of efforts The advisory board is composed of a variety of sectors that reach different populations within the circuit. By increasing collaboration with additional stakeholders, we are able to collect a more comprehensive report of community efforts that are currently addressing juvenile delinquency. 3. Advocate for availability of funding for the enhancement of programs The advisory board will advocate for additional funding by supporting the Department’s efforts in the re-allocation of legislative and prospective grant funding. Section 6: Executive Summary: Should be completed last; explanation and summary of your Board’s plan, and how you plan to achieve your goals. The mission of the Circuit 20 Advisory Board is to reduce juvenile delinquency within our counties through persistent and effortful application of our knowledge, resources, and status as members of the community and juvenile justice advocates. Our benchmarks include: reducing delinquency among youth in all circuit counties, preventing and diverting youth from entering the juvenile justice system, and working to establish community resources to increase prevention, alternatives to detention, and community interventions. Our goals will be assessed with individual teams working on each issue we have identified in this plan. We will set goals in six-month increments that will help us to stay on track. We will address community awareness through educational and advocacy programs that we plan to develop within the Circuit 20 board. We will recruit the necessary individuals required to achieve such goals. We will continue to develop our plan of action throughout the course of our board development in order to fulfill our mission and that of the Department.