Download Circuit 20 Comprehensive Plan - Florida Department of Juvenile

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)
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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:
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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
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3. Opportunities:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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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:
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Youth gang involvement
Increase in child abuse and neglect
Substance use and abuse
Delinquency
Truancy
2. Improvements/regressions:
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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.