Orange County 2^nd Annual Healthy Minds Healthy Lives Community Resource Event 

On May 19th 2012, Orange County Government (Wraparound Orange / The Oaks Community Intervention Program, the Orange County Juvenile Justice Council and other Youth and Family Services Programs) in addition to the Department of Juvenile Justice (Circuit 9) sponsored the “2nd Annual Healthy Minds Healthy Lives Event.” The overall goal of the event was to educate the community on the various social services available throughout Orange County.  Approximately 400 adults and children attended this free event.  The community resource event was held during Mental Health Awareness Month in May and was facilitated at Barnett Park on the west side of Orlando in zip codes 32808 and 32818 which has the highest juvenile delinquency rate in the state.  The event included forty (40) social service vendors who provided the public with information related to mental health services, delinquency prevention, mentoring, substance abuse counseling, and dependency information.   

During the event, Orange County Fire Rescue grilled hotdogs and hamburgers for the public. The Department of Juvenile Justice, the Orange County Youth Shelter, and the Orange County Oaks Community Intervention Program and other agencies provided twenty-three (23) juvenile probation officers and various staff members to assist with set-up and the preparation of the event. The event also allowed sixty-seven (67) youths to earn community service work hours for their assistance throughout the day. The youths completed various tasks which included disposing of trash, table set-up, and distributing food and drinks to members of the public. Cumulatively, a total of 469 hours of community service were performed during the event by juveniles under the supervision of the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Oaks Program.  Circuit 5 Juvenile Justice Conference

Circuit 5 Juvenile Justice Board held its Annual Juvenile Justice Conference in Oxford, Florida on May 4, 2012 at the Oxford Assembly of God.  The church provided use of their facility free of charge.  The conference was provided FREE to all participants and offered CEUs.   Circuit 5 Board members and community partners volunteered their service and time to present on several topics that connected with the theme i Connect.  There were 4 breakout sessions offering 13 workshops and 2 large group sessions.  The workshops included several of DJJ’s initiatives such as Trauma Informed Care, Minor Sex Trafficking, Connecting with Faith Partners, and Gender Specific.  The keynote speaker was Kevin M. Gilpin, Executive Director for the National Crime Stop Program who addressed how to protect yourself from being victims of identity theft and other crimes. There were over 190 attendees at the conference.   

 This year’s awards were presented to: Juvenile Probation Officer of the County/Circuit: Jessica Hernandez – Citrus; Ian Harper – Hernando; Chris Bray – Lake; Bernika Stokes – Marion; Dennis Flory – Sumter; JPO of the Year for the Circuit – Dennis Flory; Juvenile Detention ; Lt. Larry Smith and Cpl. Leon Madison; Child Protective Investigator (CPI) by county - this was in partnership with DCF; Jessie Peirce – Citrus; Shellie McCollister – Marion; Marty Fuqua – Sumter; Diana Gibbs – Hernando; Nichole James – Lake; School Social Worker of the Year – by county; Janey Boyack – Lake; Jackie Rivera – Marion; Cynthia Jackson – Hernando.  Kudos to Circuit 5 Juvenile Justice Board and there community partners for hosting an outstanding conference.

Circuit 11 Juvenile Justice Board Retreat

The C11 Juvenile Justice Board held its board retreat in December 2011 which turned out approximately 60 participants. Participants included Circuit 11 Juvenile Justice Board members, Representative Cynthia Stafford, Representative Luis Garcia, Mayor Phillip Stoddard, Mayor Myra Taylor, DJJ Prevention Providers, The Children’s Trust, representatives from the school Board, representatives from the Juvenile Services Department, various police municipalities, Miami-Dade Public Schools administrators and community-based organizations. Probation staff also assisted with facilitating breakout sessions. Positive feedback was received from those in attendance.

The purpose of the retreat was to:

• Inform the attendees of the function of the Juvenile Justice Board and to make the community aware of its initiatives,
• Share Circuit 11 data and trends,
• Identify the areas of strength in Circuit 11 DJJ,
• Identify challenges in achieving results in Circuit 11 DJJ,
• Identify gaps in services for youth and families,
• Update current strategic plan utilized to guide Circuit 11 DJJ initiatives, and
• Share the 2012 Legislative Agenda.

Among other information, the recent DJJ Delinquency in Florida’s Schools was included in the packet of information provided to the participants.

The breakout sessions topics were: 

• Prevention,
• Youth Violence,
• Legislative Development, and
• Education and Literacy.

The breakout sessions focused on data to determine what the data tells about how things are progressing in the area; strengths currently in place that contribute to help things get better; barriers and challenges that have negatively impacted the topic of discussion, identification of action steps necessary to achieve measurable results in each of the topic areas; to develop strategies/action recommendations. The recommendations from the breakout sessions coincide with the current Circuit Board Prevention Plan Goals.