Feb 17, 2012

Dear DJJ Team Members:

Welcome to my weekly letter. Please allow me to share the following news and announcements.

CONGRATULATIONS: The following students graduated today from basic officer training at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. They received a certificate for completing 120 hours of training to become either a Juvenile Justice Detention Officer or a Juvenile Justice Residential Officer.

Michelle Campbell (Manatee JDC)
Clifford Cates (Manatee JDC)
Joseph Cummings (Manatee JDC)
Willie Frazier (Manatee JDC)
Michael Gartrell (Manatee JDC)
Kenneth Goss (Falkenburg Youth Academy)
Lucrecia Holland (Manatee JDC)
Mitchell Johnson (Manatee JDC)
Bettina Owens (Manatee JDC)


These students graduated from the Instructor Techniques Workshop course on Feb. 15:

Christopher Hamel (Probation)
Bruce Hollis (Broward Detention)*
Terrance Levell (Private Provider/ AMI Kids)*
Josefina Perez (Probation)*
Katreeina Robinson (Broward Detention)*
Todd Walker (Private Provider/Miami Rivers of Life)*

*Also graduated Feb. 16 from Suicide Prevention “Train the Trainer.”

MOVING ON: Howard Greenfield, who has served as DJJ’s Chief of Investigations for the past six years, will be leaving for similar responsibilities as Director of Investigations in the Inspector General’s Office at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Howard has been a deeply valued employee here and our loss is FDOT’s gain. He assumes his new role on March 2 and we wish him the very best.

PACE SPOTLIGHT: From the Pensacola News-Journal, Feb. 16: “The PACE Center for Girls presented its annual fundraising luncheon Thursday afternoon at the Sanders Beach Corinne Jones Community Center. About 300 people attended and heard the success stories of girls who have graduated from the program and from girls who are current students. PACE has 17 schools in Florida and is funded by the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile Justice to educate and empower at-risk teenage girls. Lisa Miller, 18, is a PACE student and said the program has turned her life around. ‘I honestly believe I can do anything because I have the courage and the strength to do anything,’ she said.”

DETENTION SPOLTIGHT: Marianne W. Henry is a teacher at the Volusia Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Daytona Beach. Among her students are children who have committed violent crimes, are seriously behind in their schooling and often have undiagnosed learning disabilities. Yet, Marianne seeks to find and nurture the seeds of greatness in every student by teaching to their skills, talents and abilities. Although she does not teach art as a subject, she uses art to teach. For example, one lesson on Florida history began with students creating a collaborative piece, which was used as an anchor for a student-led discussion about the subjects within the painting. Students respond enthusiastically to Marianne’s creative methods. This year the Florida Juvenile Justice Foundation partnered with Marianne, showing the creative potential within troubled youth. Art created by her students at the juvenile detention center is being exhibited at the Gallery for Innovation and the Arts at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee through the end of March.

PREVENTION SPOTLIGHT: Cheryl Howard works as an accountant in the Office of Prevention and Victim Services, but her true love is children. She volunteers at Oakridge Elementary School in Tallahassee, a minority school located in an economically challenged neighborhood. She says she works there because she sees such a great need. She originally got involved in mentoring through a DJJ workplace initiative a couple of years ago and now she volunteers once a week reading to children in the school library. A grandmother of nine children, Cheryl takes them to the library all the time. When asked why she volunteers Cheryl said simply, “I enjoy doing it. I like helping with the kids, and they like me; it’s a win-win situation.”

RESIDENTIAL SPOTLIGHT: Mavis Little has worked with troubled youth at the Kissimmee Juvenile Sexual Offender Program Correctional Facility for almost eight years. On Saturday, Feb. 11, her day off, she cooked dinner for everyone at the facility – all 37 of the boys in the program, plus the staff. They enjoyed a family style sit-down meal of sweet and sour chicken, macaroni and cheese, rice and peas, and steamed cabbage. She said she did it because she loves children. The eldest of 13 children and a great-grandmother, Little was urged to apply for a job at the program by an employee who admired her work with the youth at their church. Facility Director Adam Bazini says the Sequel TSI program has one of the highest employee retention rates in the company, which may be part of the reason for its family-like atmosphere. Little agreed, saying, “We are a family. These are kids and we have to treat them as such, no matter their circumstances. It’s not just the cameras in the facility and Mr. Bazini who are watching what we do; God is watching.”


To all our employees, graduates and especially to Howard, Cheryl, Marianne and Mavis, thank you for your hard work and commitment to our communities, our stakeholders and the youth in our care.

Sincerely,

Wansley Walters

Secretary

PS: Please send any noteworthy or newsworthy items for consideration in my weekly letter to Communications Director C. J. Drake at cj.drake@djj.state.fl.us or call 850.921.5905. Submissions are considered on a space-available basis and may be edited for clarity and length. Thank you for your cooperation.