Feb 01, 2013

Dear DJJ team members:

Welcome to my weekly letter. This has been a full week so let me share some news about it with you.

ROADMAP IN PANHANDLE: This week I led the ninth and tenth Roadmap to System Excellence meetings in Panama City (Wednesday) and Pensacola (Thursday) since we launched the Roadmap in November. Roadmap Town Hall and stakeholder meetings have so far attracted more than one thousand citizens to learn more about juvenile justice reform. Read media coverage of our Town Hall meetings in Panama City (click here) and Pensacola (click here). The Roadmap’s next stop is Jacksonville on Thursday, Feb. 28 (Town Hall meetings start at 6:00 pm; Jacksonville location will be announced soon; check the Roadmap webpage for updates).

Addressing participants at the Roadmap Town Hall meeting in Pensacola Thursday night

FLORIDA FAMILIES FIRST: On Thursday, we announced that funding in Governor Scott’s Florida Families First 2013-14 Budget will promote juvenile justice reform and protect public safety. Click here to learn more about how Governor Scott’s budget will discourage delinquency and protect our communities, along with what others are saying about our funding priorities.

STATE ADVISORY GROUP: The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention State Advisory Group (SAG) held its quarterly meeting in Tampa Jan. 29-30. During the first day of the meeting Assistant Secretary of Prevention Services Wanda Finnie and other staff presented and provided information to SAG members, including an update on our 2013 legislative priorities. The next day SAG members toured three facilities in Tampa Bay: Falkenburg Juvenile Correctional Facility, a residential program, Hillsborough West Regional Juvenile Detention Center, a detention program, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tampa Bay, a prevention program. The meeting was a great success with DJJ senior leaders interacting with SAG members.

COLLABORATION PAYS OFF: The Alachua Community Resource Center (ACRC) Pilot Project in Circuit 8 (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties) is a collaborative effort between probation, detention and the community. This combined effort expands the role of the juvenile detention officer and enhances the role of the juvenile probation officer. The goal of the project is to strengthen youth, families and communities as kids move through the system by identifying needs and linking families with services. The ACRC focus will be on creating community partnerships, education and assistance for youth/families through innovative interventions. The ACRC will not only be working with youth and families who are involved in the juvenile justice system, but also youth who are at risk of becoming involved. Planning, training and implementation began in April 2012. The ACRC is expected to be fully operational in March. Community Partners such as PACE, CDS, and Florida Works are excited to be a part of this initiative in the early development stages. On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary Christy Daly, Assistant Secretary of Detention Services Julia Strange and other DJJ senior leaders toured the ACRC. Thank you to all who are making this collaborative effort a success.

Left to right: Juvenile Probation Officer Supervisor Melanie Kretzman, Chief Probation Officer Jill Wells, Captain Katina Horner, Deputy Secretary Christy Daly, Major Forrest Hallam, Assistant Secretary Julia Strange, Juvenile Detention Officer Ricky Ray and Assistant Chief Probation Officer Cathy Lake

MORE DETENTION KUDOS: On Tuesday in Tampa, a “Celebration of Champions” was held to honor Central Region front-line employees who are leading reform in our detention facilities. The winners were Christopher Marlow, Pasco Regional Juvenile Detention Center (RJDC) -- Attendance Champion; April Walker, Hillsborough RJDC -- Community Service Champion; Kacha Allen, Manatee RJDC -- Programming Champion; Anaya Epps, Orange RJDC -- Trauma Informed Care Champion; and Sheila Henderson, Pinellas RJDC -- Reform Champion. Pasco RJDC was awarded the Smart Intervention Award. After the awards were presented all of the attendees feasted on hamburgers and hot dogs cooked by Data Integrity Officer Al Lewis.

Also, Dixie Fosler is now regional director for North Detention Services (she had been acting regional director) and Superintendent Vincent Vurro from Southwest RJDC retired effective yesterday. Congratulations to Dixie and best wishes to Vincent on his retirement from state service.

Photos from the “Celebration of Champions” in Tampa

INTERVENE: Orange County has been chosen as the final of three sites for a DJJ pilot project aimed at improving the delinquency system’s identification of victims of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). This federally funded pilot project will enable DJJ to make research-based changes to the Orange County Juvenile Assessment Center’s existing intake process. Specifically, DJJ will be incorporating Shared Hope International’s INTERVENE victim identification tool. This tool uses a tiered, trauma-informed, strengths-based approach to identification and was developed collaboratively by survivors and advocates.

A one-day training featuring Shared Hope International staff was held in Orlando this week prior to the implementation of the INTERVENE victim identification tool in each pilot site. The morning session focused on the issue of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking, with a brief overview of the INTERVENE screening tool. During the afternoon sessions, the training was more interactive and attendees role played interactions with suspected victims, discussed interviewing techniques and learned indicators of victimization. For more information on INTERVENE, contact Courtney McCowen at Courtney.McCowen@djj.state.fl.us.

I have enjoyed seeing and chatting with many of you at our Roadmap Town Hall meetings. Thank you for your care and compassion as we strive to be the best juvenile justice system in the nation.

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.