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Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council MINUTES – Approved as submitted 02/26/09 Call to order.— Chair Cathy Corry called the meeting to order at 7:03 P.M. Call of the roll.—Registrar Brian Pitts called the roll and announced that there was no quorum.
*Member Bupp arrived after the call of the roll. Public comment.— Disappointment was expressed at the shortage of Council members at this meeting. Approve minutes.— Chair Corry acknowledged the lack of a quorum and tabled action to approve the minutes of November 20, 2008. Reports.— (1) Report from the Chair.— Chair Corry reported the following items. (a) Update of grant review committee.—On December 4, 2008 Andy Hindman, DJJ Manager, Faith and Community Base Partnerships, replied to Chair’s request for update on delinquency prevention grants. Hindman wrote that funds were on hold due to state-wide budget shortfalls. Further information would come after the conclusion of 2008-9 legislative session in May. Chair stated that the Council’s Grant Review Committee will remain ready and available until further notice. Chair noted that a copy of the Hindman correspondence was emailed to all council members on December 31, 2008. Chair submitted a copy of the 12/31/08 email for the record. (b) Status of Blueprint Commission recommendations.—At the request of the Council, DJJ provided a status report. Chair emailed the report to all Council members on December 31, 2008. A copy of the report was provided to all members at this meeting and for the record. Chair announced that the Commission would have a legislative workshop at the Tampa airport on Wednesday, January 28, 2009. Chair note that she had forwarded DJJ’s public notice of the Commission’s workshop, by email, to all Council members. (c) Circuit 6 Juvenile Justice Board (C6JJB).—Next meeting of the C6JJB is scheduled for 2:00 PM, Tuesday, January 27, 2009, at 315 Court Street, County Commission Assembly Room - 5th Floor, Clearwater. Chair noted that she had forwarded the Board’s public notice of the meeting, by email, to all Council members. Chair announced that she would not attend. A copy of the notice is submitted for the record. (d) Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Council (PCJJC).—Chair announced that the next meeting of the PCJJC is scheduled for 7:00 PM, Thursday, February 26, 2009 at the Seminole Community Library, Seminole, Florida. (2) Report on School Related Charges.—Secretary Dave Plyer reported the latest statistics on Pinellas County school-related charges (2Q 2008-9). The report looks at 3907 counts of 129 different charges from 1Q 2004-5 through 2Q 2008- 9. The data is provided by the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center. (a) There is a downward trend in the use of law enforcement but it is not clear if the trend is due to fewer students or the schools’ use of alternatives to law enforcement officers. (b) Over the past 10 quarters, the category Plyer labeled as “Behavior” is predominant. It has 30% of all counts used in school-related charges applied across all schools. The remaining categories are “Assault & Battery” (23%), “Drugs” (12%), “Trespass” (9%), “Weapons” (6%), “Theft” (6%), and “Other” (14%). [The “Behavior” category contains two charges: Disruption of School Environment and Disorderly Conduct.] (c) However, looking at ESE and Elementary school-related charges, the predominant category is “Assault and Battery” (35%) and not “Behavior.” (d) Plyer will submit a list of charges to the school board for identification of those charges that meet its criteria for “zero tolerance.” (e) There was discussion. (f) Plyer gave a copy of the report to each member present and submitted a copy for the record. New business.—There was no new business. Council member announcements.— Member Bupp described the impact of the budget “crunch” on ESE schools. Member Pitts described DJJ and legislative efforts to implement DJJ’s Blueprint Commission recommendations. There were no other member announcements. Public comment.— A suggestion was made to return public disciplinary action in schools. Adjourn.— Chair Corry announced that there was no further business on the agenda and, if there was no objection, the meeting would be adjourned. There was no objection and the meeting adjourned at 8:17 P.M. Minutes prepared by Dave Plyer, Secretary, 02/09/09. |
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