Thank you very much.

Good morning, everyone.

Our coldest day of the year so far.

So thank you all for being here to join us this morning for our first full council meeting of the Public Safety Coordinating Council for 2026.

Before we do our roll call, I would ask that you all stand up and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

Thank you very much, everyone.

Um Miss Napy, may we do uh roll call, please?

Miss Susie Lopez.

Present.

Chief Judge Sabella.

Present.

Miss Lisa McLean.

Present.

Judge Francis Peroni.

Sheriff Chad Cronister.

Colonel Robert Ura for Sheriff Cronister.

Mr.

Nick Bates.

Mr.

Mark Proctor.

Present.

Clerk Victor Christ.

Brandy Williams for Clerk Christ.

Mr.

Robert Parkinson.

Here.

Chief Lee Burkaw.

Ruth Kate here for Lee Barkaw.

Miss Donna Cameron Cepeda.

Miss Deanna Obergon.

Miss Yvette Lewis.

Present.

Ms.

Naya Young.

Miss Amy Ruez.

Mr.

Van Ayres.

Lieutenant Vasquez for Mr.

Van Ash.

Ms.

Kelly Hammersley.

Present.

Mr.

Patrick Barrentine.

Present.

Chief Chris Daniels?

Present.

Miss Cindy Grant.

Ellen Snelling here for Cindy Grant.

Representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman.

Chair, we have quorum.

Thank you very much.

I would like to direct everyone.

Um does everyone have a packet this morning?

Okay, wonderful.

Uh, our last meeting, and I'm sorry that I was not here for it, was on November 14th of last year.

Uh, has everyone had an opportunity to review the minutes?

Is there a motion, Mr.

Bates, for approval of of the of the minutes?

And I'll second.

Thank you very much for the second, Mr.

Proctor.

All in favor?

Thank you.

Uh, we'll move now to old business and nomination of new officers.

Ms.

Napi.

We will now take nominations for the chair.

Mr.

Bates.

I'm not nominating this.

Lopez.

Thank you, sir.

Second by Ms.

Cameron Cepeda.

Thank you.

We will now have nominations for the vice chair.

Mr.

Bates.

Second.

Miss Cameron Cepeda, thank you for the second.

Ms.

Lopez is nominated as the chair and Ms.

Chief Judge Sabella as the vice chair.

We can now have a vote.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Thank you very much.

Congratulations.

Thank you very much.

I hear that's right in a row.

It's actually a bus, Mr.

Bates.

When we're excited about the bus.

At the back of your account, uh at the back of your packet, we um have the subcommittees that are listed.

And you may recall that last year at this meeting.

Um I just wanted everyone to get a take a look.

And I would ask that all of the committee chairs and committee vice chairs reach out to the people on your subcommittees to make sure that they are still involved, still interested, and are still willing to participate.

Um, if there is a need for subcommittees to meet, we did have a couple of subcommittees meet regarding um the bus that Mr.

Parkinson will be talking about in a few minutes.

But I just want to make sure that everyone is still current and still uh interested in serving on the subcommittees.

Does anyone have any other old business before we move on to the new business?

Yes, ma'am.

And I'm not in my right seat.

Good morning, Chair Lopez.

Um I do have a question because on the subcommittee list, I'm listed on the re-entry committee, the school safety committee, criminal justice, mental health.

Um Judge Jeff Rich is still listed as the chair of the Burn Grant Committee, and he's no longer on this committee, but I don't know if that prohibits him from serving us on the subcommittee and how you would like to address that, but I just wanted to bring that to your attention.

Okay, I'm gonna turn to Mr.

Parkinson for that.

So that means you are also now on the committee.

So thank you for pointing out that error.

Wanted him to be the bearer of the good news.

Thank you for volunteering.

We appreciate your service.

He's listed as the chair, so I'll just have to be brought up to speak about it.

We will be the chair, yeah.

Happy to help in any way.

And historically, when we have a new judge appointed, we'll put together a binder and then meet with them in chambers, have staff meet with them in chambers and explain the process and the GAG uh concept paper process.

Very good.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Any other old business?

Moving on to new business.

We uh have conducted the election of the new officers.

Chief Judge, I will speak for Chief Judge Sabella.

I know that we are honored to once again serve as the chair and vice chair of this committee.

Um we have the logo update.

Many of you may recall that our logo um had a little bit of a schoolhouse rock look to it, and so we had submissions uh that were presented and voted upon several months ago.

And you may notice that the background of your of your packet has our new logo.

This is the logo that received um, I believe an overwhelming majority.

Uh so thank you to everyone who participated in the voting process, and welcome to our new logo.

Mr.

Parkinson, will you please give us a very exciting update on the mobile probation unit?

I can absolutely do that.

Thank you.

And uh I know we have some newer members, so I'll give a little bit of background and detail.

Uh as a reminder, the public safety coordinating council has previously voted to support the Florida Department of Corrections mobile ranching unit project utilizing this year's justice assistance grant funds.

Uh the MRU project is expected to enhance probation compliance rates and reduce recidivism, especially in the area of technical violations.

Uh the other Florida communities that have implemented the model have been able to reduce technical violations by 27%, uh, which for us could mean a VOP case reduction uh of approximately 1,512 cases a year.

So we're all very excited about that.

Uh the model also serves to enhance jail and prison ranchery collaboration, which is a key component in making sure folks don't recidivate.

Uh, since the project included the purchase and outfitting of a minibus, uh the partners had to seek Department of Justice employed a department of law enforcement approval first, uh, which that process can be a little bit onerous.

But I am happy to report that over the holidays we received waiver approval from Department of Justice, and FDLE is moving forward on the project.

So, yay.

Uh I want to express our appreciation to FTC Circuit Administrator Barentine, Regional Director Mike Anderson, uh Deb McGuinty, and Eva Dyer from my office who worked very diligently over the holidays to ensure that DOJ and FDLE had everything they needed to support our project.

So it's happening.

Uh we are working on a contract right now to execute with the uh corrections foundation.

That'll go to the Board of County Commissioners for approval, and then it's really just a waiting game until we can get the vehicle outfitted for our uses.

Uh that the uh PSEC can get their new logo over to FTC to be included on the bus.

Uh last year when we were working on this, several nonprofits had stepped up and said, hey, if they're gonna be doing this, we want to partner with them and be able to go out there and offer social services to uh probationers.

So as the bus starts to get ready, we'll start reaching back out to those nonprofits to make sure that those partnerships are solidified.

So again, great news.

This is absolutely fantastic news.

I'm so excited.

I I wondering about a timeline.

Sometime in 2026.

I would think uh in 2026, uh, it's not like uh buying a Chevy over at the Chevy dealer.

Uh you got to have it outfitted, it's more attuned to buying uh a fancy RV that you have to have customized for yourself.

Uh but uh I think Patrick is is eager and ready to go, and he's probably already looked at what staff might be appropriate to dispatch the vehicle.

I know you've also had discussions on where some of the original deployment sites might be.

Uh but uh I would think in in calendar year 2026 it'll be ready.

And thank you and your team for everything that you have done.

This is really just incredibly exciting.

Um, and I I'm very much looking forward to a big rollout.

Thank you very much.

And again, uh Deb McGuinty and Eva Dyer from my office.

Uh, you know, very often I will ask them to do things, things that aren't always easy.

Uh we knew this there would be several challenges with this project because of the special permissions and waivers we had to get from Washington, but uh they jumped through all the necessary hoops, and and we're here today saying we can move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Parkinson, I'm not gonna let you go too quickly.

Will you please give us an update on another exciting project that we have on Orient Road?

Absolutely.

This is one of those PSEC projects that have been in the works for seven or eight years.

Uh it actually started before the pandemic.

Uh, and essentially, and again, I'll give a little bit of history for our newer folks.

Uh there's a ribbon cutting uh scheduled at the 1800 Orient Road jail step down project, and that's what we all call it here and know it here as.

But they have renamed it the Phoenix House Florida Orient Wellness Center.

It does sound a little bit more warm and fuzzy uh than the jail step down unit.

Uh the PSEC has long supported this project and has been involved in its development for about seven years.

And we were at a point about seven years ago, it's about six years ago, to move forward on the project, but because the funds that were being utilized uh were originating with the uh housing and urban development, it turned out that that giant fuel tank that's sitting on the property uh uh wasn't gonna get approval.

So we had to go back to the drawing board, look at a uh appropriate uh funding sources.

Uh the model was tweaked a little bit along the way.

Uh but I'm happy to report that we're here.

Uh January 26th of this January, one o'clock p.m.

There's going to be a ribbon cutting event.

Again, this is across from Orient Road Jail, the old work release center for those of us that have been around for a while.

Uh it was also our re-entry center, our Hillsboro Rancher Center.

Uh, it's going to be a 85-bed residential level two.

So this is licensed by the Department of Children and Families to perform uh substance abuse services and co-occurring mental health services.

Uh and of course, our goals are gonna be to reduce uh the penetration of persons with behavior health disorders into the criminal justice system, but also reduce that related recidivism.

Uh it's gonna focus on increasing access to treatment, improving completion of treatment, which is a big issue, and then increasing the availability to achieve self-sufficiency, and again, uh reducing overutilization of emergency services.

You know, Sheriff Cronister has done a wonderful job of putting in-jail treatment uh in our jail.

I think we are still one of the only jails that has its own six-month treatment program uh in the state of Florida, licensed by Department of Children and Families.

Problem is we release those folks and they don't often have easy access to community-based services, and this program is gonna help provide a step down for them to do that.

Uh, it's going to be a uh you know 90-day uh to 120-day program.

Uh, again, comprehensive behavioral health services and other social services link them to employment services, uh, to housing services, all those things we know that when they're released and they don't get, they tend to end up back in the front door of the jail.

So PSEC's been working on this for seven years, it's finally coming home for a landing uh in your handouts.

You have a uh some of you received a direct outreach from our uh healthcare services department to attend or speak.

Uh, but I think all PSEC members should see what they've been able to accomplish.

I know it was a long time coming, but it's here.

Uh again, 85 beds that we didn't have uh a month ago.

So very happy to hear that this is coming in for a landing.

Very happy that we have a provider, Phoenix uh House of Florida stepped up to kind of run the programming.

And uh I suspect over the first few months there's gonna be a little confusion.

We've got a new program.

What is it?

Who does it serve?

And then the provider system understands where they fit into the overall system.

So that'll take a few months, but again, these are these are good problems to have.

Thank you very much.

Does anyone have any questions about that?

Colonel.

Thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

What I what I would like we should get uh our our feet underneath this on this is with the assistance of the chief judge and the state attorney in the public defender's office.

Uh obviously being the Colonel over the Department of Detention Services, we uh we have uh not an exaggeration, hundreds of uh homeless or unhoused individuals who get arrested chronically for trespassing.

And as as part of their court processes, there's competency hearings that are requested from the PD's office many times.

Um so even if they were to be arrested, maybe they were gonna look at at 10 days, time served, they they're sitting in the jail for 60, 80 days waiting on competency hearings, which obviously the cost of of which so if we as we all get together and and realize this program with the clerk's office that realize that we can have this diversion from not being in the jail and the in the public defender's office to uh to divert these individuals to the new um Phoenix House, that'd be great.

It would help us on a lot of fronts.

Because you know, a lot of things they've they're dealing with mental illness, they're dealing with dependency issues, they've got health issues, things like that that really bogged down our system.

So again, congratulations.

Thank you, thank you.

And again, this is this is the board of county commissioners moving to do this.

It's it's been uh a while in the making, but without their support, this would not have happened.

And I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Uh the earlier that we can divert somebody from the criminal justice system, but the better for the individual, the better for the workload of the system, the better for the community.

And uh, you know, I think everyone here knows that we it's not just diversion, it's diversion and wraparound services, and that's really the key.

It's one thing to divert somebody, but if they don't have anything to prevent them from engaging the behavior that led them to come in contact with the justice system, they're just gonna come back in that front door.

So this is one of those types of programs that can have a significant impact on that.

And I agree with you wholeheartedly.

The more we can use this on the diversion side for the misdemeanor diversion program, the our both uh sheriff's office and TPD have a very robust uh behavioral response unit now where you've got clinicians going out with deputies and officers.

This would be an excellent program for those folks to use as a diversion to the traditional criminal justice system.

So thank you.

Thank you.

2025 was a busy year, and 2026 is off to a fantastic start.

So thank you and your team for all of the work that you have done to get both the Orient Road facility and what I commonly refer to as the bus uh ready.

So thank you very much.

Well, and I want to remind the PSC of the role that the Hillsboro County Health Care Department played in this last year.

Uh they with the support of the Board of County Commissioners were extremely supportive of some of our initiatives, mental health court, juvenile mental health court, veterans treatment court to get the necessary resources and funding we needed.

Uh and a couple days ago we had an incident where uh Washington canceled all of their SAMHSA grants for behavioral health and substance abuse services, about two billion dollars in services across the country.

Uh many communities panicked immediately, but I didn't reach that level of panic.

It was upsetting and frustrating, but because the board and Hillsburg County Healthcare already took the steps to make sure that the chief judge and our specialty courts have the resources they need.

I've I felt a lot better about that.

But Hillsburg County Health Care has really stepped up on supporting our efforts.

So with the specialty courts, and now with this jail step down program, I mean we couldn't ask for better partners.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Moving on to other businesses.

Anyone have any other business?

Okay.

You'll notice in your uh in your packet, there's also a master calendar for our meetings for the remainder of the year.

So I would just ask everyone to take note of those.

Um there is a spreadsheet that Ms.

Nappy is going to be sending around.

Um everyone has and if uh a designated replacement if you're not able to attend a meeting.

So I want to make sure that that is up to date um so that if someone is not able to attend a meeting that that that we send a consistent person, uh that spreadsheet should probably be coming around in the next couple of days or early next week.

Uh if anyone has any anyone have any other business?

Do we have any public comment?

We do not.

Mr.

Bates?

Motion to adjourn.

Please.

Second.

House second.

Okay.

All in favor.

Have a great day.