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Good morning.

Welcome to the Circuit 13 Advisory Board.

If we could go ahead and commence with the roll call, Madam Secretary.

Yes, ma'am, absolutely.

Um Irene Masalek here.

And Tina Mobley.

Present.

The Honorable Judge Kim Brennan.

Beth Passick.

Present.

Major Craig Roberts.

Present.

Thank you.

Lieutenant Robert Polk.

Present.

Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda.

Miss Dorian is excused.

Can Can Chita Cantie Jones?

Quinn Rainbow, our new member.

Here.

Pastor Alfred Johnson.

Reverend Dr.

Glenn Dames Jr.

Claire Reynolds, present.

Marquisha Marquish Thomas.

Button.

The red line goes on.

Welcome.

We're happy to have you.

Sarah Grammy.

Thank you.

Good morning here.

Thank you.

Rob Parkinson?

Present.

Kimberly Williams.

And Madam Secretary, we have members that are attending virtually.

I see that Conchita Canty Jones is present.

Oh, is she?

Thank you.

Conchita, can you um unmute and acknowledge?

Anyone else?

She's unmuted, but it's um speaker's not working.

I'm sorry, President.

Oh, there you are.

Thank you.

Anybody else had to figure that?

Very different.

Sergeant me, I'll follow us from Temple Terrace PD.

Temple Terrace, um, police uh sergeant um Tandra, me a hop me a hopeless.

Sorry about that.

It's present as well.

But she's not a voting board member, so she is any other board members.

Madam Chair.

No.

Thank you.

We have quorum.

Thank you.

If you all would join me in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

One nation, under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all.

Our next item on our call to order is the adoption of the agenda.

Is there a motion to adopt today's agenda?

Motion to adopt the agenda.

That's pass it.

Is there a second?

I'll second.

The adoption of the agenda has been approved.

On the next item is the review and approval of the minutes.

They were provided today at the meeting and also previously on the public notice as well.

Motion to accept the minutes as presented.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

The minutes have been approved.

We will now move forward with our unfinished business at this point.

There is no unfinished business.

And we will start with our member updates.

Item number one is the Department of Juvenile Justice.

And I do have some information.

So let me go through my notes.

Currently, we have 1,196 youth that are open to DJ Jircuit 13 probation.

This involves any youth that are currently on intake status, walker plans, probation, condition release diversion.

There are 479 youth that are on diversion.

330 youth that are on intake status.

We have a total of 191 youth that are currently on probation and condition release supervision.

Youth that are on supervised release that would include ERC Evening Reporting Center, home detention, intensive home detention, and intensive home detention with EM.

We have 21 youth.

Let's see some updates.

Well, currently, many things are going on with the department, but it's internal.

We're working on internal trainings.

Many internal trainings are going on as far as excuse me.

The policies and processes that the department has internally for our probation staff.

So that's an ongoing process, some new update JJS features for our probation officers regarding submission electronically of violations of probation.

So a lot of internal trainings that's in process.

We are also navigating policy implementation.

Again, that's internal.

It's not really external.

So that's where the focus is right now.

Is that it's the beginning of the year and just getting um some traction on that?

In addition, um legislation is currently in session.

I don't have any updates as far as uh juvenile justice at this particular point in time.

As Mr.

Parkinson had mentioned, it's it's midway through.

So we'll find out more information as it happens and what is approved.

And lastly, uh just a reminder the Florida Youth Foundation takes youth of the month awards.

It's on the DJJ website.

Anyone can go to the website and look at that under the Florida Youth Foundation, and it's um uh submitted electronically, but the criteria is, and I just want to make sure that I'm that out there.

Youth nominees must have participated in a juvenile justice program.

This can include prevention programs as well, must be 19 years of age or younger.

Nominees must have no pending charges or violations of probation.

Youth must be compliant with sanctions, no discipline issues, and if on a pre-arrest delinquency citation, youth must be meeting required benchmarks.

The selected nominees receive a 100 gift card.

So just sharing that for anybody that may be uh interested in submitting a child that deserves that recognition to go ahead and do that, and that's the only updates that I have at this particular point for probation.

Does anyone have any questions from me?

Okay, thank you very much.

Well, we're gonna move on to detention.

I don't see detention present.

The only information that I currently have about our Hillsborough detention is the census population, and as of this morning, it's 50 youth that are currently in secure detention.

I will now go on to prevention.

Our prevention representative was unable to attend today, but she did provide me some updates.

And our representative is Brianna Sabag.

You're not gonna help me.

S A V as in Victor, A G L I E.

I think that's the best way for me to uh round that uh name.

So, anyways, some updates that uh she has for prevention.

They continue to promote the all data, excuse me, all pro dad chapter program.

In addition to the facts, your future assemblies at schools, uh, the gap discussions and demonstrating excellence in reading ice cream socials at schools.

So those are some of the um activities that prevention is uh sharing with our education and our community uh members.

In addition, prevention services is preparing for the one mentor, one child mentoring summit.

Uh the summit will be held on May 13th and May 14th in Orlando at the Hilton Orlando Altamont Springs.

I believe that this information is also posted on our DJJ website.

If you go to the website and select prevention, they're starting to post all the activities, um, summits and conferences that they'll be having.

Prevention service has also been hosting the Florida Fathers and Faith Network meetings in preparation, excuse me, for the Florida Fathers and Faith Symposium on June 2nd and June 3rd in Orlando at the Rosen Plaza Hotel.

Uh further information for both these events can be found on the DJJ Office of Prevention Services website.

And lastly, uh Prevention Services have been conducting site visits with the community stakeholders and contracted providers.

Does anyone have any questions for me that I can at least take and get to uh the prevention representative?

Okay, thank you.

And moving on, uh is delinquency citation.

Uh Mr.

Parkinson, were you going to provide the updates on behalf of Ms.

Royston?

Absolutely.

Director Royston was unable to attend today, so she asked me to go over her uh main points and her data.

Everyone should have this report.

Looks like this without the color in front of you.

Uh some highlights that Director Roysman asked me, Roys then asked me to address uh were the referrals by month.

November, we had 38 referrals, uh December we had 50, and then January we had 44.

Uh the current active monthly status is at 37.

Uh she also wanted me to note the referrals by law enforcement uh for this month uh were 44.

Uh and she wanted to highlight the really amazing efforts of Major Roberts to increase HGSO referrals, which have the just his efforts have brought us over the 70 percent threshold, so they're we're not showing up on uh the House and Senate's list uh that has to be reported by DJ J.

Uh so we're close, we're over 80 percent now, so close to 83, I believe it was 84 percent.

So uh, you know, it's really highlights the impact of what one member could do to improve our numbers.

So thank you so much for your efforts, and uh it gives us some breathing room to look at ways we can further innovate.

So thank you to Major Roberts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh in terms of events, uh the highest type of offense was battery at 17, followed by domestic violence battery at 12.

Um Chita Kanti Jones asked us to you know keep an eye on gender issues uh for this last reporting period.

We had 19 females and um 25 males, so there's almost parity there.

Uh the most frequent age was 16, uh, followed by uh age 13, so 10 and 9 respectively.

And then the zip code with the highest number of referrals was 33610.

So and that's the bulk of uh director Royston's report.

Does anybody have any questions regarding the update?

I don't really have a question, it's more of a comment.

I just wanted to let you know that the state attorney's office is still tracking cases that are sent to us that aren't referred to diversion, and we were able to send um seven cases that were not sent through diversion back to diversion, um, and they didn't enter the system.

So we we're trying to catch the ones that are slipping past, um, and we're very happy with the numbers, and it's being managed well.

So we're from our end, we're also trying to keep us moving.

And we appreciate that.

And I was gonna discuss that in the data driven decision making, and now I don't have to.

So thank you.

But you're absolutely right.

And we've talked about ways we can provide a safety net uh either at the JAC or elsewhere, and that's where you've been coming in.

You're catching those kids that that wouldn't otherwise be eligible uh and making sure they have a bite at that apple for civil citation.

So thank you for that.

And we want to do more of what you're doing across the entire system.

So thank you for kind of leading the way on that.

Thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

Our next item on the standing business is updates from Hillsborough County Children's Services.

Good morning again, everyone.

Just a few updates.

We currently have 10 youth in our shelter.

Um, seven of those youth are community youth, and two of those are domestic violence youth and one emergency shelter youth.

Um our largest update at this time is that our director, Patrick Menzi is going to be leaving us in the next month.

Um, not leaving the system of care.

He is going to circuit eight to work at the corner drugstore.

So he will continue with his mission to work with SinsFins, just no longer with Hillsborough County.

So as the department makes transitions, we'll continue to update the board, but just wanted to give you that little bit of information.

Thank you.

And I just want to recognize uh director Mimsey, he's been an excellent community partner and instrumental, as have you been in making sure that our DB respite program has been a success.

So thank you so much for that.

Thank you.

Any questions from Ms.

Griving?

Okay.

Then we will move on to the general member updates.

I see that um Jeffrey and Debbie Debbie Kane are on uh virtually.

Um Mr.

Kane, do you have any um updates that you would like to provide for GPS character GPS?

Um you're muted, so if you're unable to mute, nothing to add from character GPS right now.

Thanks.

There you go.

Thank you, sir.

Do we have any other um updates from our members present today?

Okay, very good.

We will move on next to our subcommittee reports.

Um, as stated earlier, um, Mr.

Parkinson will be providing the update on our data-driven decision making pre-arrest delinquency citation issuances.

Absolutely, and you should have the minutes from the February 4th meeting in front of you.

They look like this.

I'm just gonna touch on some of the highlights.

Uh main issue we were looking at is many of you are aware that that there was a transition in security services at our juvenile assessment center, uh, and that had caused some wrinkles in the system.

Uh and uh as is often the case, the sheriff's office stepped up to help out and resolve a data issue that we had uh, which uh pretty quickly resolved the issue, so thank you for that.

And it had to do with making sure that the data on the kids coming in getting referred in the Jack were getting over to the clerk's office and the other necessary and required uh adult and juvenile justice data system.

So that's largely been resolved, and that was kind of a hang up with the work of this committee because we're looking at expanding some of the issues that the state attorney's office is doing in terms of capturing those kids that were missing in the field uh for civil citation.

So this really kind of opens us up to start working on that specific issue again, uh, which brings me to our next issue, and that is uh draft development of a standard operating procedure.

So the concept is obviously with our civil citations, our law enforcement officers are capturing the kids that they believe are eligible in the field.

Well, the field situation is very dynamic, and there's other things going on, and sometimes we miss kids.

And when they come through the Jack, we were like, okay, uh, we missed the kid here, but we are fairly limited in what we can do to make sure that a kid has a a bite at the apple, and that's where the state attorney's office has been able to step in.

And she mentioned seven recently that were able to that were otherwise missed for civil citation that we're able to refer over into the program, uh, and largely they're doing well.

Um so we're looking at ways that we can establish a concrete operational process at the JAC.

Uh and the state attorney's office is always gonna play a role and be pivotal in making sure that we didn't miss kids, but a standardized process at the JAC, so we can continually measure every kid that comes in.

Uh we have previously looked at the model they have over in Polk County and the model in Pinellas County, and each model is is is qualitatively similar with some nuances.

Uh, but we've realized that the penells model they've really done a great job of going through the legalities of what can and cannot be done.

So at this juncture, the subcommittee has uh voted to work on a draft SOP to subsequently present to the State Attorney's Office, the public defender, uh the AOC, our law enforcement partners, and of course DJJ, and kind of get an approval down the road.

But we're using the Penellus model, SOP as kind of a foundation.

And I know that uh Director Roysden and uh Axe got a copy of that this week.

So we're going over it line by line to see what might be apropos for us and what we might need to tweak.

And then we'll subsequently bring our draft SOP to those key stakeholders that really need to be the ones to approve it to see if we can or cannot be uh whether it can or cannot be done.

And again, one of the the kind of uh confounds in our efforts was getting our uh uh Jack issues addressed or Jack Data Issues address, which have has been accomplished.

So that's where on that.

Uh let's see, we reviewed the pre-arrest delinquency citation reports.

Again, that's where uh Director Royce and just really wanted to highlight the efforts of the Sheriff's Office to improve those areas.

We're now over 80 percent, yay.

Uh and then the final issue that was discussed is uh Ms.

Conchita Canny Jones uh expressed some concerns over some gender differences in our juvenile justice data and wanted the group to take a better look at that data, and I believe we'll be doing that at the next meeting.

However, uh I did go through and use last year's data to try and quantify uh Miss Canty Jones's concerns.

Uh and I'm just gonna go over some 10,000 foot level issues.

Yes, please.

Uh we don't need to get in the nitty-gritty, and of course, this is based on last state last state fiscal year.

Um in circuit 13 we had 3,274 intakes, which was down significantly about 17 percent from the previous year.

So great job, everyone.

Uh speaking to Miss Canti Jones's data, when you look at all of all offenses and the sex split there, uh 74.6 percent of the intakes were boys, 25.4 percent were girls.

So that is a slight increase in girls percentage-wise from last year, but it's a decrease in girls overall coming into the system.

In 2324, we had 983 girls, and in 2425, we only had 830.

So the number of girls actually decreased uh total number for last year.

Uh Miss Canti Jones also talked about some of the sex-related charges, and again, not gonna go into details, but uh the preliminary data doesn't reflect the necessary increase in girls being charged with those data points.

But again, we're gonna be looking at this in detail in the committee report.

But uh the data actually puts us in a good place.

So now what I was not able to do is look at data from uh July 1 until now because we have to do a special data request because that hasn't been uploaded yet, but I'm sure we'll be doing that as time goes on.

But again, the preliminary data does not show uh any significant increases in girls being charged with certain crimes.

Thank you.

And from what I do understand, yes, um, our um DJJ dashboard data uh will be updated.

Uh what I was advised, uh it takes about 30 days, it should be up in about 30 days.

So looking forward to that data that is um provided to all.

Thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

Does anybody have any questions for Mr.

Parkinson at this particular point?

And excellent work by the subcommittee, uh the chair subcommittee, as far as continuing their efforts to address and uh uh lower the rates for youth that uh should be afforded the opportunity each month.

We receive data for the youth that um did not receive that on issuance.

And I can see uh for last month, I don't remember the total number of youth, but there was a significant decrease, which tells us that youth that are, you know, uh required to be afforded the opportunity are being afforded the opportunity if they meet the criteria, and also kudos to the state attorney's office for um navigating uh some youth that uh maybe slipping through the cracks to some degree to give them that opportunity as well.

And I believe also significant significant other dating, what's the terminology?

So uh intimate partner violence.

Imminent partner violence.

So the our program will divert kids as appropriate with standard domestic violence charges, but when it's an intermittent intermittent partner, uh they're ineligible for the program.

Right.

So they do uh SWIFT sanctions, youth accountability, which is number one.

Focused uh whenever a child does an action, there should be a reaction naturally for accountability, but the best course of action is to handle it uh swiftly uh so it doesn't um escape the child's mind of what they did, how they did, why they did two years ago, as opposed to two weeks ago.

So yes, we have uh great praise for that program and everything it's doing for our kiddos.

And it also helps to uh uh not develop a face sheet, which can adversely impact a child later on in life uh through their um later teen years and naturally their adult years as well.

So thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

Chief Hammersley, just one thing to add, and again, this is related to uh Miss Canthie Jones' inquiry at the data-driven subcommittee meeting uh looking at the changes in statute in the last five years that have shifted uh for lack of a better term, sexting and internet related sex crimes.

It's really a complicated issue, and the state attorney's office has been doing an incredible job of parsing through those cases and making sure they go where they need to go and are charged as appropriate for the individual situation.

And I didn't realize that until I poured through the data, but it's it's obviously created a significant workload for the state attorney's office, and they appear to do be doing an excellent job in making sure that youth are held accountable but not go completely overboard in terms of the nature of the crime.

So thank you for all that hard work.

Thank you, Rob.

So our next item on uh subcommittee reports is our student achievement, enrollment rates, attendance rates, and transition to post secondary options.

And let me just go through my notes here because I believe I have information on that one.

So the subcommittee um held their meeting February 13th, and um chairperson Chrissy Dorian covered the meeting, and the information that was provided for or requested was um collecting data from DJ J for youth that are on supervision status, just as a starting focus point, that would be youth on probation, remaining post-commitment probation and conditional release.

So the data that was provided to the subcommittee uh consisted of um dates, a specific date, September 2023, September 2024, and September 2025 to see what the enrollment date is.

We were just looking at youth that were enrolled.

So September 2023, uh youth enrolled in school were 80 percent, uh, those not in school at 19 percent, and unknown was one percent.

September 2024, a youth enrollment 82 percent, uh, 17 percent for youth not in school, and unknown one percent.

For September 2025, youth enrolled in school were at 95 percent, youth not in school 4 percent, and unknown 1%.

So, as you can see from those um percentages, uh we've made um significant impacts.

That's with the school uh transition specialists such as Chrissy Dorian, Melissa Russo and her team advocating and assisting the department and our probation officers and everybody um cohesively working together to um ensure that the child is at least enrolled in school.

And attendance is our next um step as we move forward with that.

But right now we just wanted to focus on increasing those enrollment um numbers, some things where we go with one percent.

What's that?

Well, it could be a child that has transitioned from going in to perhaps our detention center, which they will be um unenrolled from school and showing school placement as detention center, and sometimes they may come out within 24, 48 hours back to uh release to the community, or in some instances um uh Hillsburg County Children's Services.

Uh it may take some time for our database to get updated to show back that their current uh school placement is correct and accurate.

So we're working on a few of those things internally with the department to where we can be hopping on those a little bit quicker naturally.

And and Sarah, you did you have something that you wanted to say?

I wasn't sure.

I know you've been part of this conversation as far as that perhaps that one percent could be, you know, those children that fall into that catchment area of change of placement real quick.

I I don't have anything to add except for Chrissy's team is amazing in their efforts to ensure kids get into school as quickly as and safely as possible, is not unnoticed, as you can see in the data.

Um, you know, we still have a few gaps, but Chrissy is constantly looking for innovative ways to ensure that kids have access to education that's appropriate for the community and the the youth.

So kudos to Chrissy.

And and on behalf of the department, we are the department is looking at enhancing uh the data systems within our juvenile justice information system database where the probation officer intake, um, the juvenile assessment center, who's ever activating something putting into JJIS, um, system improvements.

I'm not sure what that looks like at this point.

I'm not sure if it would show like their actual grades or you know, attendance.

I don't know.

But it's sometimes it takes a little bit of time, but actually trying to work on those system improvements.

Um we really started the focus on education um achievement, post-secondary success under the leadership of Dr.

Eric Hall to really have to focus on that.

So uh we started championing for that, and as you can see, the data kind of reflects that too.

We have policies in place, processes in place, but also um encouraging and engaging our families on the importance of not just enrolling but attending, no in-school suspensions, out-of-school suspensions, um, achieving, uh, making it to um uh promotions to the next level, and naturally graduation and working on again within our residential commitment programs with our um community re-entry team, our project anchor, Chrissy Dorian and Melissa Russo.

So we're trying to capture all different angles that we can.

Um so, yes, I agree, kudos uh to Chrissy Dorian and her team as well.

So when we looked at um student enrollment, we feel that we've you know the team, the subcommittee felt like okay, we've kind of clearly addressed that.

There are some things that we want to uh focus on in our next steps.

I knew that there was some conversations as far as um duly served youth and navigating those youth that may have change of placements, and so that is something that is um under focus at this point, and also the changes um for school placements that may um impact um the youth if they are um working with the school system as far as um the nature of their offenses that may not allow them to be uh go back to traditional campus, um, other alternatives for them to attend schools such as the Encore program that's at uh Chamberlain High School.

So there are many different avenues, but that's still some of the items that we're currently addressing through the subcommittee.

And um looking at moving forward to the next phase, uh there's been discussion on um enrollment trends and related questions, discussion about the Encore program, umquired about any data on sustainability that was from Conchita Canty Jones.

Uh are you staying in school once they're enrolled?

Are they graduated or promoted to next level?

Uh those are some of the the items that um we as Department of Juvenile Justice doesn't have that data base to support that, uh, provide that data uh at this time, as I mentioned earlier, working on um improving those um uh systems.

And let's see, what else are we the subcommittee looking at?

Um as I discussed earlier, detained youth, DVU, school withdrawal and replacing back end youth that uh maybe at the youth gun offender program at the evening reporting center.

Sometimes that um can skew the data that we collect from um JGIS.

So that's the information that I do have.

And I know you may have some questions for me.

Uh I just don't want to forget to mention this one thing that um our subcommittee chair, uh Miss Dorian has served at the subcommittee for approximately one year.

And at this point, um we feel she does um as a cohesively, we're gonna agree with her request that a new subcommittee chair uh be nominated and approved to um oversee this particular subcommittee.

She will continue to serve as a committee member, but at some point uh she has asked that um she has someone else um replace her, so we can discuss that at a moment after some questions.

But I just wanted to put that out there today since we do have quorum for voting.

Uh Mr.

Parkinson, did you did you have a question?

No, I just want to concur with some of the things you said uh and and Sarah.

Uh Chrissy has done an outstanding job in getting to the bottom of the data issue that we had.

Uh it sounds awesome that we went from 80% to 95% in a three-month period, but what we found is a lot of it was data laps and gaps between certain reporting uh periods that are required by the district and DJ J.

And what she was able to do is basically monitor every single case to make sure the data was put in as quickly as possible.

And just almost just solely doing that, we're able to get to the 95% threshold.

Obviously, that is very work intensive, and I think you know, one of the things the committee is going to be looking at, and uh uh Ms.

Hammerley, Chair Hammerly talked about this is maybe putting in some processes, some automated processes for DJJ to be able to capture that data.

Uh Ms.

Canty Jones, you know, wants to look longitudinally at ways we can compare and contrast the various educational opportunities.

A lot of our youth are in alternative education models.

So maybe in three years' time we'll be able to compare and contrast what educational models have the best outcomes.

Uh that would be a nice addition to the system.

Uh I also wanted to let the folks know that we, because one of the issues that we pointed out is there might be a data gap in our youth gun violence initiative kids that are going to Safe and Sound.

A very good point was brought up.

Uh Geraldine, uh Jean-Pierre with my office, who actually is over the Safe and Sound uh gun violence initiative program contract from our county.

We went over and kicked the tires, was it last week or the week before?

Over at Safe and Sound.

Uh and they have some real good processes set up in terms of uh especially those kids that are in uh one of the adult ed models or that are involved in the juvenile ranchery education program, the J rep program.

Um they even have some uh uh staff over there helping kids go through their GED program, which is awesome.

But we did see some gaps in communicating that information to both the district and DJJ.

Uh and we we opined on that issue and how we can improve that.

So I I expect that in the next couple months that will improve.

Uh, but again, this is just another example of how that committee is working to find issues and then resolve them through committee work, or if it's something the committee can't resolve, to bring back to this full body.

So thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

Is there any other questions regarding this?

Uh yes, Beth Passic.

Yeah, I have one question.

Uh you briefly mentioned attendance.

How does how are we using the data to look at um we look at enrollment, but kids that are actually attending?

Would you like to go ahead and take that, please?

So the committee has not been looking at that.

The the first data issue that the first hurdle was making sure that kids were in school.

So the next hurdle, and Miss Cantie Jones, you know, focused on that a lot, is how can we make sure that one, they're going to school, and we're not having truancy issues, and then secondly, how are they doing in the individual educational opportunities and how can we improve their outcomes in the various educational opportunities?

Right.

And then if they're not being reported back if need be to the JPO or whatever, but closing that loop because I do see just in the work I do that kids are enrolled, but if they're not going, they're not moving forward in their education and they're not helping themselves get better either.

No, you're absolutely right.

And uh, you know, one of the really compounds in our data is the virtual options, and how do we objectively measure those virtual options?

Uh and each virtual option has different ways of measuring attendance.

Uh, and I'm not gonna go into the details, but some of them they're they're really low bars.

So, you know, the the this the committee has its work cut out for it in the next couple of years.

That's all I have to say.

Thank you.

And uh Conchita Canti Jones, I see your hand is raised.

You have the floor.

Yes, I like to um I I think that's a great question.

Uh, that uh I think as Ms.

Hunt that brought up, and um that's one of the things that I know that it's been in the district is that uh we do do a very good job of enrolling them, but it is challenged of how they stay.

Um sometimes it's uh the environment or the culture that is um going on in the school or what's going on in the family.

So um I would love for us to take a deeper dive, like I said earlier, if if they are sustaining, but I do love the idea that we have increased our enrollment.

Um I also think that we should have a description.

What do you mean with their enroll?

Is the child and the parent parent physically going into the school to enroll, or are we on the our system our enrolling because that looks different?

If a parent and child goes to enroll, it's more of a commitment than if we enroll them from the system.

So that I don't know either how we county enrollment.

But great job on our team of getting them enrolled.

And I I just wanted to highlight something that um a storyan has been doing for gosh, maybe 10 12 years now with the juvenile rentry education program, which is a partnership between the county uh success for kids and families slash crisis center or vice versa, uh, and then the school district.

And that's getting kids that are appropriate and it's the most appropriate setting into adult ed options, helping them pay for their GED uh and related costs.

And she's when she first sold this program to the Board of County Commissioners.

Gosh, I think it was 2012.

Uh is help me out here.

Was that 2012, Madam Secretary?

I'm sorry.

J Rep.

Did we do that in 2012?

Around around there.

Anyway, there was a change in statute, and then all of a sudden kids in adult ed had to pay for their services.

And that posed a significant challenge, especially for juvenile justice involved youth.

And Chrissy Dorian advocated vigorously, I think with everyone, uh state level, local level, uh presented at our board of county commissioners meeting uh gosh three or four times.

It was interesting, we had to bring a box so we could see her on the camera.

Uh but she presented and she she basically convinced the board to spend some money on that issue, and we've been doing it since 2012.

And she committed to showing the board the data of the impact of that adult ed program.

Uh and I mean she's tracking down to and and when we talk about tracking kids' attendance, she kind of did a 180 on that, and she attracted their educational outcome instead.

So it didn't matter if they went five times to a class or 10 times, if they passed the class is when she she documented it.

And she's been providing that data since for 14 years now, and it's absolutely incredible because she's even if we don't get a kid to graduate, she's tracking that we got them from maybe the sixth grade level to the 10th grade level.

And that's important because it shows progress in a kid and the system.

And you know, we always want, even if those kids don't achieve a GED or a diploma, we want them to be set and ready and have a foundation.

So if they decide something different as an adult, they'll be able to jump back in and continue their education.

And Ms.

Dorian has really set up a system where that is not only a possibility but an expectation.

And uh again, she's providing the data on it, and the data is always very impressive.

So yes, Ms.

Gribbing.

I just want to add to answer Beth and um Conchita.

What one of the things that we did discuss at our last meeting was that we're gonna be adding Amber Limerick to our uh meeting to further discuss data and truancy and attendance and what her social work team is doing with true and see to hopefully help answer some of these questions a little bit more specifically.

So what I would recommend is if anyone is uh capable and willing to chair that committee, they notify uh Chair Hammersley, uh, and then we can discuss uh at the next meeting.

Um and we can ask for a formal nomination.

We can say Geraldine has offered to be chair and can somebody nominate her and go through the Roberts Rules of Order stuff.

And and I take what you're saying into consideration.

However, I know that um one of our requirements is that um the subcommittee meetings meet each quarter.

Uh so that might pose a bit of a situation.

If Ms.

Dorian is unwilling to chair the committee during the interim period, uh I can chair it to make sure it happens.

Okay.

Um that would be um I'll take that and actually accept that.

Yeah, I mean, she's very clear that she wants a smooth transition so that there's not any dissonance or or or gap in progress.

And if need be, I'll share it.

I'll do the minutes and all the necessary support services.

Okay, thank you so much.

And and likewise, um, for the the subcommittees, um, I traditionally will be um on those committee calls when I'm available, or the assistant chief and actually uh Mr.

Parkinson's as well.

Um the chair will develop an agenda, um, send it to me for review, et cetera, edit, and then once it's approved, um, the department we upload it to our SharePoint.

And likewise, I'm creating the public notice.

I work with the chair on that as well.

And then uh for completing the uh minutes of the subcommittee meetings, uh, those are um sent to me as well within a time frame to where I can continue the process, revise, edit, uh seek consultation from anybody else that we were in the meeting where we may have missed some um information that we want to put in the minutes.

So those are some of the nuances for each of the um subcommittees.

And as a reminder, every um board member uh should participate in at least one committee, subcommittee uh during the annual calendar year.

And just one final thing.

I for I'm sorry, I forgot to mention this.

Uh Ms.

Geraldine uh asked me to just let folks know that in addition to safe and sound working with J Rep, they're also providing tutoring for kids that are going through the adult ed program.

So they've set up computer stations and have a former teacher providing tutoring assistance as well.

So that's something that we didn't have a few months ago.

Thank you.

Okay, I'm just taking copious notes here.

Yeah.

Okay.

Any more discussion on the um academic achievement, student achievement subcommittee.

Okay, with that, nothing further on that.

We'll move on to new business.

Um let's see, and we had somebody join us.

Pastor Dames came in.

I believe he's been knocked uh documented present by the secretary.

Doctor Good morning.

Good morning.

You're present now.

Okay.

All righty.

So new business.

Uh discussion of data and related questions.

So I'll poise this to um the cab as far as any data that you may want from the Department of Juvenile Justice.

All I need to know is specifically what type of data and more um information to where I can forward those requests to our um Office of Research and our director of um policy and programming.

And I'm always open to emails too, folks.

Chair Hammersley, I think the primary data need is gonna be the student achievement and enrollment data points that we talked about uh for the student achievement committee.

Uh and again, I I don't think we know what we need yet, but I think the first step is to see what we have.

Uh, and then of course I know that Mistorian is looking at what data points the district could provide.

Uh, and then we'll go from there.

Thank you, sir.

Well, now we're gonna move on to um our next item.

Um innovation zones.

And we have Conchita Candy Jones here.

Uh just to provide an update on um any development for potential um, first of all, a subcommittee, and then any identified um zones that we would want to um target as far as when we talk about the development.

Uh Ms.

Canti Jones, you have the floor.

Yes, so thank you so much.

Um the innovative zone.

I I sort of did uh some research, so some of the information, of course, I'm gonna read, and I kind of gave uh provide, I kind of uh did some bullet points of where we can start and some things that we we actually need.

Um, one of the things that uh just wanted to let everyone know that the innovative zone statute is 98.668, and on a high level, uh what it does is that the department should encourage each of the juvenile justice circuit board boards to propose at least one innovative zone with the circuit for the purpose of implementing any um experimental pilot or demonstration project that furthest the legislative established goals of the department.

So on a high level, um one of the things I wanted to point out that the innovative zone represents an opportunity to move beyond traditional processes and explore creative problem-solved approaches that addresses the root cause of the court that it is involved.

One of the things I also like to say about this subcommittee that I'll uh talk about in a minute is that we must organize, strategize, and make sure that whatever we decide to do is sustainable.

Um so one of the things that it says is that it is not just a concept, it's not just you know something that we're doing, that it requires planning, defining outcomes and accountability.

The other thing I wanted to point out is that the purpose that we do need a subcommittee, and the purpose of the subcommittee is to create an idea, clarify the scope, identify priority focused areas that we need, establish measurable performance outcome, and then the other thing that we would like to do, of course, is the problem solve.

What is the problem?

So I'm gonna give you an example, like in my field, and working with the DJJ uh population, one of the problems is the workforce is that there is a gap between um uh especially those students that are in the probation area, um, how we connected them to the workforce and and ensuring that not only that they education, but in my area, the workforce.

So, of course, what idea that can support with that or any other things that we find that are great and we can measure.

So the goal is to address the root cause, of course, reduce uh residualism, and then improve long-term sustainability.

The key feature of this particular innovative zone and opportunity for the um subcommittee is to encourage um structure intervention, um, also to integrate community and agencies and focus on measurable and outcome-driven results.

So, one of the things that I'm recommending that we design a um we create a subcommittee um that has uh representative in many areas, and then also uh be able to create a idea and um come up with a with a die uh a deadline when we want to implement that idea.

The final thing that I didn't find, and maybe someone here can help us.

Um, you know, we always got to talk about funding when we come up with ideas.

I know it's uncomfortable, but it is a thing.

So um, is there designated funding for whatever idea that we come up with?

Um, what is the budget perimeters?

Um, what are the timeline?

Do we have to create a proposal?

Um, so that is my final um overall.

So the great thing about the innovative zone is that you can think outside of the box.

You could be able to have the um the opportunity to create an idea that supports the DJJ population.

So we definitely have to identify the problem.

We all know in this committee we have a lot of problems um that we feel like we want to solve, but which one would be effective and that we can measure.

So the one thing that I'm proposing, um, chair, is that we um, in addition to addressing the um question, it can be offline for its funding when we come up with the idea uh is to propose a subcommittee.

So that's my high level of what the innovative zone is.

Thank you, Miss Canti Jones.

I appreciate you doing your due diligence with that, uh, since it is a bit of a lengthy read uh as far as the Florida statute and also um the requirements for um any um innovation zone to be um reviewed and approved by um uh DJJ leadership, which is the second assistant secretary for probation and the secretary of the department as well, once we actually come up with an agree upon the committee and the CAB as far as the finalization of a specific zone and what it may um uh require if it's anything regarding any changes to current um policies, practices, statutes that are in place, and anything that we may require additional funding.

Uh so it's a bit of a heavy lift, but it is an attainable lift, it's just focusing on that specific item that um that may um be part of our zone for two or more years.

So thank you so much with that.

So, with that being said, um I believe that we could go ahead and create the subcommittee at this point with um naturally um we can take nominations.

Uh it would we would look forward to um a subcommittee chair.

I personally cannot make a nomination, but I can uh we can accept the nominations uh the motions and naturally the nominations and do approvals as well.

So at this particular point, um would anybody like to make a motion for the the subcommittee chair?

And is it going to just be called innovation zone subcommittee?

Yes.

Thank you.

Uh as far as moving forward, I mean the statute's pretty clear we have to do this.

So uh one I move that we create the subcommittee and Miss Cantie Jones, are you willing to chair that committee with help?

Yes, I am willing to chair that committee.

And I I move that uh we nominate Miss Cantie Jones as the chair of that subcommittee.

I second it, Ms.

Passick.

Well, congratulations, uh Conchita.

You are the chair of the subcommittee, and we truly appreciate you taking on this added role with our CAB.

I look forward to it.

And Ms.

Cantie Jones, uh just some observations.

Uh, once we identify the problem focus area that we want to focus on and we do some problem solving, uh I think that's the key component, and then we could look for resources on the back end.

Uh so uh again, we and I hate the name uh opportunity zones because it's I mean, this could be a problem, not a specific zone or geographic area, obviously.

And you mentioned career development and career linkages, that's that's a good one.

Uh, but once we do decide what we're gonna work on, do the problem solving analysis of all the factors that go into the specific problem, propose some specific resolutions, and then we can find the resources, whether it be DJ J or uh Florida Network, or even working as a group to apply for uh a foundation or state or federal grant.

Uh let's figure out what the problem is, how we want to address it, and then we can look for the resources.

Geraldine's really good at looking for resources, so she's gonna help us.

Thank you.

I appreciate the high level of the of the um funding aspect because you know when a committee gets together, we get very creative, and and many times it don't connect connects to what resources are available.

So I appreciate that high level of um keeping us um focused in and um looking at you know the step which is what is the problem first, then bring that forward and then see what resources can connect to the problem.

Oh, absolutely, and uh, you know, I I see a lot of stakeholders get frustrated because they don't think dollars are there to help solve a problem, but I look at what we did with domestic violence respite, and we didn't get new dollars per se, we just reallocated existing dollars to serve a more acute need.

And uh again, with the stakeholders at this table, we know all that where all the dollars are and what might have some flexibility and problem solving.

So again, we might have uh resources already on the table that we can redeploy to meet the specific needs.

Thank you, Mr.

Parkinson.

Uh, do we have any uh board members that would like to partake and participate on this subcommittee now that we have a chair?

Are there any volunteers at this particular point?

What is it?

I can volunteer is that I'm sorry, Markesh Thomas Markash Thomas, okay.

Thank you.

We're welcome.

What does the subcommittee do?

Ah, very good question, and thank you for asking, Quinn.

Uh Quinn today is our newest representative from the youth community, and we're very pleased that you're able to join us, and we look forward to your input and your collaboration because as a youth, we need that information.

You play a very uh pivotal role in some of the decisions that we make as it impacts um all of the youth uh involved um in our community, whether duly served DJ J involved or prevention youth.

So thank you very much.

Um Mr.

Parkinson.

Absolutely.

A couple years ago, they changed the juvenile justice statute to require each community to create one of these in this innovation zones.

And it's it's a misnomer because it doesn't have to be a geographic area, it could be a specific issue.

Uh so an acute issue that has caused concern for the juvenile justice system uh and possibly the the school district or both, uh, and then to collaboratively problem solve to address the issue.

So a good example of something might that might be appropriate is a few years back we had issues with kids that were uh accused of domestic violence related crimes.

And we had a lot of them coming into the deep end of the system, and we realized that there's some evidence-based models out there, like the DV respite program that can help mitigate some of those issues in a system.

And we collaboratively work together.

We developed a policy on how those youth would be handled, and we realized we need a respite program, a place where those kids can kind of go and cool off, and that's where Hillsboro County Children's Services stepped up to provide a place for those kids to go and cool off, get wraparound counseling and services that could follow them in the community if necessary.

And that solved the problem, or substantively solved the problem.

Not that we never have those issues, but we have a very concrete process for those use to be screened, assessed, and get linked to services.

So that's kind of an example of a big issue that popped up and how we addressed it.

That would have been a great innovation zone, domestic violence innovation zone for us to work on.

But we've already solved that problem.

So looking at again acute issues that we have here and then applying substantive resources to address that issue.

Does that answer your question?

Kind of.

That's a good question.

So it would be at least one committee meeting.

But there's also takeaways.

So for instance, you heard a lot about uh Miss Chrissy Dorian's committee today that looks at youth achievement within the school district.

She does a lot of work on the back end to make sure that that that committee is a success.

So there may be additional work.

We might ask you to talk to your peers and get feedback from your peers uh within the the district.

We might ask you to talk to your peers in the community to give us feedback, and you know, we might say, hey, uh and uh in this case, uh Ms.

Canthy Jones talked about there's a gap in uh linking youth to careers uh after they leave the juvenile justice system, and we might decide we want to make some more concrete pathways for those youth.

I think we have pathways for kids to go to junior college and college.

I mean, those are more traditional.

We don't have the the the solidified pathway sometimes for those career pathways.

So we might say, hey, is this an issue and how can we address it?

And then you will give us your expertise as a current peer, because you're in that AS.

Well, it's been a while since we've been a child.

But that's where your voice and your expertise comes in to say, hey, this is you know, we might think, hey, welding is a great career path, and you might say, hey, kids are in the technology now, and you need to be looking at technology career paths, and then propose what those career paths are that kids are looking at.

Does that answer your question?

Yes.

Again, you bring a certain subject matter expertise that we no longer have, and we're gonna rely on you for to provide that expertise.

Okie dokie, may I sign up then?

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Madam Secretary, please note that.

And traditionally, the um subcommittees meet each quarter to where uh it's traditionally um via teams.

So um virtual meetings just to have that that discussion and get that input and make some decisions as they move their focus um forward.

So we've got you duly noted, and thank you.

Do we have anybody else that would like to participate on this subcommittee?

I'll also volunteer.

Uh one moment, Dr.

Dames.

Um was there somebody else that was virtually teaching?

Ms.

Cantie Jones, yeah.

Ms.

Um Ms.

Thomas had a hand up, so I was trying to have a question.

Oh, sorry about that.

Thank you.

Oh, no, I was just stating that I thought it was very fake because that's one of the courses that I'm teaching now with the career development course.

Yeah.

So Markesh, did I did I hear you're willing to serve on that committee as well?

Yes.

So what I okay.

Yes.

Yes, sir.

So we got three, and then me, four.

Quinn.

Chief, can I join us well, please?

Major Robertson.

Absolutely.

And Dr.

Dance, Dr.

Reverend Doctor.

Uh, for a uh another consideration for study is homelessness within the DJJ population.

Uh, once our children leave uh DJJ, sometimes they become homeless uh more often than not.

So that's another subject that they may want to explore uh as a um as a segue into what they're doing.

That's that's yeah, that's uh that's a great point.

Uh the Tampa Hillsburg Homeless Initiative is doing their annual point in time count, I believe next Thursday.

Uh and I believe they're still taking uh folks that won't want to volunteer to go out and count uh our on house population in the community uh and at various sites.

Of course, they do look at adults and kids during that process.

Uh I'd also like to point out that Tampa Hillsboro Homelessness Homeless uh initiative received a federal grant about a year and a half, two years ago to specifically look at the issue of youth homelessness, and they have an advisory committee made up of youth.

Uh so I think they can help advise our group if that's an issue, it's if that's an innovation area that they want to focus on.

I think there's a lot of synergy there to be had, and I can absolutely set up a scenario where they come and do a presentation and we can see what they've done thus far, and they also would be able to opine because they're a little bit further down the track on analyzing the issue that could opine on where they're at and if there's any on met needs and what those on met needs are if I could also add the homelessness.

I would I think that's a wonderful thing to pursue.

We have a significant problem with that with cases with children who have cases pending, um, unable to receive services because their families are homeless, um, and then it challenges us to handle their cases.

So I think that would be a wonderful innovation zone.

And to remember that we should also be worried about the children who are in this in the justice system already uh and their the issues that they have with homelessness too.

Yeah, that's what you okay, perfect.

Same page.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Anything else on this particular topic at this point?

Very good discussion.

And I've heard three great innovation zone area ideas uh announced just today.

So Miss Canty Jones will have her work cut out for her and some tough choices to make.

Yeah, and and I just just for a point of clarity.

Um uh Chair Um Hansley, would I be able to get that list of the um subcommittee that would that be in the minutes or so that way I can communicate through the process that you taught me?

Yes, we will get you that list, absolutely.

And is there a deadline um in um creating the um innovative zone?

Is it because I didn't see anything like that that said that there was a a deadline?

There's going to complete it.

There is not, and Miss Kenty Jones, uh you and I and uh uh Mr.

Egg attended the December uh DJJ conference in Orlando, and one of my reasons for attending was to kind of kick the tires with some of the other circuits to see what they're doing.

And uh no one is really really advanced on that issue.

Uh they're still going through the the kind of problem analysis phase, similar to what we're going through.

I didn't hear any concrete plans, did you?

Uh Mr.

Egg.

Assistant chief.

I did not.

Okay.

And I specifically went there to see if we could beg, borrow or steal from what another circuit was doing.

And and I I'm gonna be honest with you, we've had deeper discussions than many of the other circuits, and I'm appreciative of that, but uh I think it also speaks to folks kind of being blindsided initially when it was put into statute, and then uh just having a challenging time deciding what to focus on.

I agree.

I actually sit on the circuit six, and they didn't even they they never heard of it, to be honest with you.

So I was going to share the information.

So you're absolutely spot on.

Um no one is really talking about it, so maybe we will be the leading force to make it happen.

We're always the lead, so I'm we're I'm sure we will.

And uh again, you've got some really good ideas today.

Uh we do we need you to have at least one meeting between now and the next full council meeting.

Uh so we'll we'll make sure that you have the name of the members and their email addresses so you can start that scheduling.

And of course, everything has to work through Chief Hammersley for Sunshine Law Requirements.

Okay, so well.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Okay.

I think we're ready to move on to um item number C under New Business.

That's the presentation by Tina Miller, who serves as the executive director of the Florida Recovery Schools of Tampa Bay Incorporated.

Good morning.

Thank you so much.

I'll make it really fast because I know that you guys are running over a little bit.

So my name is Tina Miller.

I'm the founder and executive director of Florida Recovery Schools of Tampa Bay.

I used to work for the Department of Juvenile Justice, and I actually found a gap in services.

So I resigned from the Department of Juvenile Justice and I started my own nonprofit organization of Florida Recovery Schools of Tampa Bay.

I have since opened three sober schools in Tampa Bay.

I have the only recovery high schools in Florida.

And this is just a good visual of what we do at Victory High School.

As you can see, the young men, their pictures above are before they attend Victory High School, and they were all addicted to drugs.

And the gap in services that I identified six years ago was that young people would attend the detention center struggling with drugs and mental illness.

And when they would be released back into the environment, they would go to their traditional school and they would relapse and they would come right back into detention.

And so I created these schools to be a safe healing-centered environment.

They're totally free to the public, and we are a nonprofit private school.

We do have one here in Tampa, one in Newport Richie, and one in Pinellas Park.

But I would just want to touch real quick on the personal stories of these young men that are now success stories.

So the young man on the left, he was in psychosis from Delta 8, and all of the gas station, you know, chemicals that young people are smoking nowadays.

And as you can see, he graduated with us, he earned his diploma.

He holds the highest GPA at Victory High Schools, a 4.1.

The young man in the middle, Zach, we actually almost lost him.

He had attended six drug treatment centers before the age of 16.

He was shooting up with purple fentanyl under his toenails.

And he graduated with us.

And he actually earned his wind energy certification last June.

He now climbs out 300 feet, and he uh actually installs the turbines throughout the country.

Uh the young man all the way to the right, he was my second graduate, James, and he actually uh graduated with a 3.98 GPA.

Uh and he is he just got accepted into the University of Tampa under pre-med.

Uh what has happened is when my students graduate and earn their diploma, they keep coming back.

And I'm like, you have your diploma, you don't need to come back.

Um, but I had to uh actually create a mentorship program.

Uh so I have their um graduates, so now they are mentors and they do work for me, and I job coach them and they help other students.

So these numbers, I actually just got an update uh from my operations manager that um these numbers have actually increased.

Um, the bottom number should be 54 as of this morning.

Uh so 34 overdoses our students have survived before coming to our schools.

54 suicide attempts our students have survived before coming to our schools.

Since attending our schools, average amount is 139 days, zero suicide attempts, zero overdoses.

We are, like I said, a nonprofit private school, and we accept step up for students' scholarships.

I've written over 100 grants, so we don't charge our families a penny.

Like I said, we have a school here in Tampa, Pinellas Park, Newport Richie.

Our primary goal is to save young people's lives.

Our secondary goals is to improve school attendance and reduce dropout rates, increase graduation rates, reduce uh relapse, improve mental health, and we actually save society.

So I don't, I'm not sure if you're if you know that.

When a person is in the darkness of addiction and struggling with addictions and mental illness, they cost society about 75,000 a year, uh incarcerations, hospitalizations, and all of that.

Uh, we actually provide uh our students with mental health services, recovery support, and an education for under $30,000 per student.

This is there is a research, national research actually, that is based on young people that do attend recovery high schools throughout the nation, and they are 82% more apt to graduate with their diploma than those that do not attend a recovery high school.

So, as you can see, we do um equine therapy with many horses, and the young lady on the right, she was our first graduate.

Um, as you can see, we get our students high naturally, which is zip lining and other activities.

Our school is very different.

We do not sit in you know four walls and a ceiling in a classroom all day.

That is just not how our students learn.

Uh as you can see, Bat Batman has uh attended our school.

But um, we do um art classes, drumming classes, guitar classes every week, equine therapy once a month.

And we take them fishing, kayaking, zip blinding, you name it.

And um, our students absolutely love it.

Uh just wanted to show you some statistics.

So we since uh 2021 of opening the first school, we've had 30 graduates that have earned their diplomas with us.

Our uh average attendance rate is 84 percent right now in all three schools.

Recovery rate is 90 percent.

Average GPA among our students at all three schools is 3.4.

And um 97% actually avoided entering uh the juvenile justice system.

I want to touch real quick and give you a little personal story about the young man on the left, first one in his family to earn his diploma.

He actually just texted me the other day, he is gonna go work on the shrimp boats.

He just got a new job.

Uh and so, and then the young man on the right, Alex, we almost lost him.

He had about a year of sobriety, he got in a car crash, didn't have a seatbelt on, and he ended up in a coma for five days.

So Alex had to learn how to talk and walk all over again.

He did earn his diploma with us, and he actually received a scholarship to go to Bryant and Stratton to play baseball.

Uh we also have another young man, they got a full ride scholarship to football.

So he's up in the University of Rio Grande in Ohio playing football and sober.

The reason why I'm here today is I wanted to invite you to a free community event that we're offering for law enforcement officers, juvenile justice uh workers, as well as mental health providers, parents, guardians, educators, and uh faith community.

Uh we are inviting them Saturday, March 7th from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

We're providing lunch, and it's gonna it's at NOVA Southeastern University in Clearwater, and it's an incredible time because so often we focus on the prevention part, the intervention, the treatment of young people, but we forget about when they get sober, then what happens.

And so we're going to uh be coming together and actually uh advocating for these young people uh to pursue sobriety and the success for their lives.

Any questions?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh and just I I'm not sure if I said ages 14 to 19 years old, and they can actually uh you can go to refer to victory.com to actually uh refer a student and anyone can refer a student.

Do you have transportation?

We do not have transportation, and that has uh it's been a struggle, however.

I just emailed Clara this morning.

Uh that has been a struggle, however, there has been very generous people in the community that have donated uh towards Uber gift cards, and so that's kind of how we're dealing with um two of our students in Plant City uh to attend the Tampa school.

They are on track to graduate uh in May.

So uh yeah, that's um that's always been a struggle.

So if anyone has a van, you know, sitting around that you want to donate, please do.

And do they go for their entire four-year high school career, or is it like a one-year program, and then they good question.

Actually, the majority of our students they'll come to us maybe after they have successfully completed residential drug treatment, and they'll uh attend uh victory, they receive mental health counseling, group therapy, expressive art therapy, and all of that.

We stabilize them.

Majority of our students we transition back into the public school district.

Yes.

So just some comments, uh great presentation.

Thank you.

I've had the opportunity to go uh to your Tampa uh school uh a few years ago, a couple years ago when you opened it up.

I've subsequently uh had the chance to meet with some of your students over the years.

I'm always very impressed with them.

They're always very open and transparent uh about some of the challenges that they've experienced.

Uh and you just to name a few, you know, when a kid gets march manacted or baker acted or overdosed, the stigma that they have to deal with and going back into the traditional school system creates so many challenges for them, and that's something that your school completely eliminates.

It's a peer recovery model where they're able to talk to other kids that have gone through, are going through the same thing.

It builds a sense of family that they maybe didn't have.

And you talked about some of the kids wanting to come back and creating that mentorship program.

I mean, every kid that I've talked to considers the recovery school a pseudo-family.

And that is something absolutely incredible because you know in a year, two year, five-year time, if they're experiencing challenges again, they're gonna reach out to help for somebody.

Absolutely.

And that's key, and that's an important foundation of all our recovery programs.

The Board of County Commissioners helped get the Hillsborough Recovery Coalition off the ground.

Uh, and they just got a building.

Uh I was thinking it was last month that we had the uh grand opening.

Uh they helped get the mental health clubhouse off the ground.

And that is one of the constant themes you see with these recovery-oriented programs where the peers that are going through these challenges are helping to support the other peers.

So absolutely incredible.

We appreciate what you're doing.

Thank you.

Um many of you that are aware, because we've talked about it in the past, uh, Hillsborough County got a fairly copious amount of opioid response dollars uh because of the opioid crisis, a number of jurisdictions, including Hillsboro County sued the drug manufacturers for the impact of of those drugs on our community.

Uh the county got uh 18, 19 million dollars.

I can't remember the exact number off the top of my head.

And they we have subsequently put it out on the street.

The Board of County Commissioners is funding not only adult programs, because they often seem to be the loudest one in the room, right?

Yes, but they're also have funded juvenile programs, and I know that you had had the opportunity to partake in some of that funding.

I'm very grateful for it.

And just so you know, it's it's not just me advocating for services for youth in that environment.

It's also the public defender's office, it's also the state attorney's office, who had a key voice during that behavioral health task force uh assessment process and then making the subsequent recommendations.

Thank you all so much.

So we're all behind you.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Thank you for the I did want to add two things.

We are accredited through the National Association of Recovery Schools.

And uh in that accreditation process, they actually asked us what is our continuum of care, what is our discharge look like with our students?

I'm like, we never just started them.

I mean, I still am working with Christina, our first graduate and providing mental health counseling and all that.

So I mean, you know, I guess we're kind of like a gang where you know once you're part of victory, you're never gonna get out.

But um, yeah, so uh and also um just a touch space.

I think it's really important.

We are a family and our staff uh among my staff.

We have over a hundred years of sobriety ourselves, so that's pretty cool.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Executive Director Miller, I appreciate that.

And um, I'll make sure to share your PowerPoint with our public notice to where everybody has access to that for that information accordingly.

Um at this point, I will ask do we have any public comments?

Okay, it appears we have no cards, comment cards, and we don't appear to have any public comment virtually.

Thank you, co-chair.

At this point, uh, prior to adjournment, I just wanted to note that our next meeting will be held on uh Friday, May 22nd, 10 a.m.

at the location where we're currently uh holding the meeting today, which is 601 East Kennedy Boulevard, the 26th floor, conference room A and B, Tampa, Florida, 33602.

I want to thank everybody uh for attending today.

We appreciate each and every one of you.

The meeting will now be adjourned.