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Record of Proceedings

Jacksonville City Council Special Meeting on Exchange Club Family Center Funding – September 28, 2026

City Council — Monday, September 28, 2026

BodyJacksonville, Florida

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, September 28, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 28:18

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

So I'll go ahead and start the meeting.

0:03

Um and um and let my colleague and my very good friend introduce himself and I'll introduce myself then we'll see where we go from there.

Speaker 2

0:15

Thank you, uh Councilmember Carlucci, uh Ken Amar, City Council District One.

Speaker 1

0:20

Thank you, Ken.

0:21

I appreciate you being here.

0:23

Um this is uh uh legislation that has to be passed at uh by uh by the end of the by by the 22nd, is that correct?

0:37

Somebody yeah, because otherwise the the the dollars we've we have set for it, which will have no effect on this year's budget, so the chairman of finance won't have to worry about this is not going to interfere with his budget, his plans.

0:53

Uh these dollars were found, I think, in a um I better repeat that now that the finance chair's ECA is here, so the message gets delivered.

1:08

This is a program though, um, that I've been working on

Unassigned speaker

1:11

with

Speaker 1

1:12

the exchange club for a couple of years, and I'm just not getting to it like I should have last year.

1:20

Um and I'm I'm just to give you a little background.

1:23

I met with the mayor's office uh with Charles Griggs and Tracy and uh Sue and

Unassigned speaker

1:30

uh

Speaker 1

1:30

some of her folks from the Exchange Club were here.

1:33

Um David Williams, Darrell Patterson, they're very involved in it, and they're wonderful community leaders in their own right.

1:42

Um so

Unassigned speaker

1:43

uh

Speaker 1

1:44

we had a good meeting, and so that I decided to have this meeting today.

1:48

Next week I'm gonna be on vacation um in serious search

Unassigned speaker

1:52

of

Speaker 1

1:53

uh 68 degree weather somewhere up in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

2:00

And we scheduled that a good while back, and then I found out well that's on a committee week,

Unassigned speaker

2:06

and

Speaker 1

2:06

I might have noted at the time,

Unassigned speaker

2:08

but

Speaker 1

2:09

but just um didn't know this would be coming up at the same time.

2:13

So um that's why I was hoping to have this meeting and so thank you, Ken.

2:19

Um and um and and uh the ask that I'm making to um um uh is is not going to interfere with the finance committee chairman's budget.

2:33

It will not disturb that at all.

2:36

It's money that'll just roll over next year.

2:38

I think the dollars were coming up from this is from um

Unassigned speaker

2:43

I

Speaker 1

2:43

think there were some dollars that were a hundred thousand that were set aside for um

Unassigned speaker

2:49

the

Speaker 1

2:50

mayor and a hundred thousand that were set aside for city council, and this is just one fund that never got touched.

2:57

And so um I think that's where this is that where this money is coming from.

Unassigned speaker

3:03

Uh no, it's actually

Speaker 1

3:07

yeah.

Unassigned speaker

3:07

Oh,

Speaker 1

3:08

debt service savings, okay.

3:10

All right, that's the other one I'm looking at.

3:13

Um so thank you.

3:14

Why won't you come up here just in case we might need to call on you to help us poor um council members make sure we're in the guardrails that we

Speaker 2

3:23

should be

Unassigned speaker

3:24

in?

Speaker 2

3:25

Umci, how much are we talking

Unassigned speaker

3:28

about?

Speaker 1

3:29

Uh we're we're talking about uh what 150,000.

3:34

How much?

Unassigned speaker

3:35

204.

Speaker 1

3:36

24,000.

3:38

Okay.

3:39

And uh so what I'd like to do uh for um the council member who's here is if Tracy and Charles and Sue um and any of your board members if y'all would like to speak to

Unassigned speaker

3:52

you

Speaker 1

3:53

can come up here and sit down, doesn't matter, um, and just explain your program.

3:58

It fills a particular niche,

Unassigned speaker

3:59

uh,

Speaker 1

4:00

council member a marrow uh that works real well with the journey, is that correct?

4:05

And um it's a direct contract.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Service Grants█████████████████████████████████████████████79%

Procedural████████████21%

Summary of Proceedings

Jacksonville City Council Special Meeting on Exchange Club Family Center Funding – September 28, 2026

This meeting was convened by Councilmember Carlucci (chair) to discuss proposed legislation to allocate $204,000 from debt service savings to the Exchange Club Family Center for its parent aid program. The funding would not affect the current budget. Councilmembers Ken Amar (District One) and Monet Holder were present, along with representatives from the Mayor's office, the Exchange Club, and Journey Forward.

Presentation and Discussion

Sue Watson, Executive Director of the Exchange Club Family Center, described the organization's 30-plus years of service in Duval County. The Center operates an evidence-based home visiting program for parents and caregivers, focusing on prevention of child abuse and neglect. Key statistics: since 2023, 90 referrals from the State Attorney's diversion program, 75 completions, and 100% of completers had no DCF involvement after one year. The program costs approximately $1,800 per child per year, compared to foster care costs of $40,000–$105,000. Last year, the Center served 231 children (150 families) on a budget just over $1 million; this year, with additional state funding, they expect to serve 500+ children (251 families). The requested $204,000 would fund two additional parent aides for Duval County, serving a minimum of 50 families.
Councilmember Amar asked clarifying questions about the per-child cost methodology and the geographic focus. Watson confirmed that Duval County provides 53% of referrals, and the requested funds would be used exclusively for Duval families, allowing other funding to support adjacent counties.
Dr. Tracy Paulson, a clinical social worker, spoke in support of the program's approach, emphasizing the importance of working with caregivers to break cycles of abuse.
Charles Griggs from the Mayor's office confirmed that the program aligns with the city's Journey Forward initiatives and that the Mayor supports the appropriation. He noted that the Journey Forward board has committed to monitoring metrics.
Councilmember Holder asked about staffing; Watson explained that the Center has 10 parent aides who conduct the in-home visits.
Councilmember Carlucci expressed strong support, citing low recidivism rates and the program's alignment with juvenile justice prevention.

Key Outcomes

No formal vote was taken during this meeting. Councilmember Carlucci will be out of town when the legislation goes to committee the following week, and he urged the Exchange Club representatives to attend that committee meeting.
The council members present expressed general support, and the Mayor's office indicated backing. The legislation is expected to be considered further next week.

Meeting Transcript

So I'll go ahead and start the meeting. Um and um and let my colleague and my very good friend introduce himself and I'll introduce myself then we'll see where we go from there. Thank you, uh Councilmember Carlucci, uh Ken Amar, City Council District One. Thank you, Ken. I appreciate you being here. Um this is uh uh legislation that has to be passed at uh by uh by the end of the by by the 22nd, is that correct? Somebody yeah, because otherwise the the the dollars we've we have set for it, which will have no effect on this year's budget, so the chairman of finance won't have to worry about this is not going to interfere with his budget, his plans. Uh these dollars were found, I think, in a um I better repeat that now that the finance chair's ECA is here, so the message gets delivered. This is a program though, um, that I've been working on with the exchange club for a couple of years, and I'm just not getting to it like I should have last year. Um and I'm I'm just to give you a little background. I met with the mayor's office uh with Charles Griggs and Tracy and uh Sue and uh some of her folks from the Exchange Club were here. Um David Williams, Darrell Patterson, they're very involved in it, and they're wonderful community leaders in their own right. Um so uh we had a good meeting, and so that I decided to have this meeting today. Next week I'm gonna be on vacation um in serious search of uh 68 degree weather somewhere up in Hendersonville, North Carolina. And we scheduled that a good while back, and then I found out well that's on a committee week, and I might have noted at the time, but but just um didn't know this would be coming up at the same time. So um that's why I was hoping to have this meeting and so thank you, Ken. Um and um and and uh the ask that I'm making to um um uh is is not going to interfere with the finance committee chairman's budget. It will not disturb that at all. It's money that'll just roll over next year. I think the dollars were coming up from this is from um I think there were some dollars that were a hundred thousand that were set aside for um the mayor and a hundred thousand that were set aside for city council, and this is just one fund that never got touched. And so um I think that's where this is that where this money is coming from. Uh no, it's actually yeah. Oh, debt service savings, okay. All right, that's the other one I'm looking at. Um so thank you. Why won't you come up here just in case we might need to call on you to help us poor um council members make sure we're in the guardrails that we should be in? Umci, how much are we talking about? Uh we're we're talking about uh what 150,000. How much?

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