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Home My WebLink AboutJCPC minutes 040717Orange County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council Meeting Friday, April 7, 2017 (12:00noon – 2:00pm) Southern Human Services Center Chapel Hill, NC Proposed Minutes Attendees: Meg McGurk, Sherita Cobb, Tina Sykes, Anna Orr, Peggy Hamlett, Stephanie Jones, Bernard Miles, Sharron Hinton, Penny Rich, Arianna Hinton, Conrad Weiden, Jay Bryan, Donna King, Nick Allen, Raquelle Hawkins, Amanda Farris, Samathryn Witham, Tami Pfeifer, Corrie Piontak, Pam Weiden, Susan Worley, Georgia Gamcsik, Robin Shores, Val Hanson, Gayane Chambless, Kate Giduz, Matthew Herr, Denise Briggs, Rebekah Rapoza (*Members in Bold) Absent: Tracy Perry, Dana Graves Excused: Carol McClelland, Kysha Thompson, Lee Barnes, Kristi Price Welcome The meeting opened with a welcome from Chair, Meg McGurk and introductions. Guest Presentation Matthew Herr, Policy Analyst with Disability Rights NC presenting on Raise the Age NC • In NC there are approximately 200 youth in YDC and only 1 does NOT have a mental health diagnosis; over 80% of the youth have 2 or more disabilities • Almost half of law enforcement referrals for youth come from the schools for disorderly conduct; kids with disabilities are more likely to engage in disorderly conduct in schools and are twice as likely to be referred to justice system • Currently in NC, all 16-17 year olds are automatically charged as adults (we are only 1 of 2 who still do this) • Kids with disabilities already have difficulty transitioning into adulthood and adding an adult criminal record into the mix make things even more difficult • Since 2006, some form of Raise of the Age legislation has been introduced every year; in 2013 a misdemeanor only bill passed in the House but died in Senate • This year things are looking more optimistic because of organizations who have recently joined the movement, including law enforcement • Chief Justices Commission recommends: o All 16-17 year olds are tried as juveniles except A-E felonies (violent) o More victim involvement, including being able to appeal not filing a petition o Increase information sharing among law enforcement • 84% decline in YDC commitments from 1998 to 2015 (1360  217) • Current estimation is $53 to $60 million per year to implement under Chief Justices recommendation; Independent studies show that we will have about $50 million net savings per year • House Bill 280 was filed in March with lots of support (reflects Chief Justices recommendation); some bills were also filed in the Senate – 1 matches House Bill and the other is a misdemeanor version only bill The plan is that the conversion will be phased in gradually; money will come down locally to increase JCPC allocations so that programs can hire and train more staff. It will also give law enforcement time to hire and train more officers. Minutes Review and Approval The Council reviewed the minutes from February 2017. Peggy Hamlett motioned for minutes to be approved and was seconded by Bernard Miles. Motion carried unanimously. Agency Roundtable/PEP Progress Report Boomerang – Served 135 youth YTD in Alternative to Suspension. Seeing a lot more females, especially for fighting. Past few weeks have worked on Florafiti – planting of flowers in word forms. Youth have been working on poems and will be planting words from their poems and doing a spoken word presentation and art walk. This is being done through partnership with Second Friday Art Walk, project of Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. Volunteers for Youth – Community Service & Restitution program has served 40 kids YTD, which is less than is expected. Program also serves kids through MDP (not JCPC funded) and those numbers bring the total served up to a more normal level. Teen Court has served about 37 youth YTD. Freedom House – Numbers are down, currently served 33 YTD. Have Common Sense Parenting classes coming up, including dads group only in Durham. A larger portion of participants in dads group graduate compared to regular groups. Dispute Settlement Center – Mediation/Conflict Resolution program served 15-16 youth YTD and Family Table has served 6 YTD. Will be running a 6 week Family Table program during the summer (across fiscal years). DJJ Data – February: 3 distinct juveniles, 6 complaints, 1 approved for court, 2 put on plan or contract, 2 school related offenses, and 1 juvenile on electronic monitoring for 28 days. March: 10 distinct juveniles, 15 complaints, 3 approved for court, 7 put on a plan or contract, 7 school related offenses, 2 juveniles in detention for 6 days, and 1 juvenile on electronic monitoring for 3 days. JCPC Business Funding Committee – The Funding Committee motioned that the funding recommendations be approved, with the Child & Adolescent Outpatient Services program being conditionally approved pending the outcome of a BOCC vote on a new position. The motion was seconded Bernard Miles. The floor was opened for review and discussion before voting. All programs were contacted prior to the meeting to inform them of the committee’s recommendations. Child & Adolescent Outpatient Services is a new program that will serve uninsured and underinsured. It would provide services for 10 kids, including assessment and counseling sessions. This program is being conditionally recommended for funding because there is a proposal that will come before the BOCC to establish a position that would serve Juvenile Justice youth, providing services identical to what this program is proposing. The new position would not serve JCPC program youth if there is no active involvement in Juvenile Justice. If the BOCC votes to approve this position, the money would not go to Freedom House and would return to JCPC to determine how to reallocate. JCPC Admin funds were cut this year so that more funds could be allocated to the programs to assist with their needs. The reduction in funds will reduce the amount of assistance that can be provided to program staff and council members for training and professional development. Motion carried unanimously. Announcements Two upcoming Operation Medicine Drops at UNC Wellness and Hillsborough Pharmacy. Durham Tech has Spanish interpreter program and is looking for opportunities for the students to do service learning and also gain experience so they can become certified. House Bill 435 is proposing to raise the age on tobacco to 21. Also included in the bill is that those under 18 could be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanor (higher charge than marijuana possession). Orange County Health Department has a needle exchange called Safe Syringe. Also have Naloxone kits available for free with training provided on how to use. Raquelle Hawkins is the new Juvenile Court School Liaison. Will be awarded her Masters in Criminal Justice in May and has worked with DJJ in Durham and Strategic Behavior, and served on JCPC in Halifax County when she was in high school. Stephanie Jones just completed the new “Train the Trainer” series for Child and Family Team, an organization framework for helping families guide their own treatment with one plan that everyone who works with the child agrees on. She will be holding a training sometime around the end of May on the new model. Consultant Update Now that funding is approved, program applications will be returned in NCALLIES and provided with information that needs to be changed/updated. Annual Plan is due to Department May 15 and Denise will be working with Rebekah to get this completed. This is a plan that is done on behalf of the Council with required BOCC sign off, and is required in order for funding to be released to the programs. CAY Legislative Conference in happening April 18-20. Denise is working with program providers directly on the Quality of Services Checklist to improve scores.  Next JCPC Meeting: Friday, June 2, 2017; Location: Hillsborough Commons, 113 Mayo Street, Hillsborough NC