why we do it! youth benefits improved academic performance – grades, attendances, referrals...

Why We Do It!YOUTH BENEFITS

• Improved academic performance– Grades, attendances, referrals

• Ability to address transportation issues • Appropriate educational placements

• Shared evaluations/assessments

• Needs of the youth • Less FTAs

Why We Do It!COURT SYSTEM BENEFITS

• Better educational outcomes for youth• Relationship with and immediate access to School

Administration– Address issues as they arise (transportation, admission,

etc.)

• Judicial Orders - avoid conflicts, address educational issues

• Current education information/records on juveniles– Assist youth/families with education issues and/or

placement concerns

• Reduction of discipline referrals/suspensions/school arrests

Why We Do It!SCHOOL SYSTEM BENEFITS

• Increased communication with Court/JJ systems• Increased graduation and attendance rates, more

positive student participation• Fiscal impact – record production, personnel off

campus• Increased Administration knowledge of court

system, reduced frustration• Provides school a clearinghouse to obtain info on

Court Orders• Streamlined process for placement, transition and

transportation matters

Why We Do It!JUVENILE JUSTICE BENEFITS

• Coordination and collaboration with School District leadership to ensure Principals work with DJJ when addressing disciplinary issues

• Structured meetings to review Probation youth and discuss a plan of action

• Access to students, reducing excessive travel and being able to intervene timely on all Probation-related activities

• Immediate access to school records and other resources on campuses

• Reduced length of time on Probation due to increased compliance

• Lessens costs to DJJ and avoids a duplication of services

Who Else Is At the Table?Additional Partners• Department of Children and Families

• School District Police

• Office of the State Attorney

• Office of the Public Defender

• Palm Beach County

What Is It?1. Collaborative effort

a. Open communication between School and Court players

b. Shared records and data to improve outcomes for youth

c. Quarterly Superintendent meetings

2. Everybody’s a Teacher– Statewide initiative coordinated by the

School District to address challenges

faced by children in out-of-home care

What Is It? (continued)• 3a. Countywide partnership – annual planning

meeting

• 3b. Committee work and outcomesI. Data Collection: created a County wide tool to gather

and share data for juvenile school-based arrestsII.School Justice Probation Pilot: established a pilot

program with DJJ to house a JPO on school campusIII.Elementary Out of School Suspension: reviewed data

and conducted focus groups on elementary suspensions; provided recommendations to School Superintendent

IV.Juvenile First Offender: Created protocols for information sharing between Youth Court and JAC; established processes to increase participation in County-wide first offender program

What Is It? (continued)4. School Justice Leader pilot

a. On campus DJJ JPO (“School Justice Leader”) to: i. Increase communication and collaborationii. Reduce out of school suspensions, VOPs, discipline

referraliii. Increase compliance with court-ordered sanctions

– Additional outcomes• Partnership with local law enforcement• Implemented summer programming• Infused DJJ into School Administration, SBT work

b. NIJ grant project increasing school safety and student success –

expanded School Justice pilot with services

What Is It? (continued)5. Court Education Liaison Program

a. Key components:i. Communicationii. Accessiii. Appropriate educational placementiv. Transitionv. Transportationvi. Services

Court Education Liaison Program

Making It Happen• NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING!

• Identify a “champion”

• Convene stakeholders– Identify the issue(s)– Formulate goals

• Establish written protocols and data collection

• Personnel/training

• Regular meetings to review goals, data

Talk to Us• Comments/Questions

• Honorable Kathleen J. Kroll (561) 355-4378 kkroll@pbcgov.org

• Cristy Altaro, Juvenile Operations Manager (561) 355-6586 caltaro@pbcgov.org

• Angela Bess, Director of Educational Alternatives (561) 681-5900

angela.bess@palmbeachschools.org

• Presentation materials: http://15thcircuit.co.palm-beach.fl.us/web/guest/

juvenile