| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #2380 | |||||||||
| Public Defender's Juvenile Education-Based Sentencing Pilot Project | |||||||||
| Requester: | Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, | Organization: | Public Defender,11th Judicial Circuit Court | ||||||
| Project Title: | Public Defender's Juvenile Education-Based Sentencing Pilot Project | Date Submitted | 1/14/2005 9:53:18 AM | ||||||
| Sponsors: | Rodolfo Garcia | ||||||||
| Statewide Interest: | |||||||||
| Statewide thousands of children who have been identified by the public schools as meeting criteria for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) end up in delinquency court every year. At any given time, approximately 33% of the juveniles the public defender represents have an ESE designation. According to Chuck Sanders, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice's Education Coordinator, 85% children who are sentenced to residential programs need special education services. Through this pilot project, we hope to improve academic achievement of children in the juvenile delinquency system, and thus prevent future criminal activity. In Miami-Dade county, key stakeholders support services to promptly and adequately address the educational needs of children involved in delinquency. | |||||||||
| Recipient: | Bennett H. Brummer | Contact: | Carlos J. Martinez | ||||||
| 1320 NW 14th Street | Contact Phone: | (305) 545-1903 | |||||||
| Miami 33125 | Contact email: | cmartinez@pdmiami.com | |||||||
| Counties: | Dade | ||||||||
| Gov't Entity: | Yes | Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): | |||||||
| Project Description: | |||||||||
| As part of the Public Defender's Anti-Violence Initiative, the Public Defender's Office for the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (PD 11) would like to establish a Juvenile Education-Based Sentencing (JEBS) pilot project. It would promote use of the public health model, i.e., prevention and effective treatment, in juvenile delinquency cases and in public schools. The project would assist 1000 children and have two components: direct advocacy on behalf of the child and engaging parents so they become more involved in their children's education as well as becoming more effective advocates for their children. The initial cost of the pilot project would be $200,000. Education is the key to reducing the likelihood that today's juveniles will become tomorrow's adult offenders. While children requiring Exceptional Student Education (ESE) account for 12% of the children in Miami-Dade public schools, they comprise approximately a third of public defender clients in delinquency court. According to a recent snapshot of PD 11 clients during June and July 2004, 33% were children in ESE who on average ¿ Were absent from school 40 days ¿ Had 27 disciplinary referrals, and ¿ Were suspended 16 days. The ESE children were significantly more likely to miss school more than 20 days (50% vs. 38%), be suspended more than 20 days (72% vs. 59%), and have more than 20 disciplinary referrals (53% vs. 26%) when compared to non-ESE children. Based on our snapshot, PD11 represents approximately 4,000 juveniles annually who have education-related disabilities and qualify for federally-mandated exceptional student education. We estimate that approximately 90% of the 4,000 have been labeled "severely emotionally handicapped, specific learning disabled or emotionally handicapped." The JEBS pilot project will combine the statutorily and constitutionally-required representation of indigent juveniles in delinquency proceedings with facilitation of educational plans in sentencing and disposition. We have found that many of the identified students are not receiving the services necessary for them to succeed in school. PD11 handles approximately 10,000 juvenile cases annually. Currently, PD11 has disposition specialists to assist the attorneys in developing sentencing plans. Effective sentencing/dispositional plans should address the youths' educational and vocational needs. However, because of high caseloads, we cannot adequately address those objectives. Including educational goals in dispositional plans is labor-intensive and would require project staff to identify juveniles who have education-related disabilities and work closely with DJJ probation staff and public schools' personnel. PD 11 staff would facilitate referrals and requests for educational evaluations, and develop sentencing and treatment plans that include the child's present level of educational performance, educational goals and the special education and related services. They would conduct follow up interviews with the child's teachers and counselor(s). Project staff would also improve coordination between the juvenile justice system and the educational system (including schools police), educate parents on the importance of getting involved in their children's education, and teach parents how to more effectively advocate for appropriate educational services. We would measure the following for all children participating in the pilot project: 1. Number of children participating in the project. 2. Number of days each child was absent in the previous school year. 3. Number of days each child is absent during program participation. 4. Number of disciplinary referrals each child had in the previous school year. 5. Number of disciplinary referrals for each child during program participation. 6. Number of new violations of law during program participation. 7. Conduct grades for each child in the previous school year. 8. Conduct grades for each child during program participation. 9. Number of parent-initiated contacts with the school. By appropriately addressing children's educational needs and assisting parents in becoming more involved in their education, we will reduce the likelihood of juveniles re-offending and assist the children in becoming productive members of society. We are therefore requesting $200,000 to establish this pilot project. We are only requesting funding and rate; we do not need additional state positions. | |||||||||
| Is this a project related to 2004 hurricane damage? | No | ||||||||
| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: | |||||||||
| ¿A 20% reduction in the number of days absent when compared to the same time period in the previous school year. ¿A 20% reduction in the number of disciplinary referrals when compared to the same time period in the previous school year. ¿A one letter grade improvement in the child's conduct grades when compared to the same time period in the previous school year. ¿A 50% drop in school arrests for the children participating in the program. | |||||||||
| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: | $200,000 | ||||||||
| Total cost of the project: | $200,000 | ||||||||
| Request has been made to fund: | Operations | ||||||||
| What type of match exists for this project? | None | ||||||||
| Cash Amount | $ | ||||||||
| Was this project previously funded by the state? | No | ||||||||
| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? | Yes | Amount: | $200,000 | To Fund: | Operations | ||||
| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? | No | ||||||||
| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? | No | ||||||||
| Is there a documented need for this project? | Yes | ||||||||
| Documentation: | Public Defend 11th Circuit Court Report | ||||||||
| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? | No | ||||||||
| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? | No | ||||||||