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 Friday, March 4, 2005 Meeting March 4, 2005
U.S. Department of Education400 Maryland Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20202**Quarterly Meeting Agenda****Friday, March 4, 2005****9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.****U.S. Department of Education, Barnard Auditorium****400 Maryland Avenue SW., Washington, DC****9:15-9:20 a.m.****Call to Order**J. Robert Flores, Vice-Chair**9:20-9:35 a.m.****Opening Remarks**Deborah A. Price, Deputy Under Secretary , U.S. Department of Education**9:35-10:00 a.m.****Opportunities for Coordination for 2005****Ongoing Mapping of Service Areas****Responses to January 2005 letter re: funding and training**J. Robert Flores**10:00-10:30 a.m.****Discussion Among Council Members Regarding Coordination Opportunities****10:30-10:45 a.m.****Break****10:45-11:00 a.m.****Review of Council Decisions Past Meeting and Written Public Comments Submitted to the Council**Robert Samuels , Acting Designated Federal Official for the Council**11:00-12:00 p.m.****Presentation and Discussion on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program**William Modzeleski, Associate Deputy UndersecretaryU.S. Department of Education, Office of Safe and Drug Free SchoolsKellie Dressler, Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program CoordinatorU.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency PreventionMarilyn Copeland, Jonesboro Public Schools ( Arkansas )**12:00-12:25 p.m.****Presentation and Discussion on Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At -Risk**Gary Rutkin, Education Program SpecialistStudent Achievement and School Accountability Programs, U.S. Department of Education**12:25-12:30 p.m.****Discussion on the Day's Topics, Followup to Truancy Conference in December, and Plans for Future Meetings**J. Robert Flores**12:30 p.m.****Adjournment****Quarterly Meeting Summary****March 4, 2005****U.S. Department of Education****Barnard Auditorium****400 Maryland Avenue SW.****Washington, DC****Abstract**At the March 2005 Quarterly Meeting of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Council members discussed ways to increase their level of coordination in 2005. Projects agreed to include the joint sponsorship of a first-of-its-kind conference to be held in the winter of 2005-2006, joint and/or coordinated funding of new special initiatives, and increased emphasis on gang prevention and cross-agency data collection. Members also learned about and discussed OJJDP's development of a geographic information system (GIS) strategic planning tool from its onsite contractor, Robert Burns, GIS Coordinator with Lockheed Martin, and Phelan Wyrick, OJJDP Gang Program Coordinator. In addition, the meeting provided Council members and the public with information on the federal Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative and the U.S. Department of Education's programs for children who are neglected, delinquent, or at risk. William Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Undersecretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education; Sonia Chessen, Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Kellie Dressler-Tetrick, Branch Chief, Demonstration Programs Division, and Former Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program Coordinator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, gave presentations on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative, which is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Education and involves HHS's Center for Mental Health Services and DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Marilyn Copeland, Director of Elementary Programs, Jonesboro Public Schools, Jonesboro, AR, described the SS/HS program in her local community and a subsequent dramatic decline in juvenile drug arrests. Gary Rutkin, Education Program Specialist, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs, U.S. Department of Education, described the main provisions of Title I, Part D, also called Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk. Council members offered feedback regarding these presentations. Action items emanating from the Council meeting addressed recommendations from the Final Report of the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth: coordinating federal programs that serve the nation's disadvantaged youth, establishing working groups to implement coordination efforts, and helping to plan the national juvenile justice conference to be held in late 2005.**Members Present****U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)**J. Robert Flores, Vice Chair, Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention**White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)***For John P. Walters, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy*Tad Davis, Assistant Deputy Director, Demand Reduction**U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)***For Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Labor*Gregg Weltz, Program Manager, Office of Youth Services**U.S. Department of Education (ED)***For Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Education*Deborah A. Price, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe Schools and Drug-Free Communities**U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)***For Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services*Barbara Broman, Deputy to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Services Policy**U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)***For Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development*Matthew P. Braud, Special Assistant, Office of Public Housing and Voucher Programs**U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)***For Michael J. Garcia, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement*John Pogash, National Juvenile Coordinator, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement**Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)***For David Eisner, Chief Executive Officer, Corporation for National and Community Service*John Foster-Bey, Senior Advisor, Research and Policy Development**Practitioner Members**Bray Barnes, Attorney/Consultant, Toms River, NJLarry Brendtro, President, Reclaiming Youth International, Lennox, SDWilliam L. Gibbons, District Attorney General, Memphis and Shelby County DistrictAttorney General's Office, Memphis, TNAdele L. Grubbs, Judge, Superior Court of Cobb County, Marietta, GASteven H. Jones, Judge, Sullivan County, Tennessee, Justice Center, Kingsport, TNMichael Mahoney, Chairman, Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, Cassopolis, MIGordon A. Martin, Jr., Associate Judge (retired), Newton Centre, MA**Call to Order*****J. Robert Flores, Vice Chair, Coordinating Council; Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)***Mr. Flores call the meeting to order and welcomed Council members, agency staff, and members of the public to the Quarterly Meeting of the Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and thanked them for attending. Mr. Flores expressed his appreciation for the level of attention and staff involvement from practitioner members, members of Federal agencies, and representatives of other entities in supporting the work of the Council.**Opening Remarks*****Deborah A. Price, Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe Schools and Drug-Free Communities, U.S. Department of Education (ED)***Ms. Deborah Price welcomed Council members and members of the public to the Department of Education. The Department of Education considers the work of the Council— coordinating issues and initiatives and avoiding duplication—an important part of the work of the federal government. A focus of the day's agenda was the Safe Schools/Healthy Student (SS/HS) program, which is sponsored by the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Justice. Ms. Price introduced three ED staff members from the SS/HS program: Karen Dorsey, Jane Hodgdon-Young, and Michael Wells.**Discussion on Opportunities for Coordination for 2005*****J. Robert Flores, OJJDP***Council members will continue to meet and talk between the formal quarterly meetings, and agencies will hopefully realize valuable benefits arising from these discussions and subsequent activities.Responses to the January 7, 2005, letter from Mr. Flores to Council members requesting suggestions on two issues for coordination and ideas for joint training and funding on each issue included the following:**Gang prevention.** To ensure that law enforcement's gang suppression approach is balanced with a gang *prevention* approach, HHS suggested forming a working group to disseminate successful programs using both approaches and better coordinate programs. Mr. Flores asked that Council members, including practitioners, identify upcoming training symposia on gang prevention and inform Bob Samuels so that information can be available on the Council Web site (www.juvenilecouncil.gov) and that staff and materials can be sent to these meetings.**Cross-agency data collection systems.**HHS suggested that Web-based designs that will collect data on grant programs and client outcomes be used so that data can be shared across agencies. Because of the size of this task, two subject areas can be chosen to start the process.**Funding opportunities.** Council members were asked to identify funding opportunities and budgets available for coordination. Sharing information among member agencies about Council agencies' own budgets in these early planning stages would be helpful to better coordinate the locations, the extent of the programming, the purposes of the programming, and other features of grant programs. Geographic information system (GIS) mapping technology will be valuable in such an effort. For example, gang prevention program staff would like to know how many schools are located within a gang site, the area targeted by the intervention.**Introduction to Speaker on Mapping of Service Areas*****Bob Samuels, Acting Designated Federal Official for the Council, OJJDP***Mr. Samuels noted that several meetings have been held with DOL, HHS's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), and other federal departments on developing a GIS strategic planning tool that would locate resources for juvenile justice programs and indicate contact information. Many localities have been using GIS for both crime mapping and resource mapping for some time; the federal government wants to be able to interpret their data better and "add value" by sharing grant data, such as location of grant service areas, types of services offered, and contact information.**Development of OJJDP's GIS Strategic Planning Tool*****Robert Burns, Geographic Information Systems Coordinator, Lockheed Martin, and Onsite Contractor to OJJDP***Mr. Burns stated that the GIS strategic planning tool that OJJDP is developing in cooperation with other federal agencies and nongovernment analytic partners is consistent with the President's Management Agenda Initiative for E-Government.The demonstration project focuses on an area within North Miami Beach, Florida, that contains one of OJJDP's gang reduction programs. The GIS resource map of the area shows the following sites: OJP demonstration projects, Weed and Seed areas, DOL Youth Services projects, places of worship, schools, care facilities, emergency centers, and fire and police stations, along with highways and roads, airports, and other types of transportation.The mapping is multilayered; a database supporting the graphic display can be searched and offers information on, for example, funding amounts, location, and contact information. A map can be created to show the density of crime over a time period and clearly point out hot spots. Overlaying the crime density map on the resource map can help planners determine if the services match the areas of greatest crime and therefore greatest need. Comparisons of crime mapping from year to year show shifts in location and density and can help planners decide how to reallocate resources. Going one step further, a map created from the community disadvantage index, made up of factors such as population and income and available for the whole nation, can be overlaid with both a crime map and a resource map to compare all three aspects of a community.Additional cross-agency cooperation will increase the amount of data collected, and all agencies will find the resulting maps and analyses of the maps more helpful to their planning efforts. Previously unknown services will be used, duplication will be lessened, funding will be spent more efficiently, and dollars will be saved.**Linking GIS to the Online Planning Tool*****Phelan Wyrick, Gang Program Coordinator, OJJDP***OJJDP's GIS tool is related to an effort discussed at the Council's 2004 quarterly meeting at HHS about an online strategic planning tool, which is being used in conjunction with OJJDP's gang reduction program and ties into the mapping effort discussed at the present meeting. The online tool, although it does not link to geographic-specific information, is a resource for communities to find proven and effective programs for replication. Programs can be searched, for example, by risk factors addressed and age ranges of youth served.Collecting mapping data in the proper format is an expensive and difficult task, especially for localities. Therefore, when OJJDP's GIS strategic planning tool has gathered data nationwide, it will be shared with relevant agencies and organizations across the nation. Local communities will be able to complete an inventory of their resources and add geographic indicators to the database so they can use the system online. OJJDP will take data from the local inventories and create maps with even finer detail. OJJDP intends to tie the mapping effort into a strategic planning tool so that both local communities and federal agencies can use it to learn from the research, replicate best practices and programs, and make better decisions.**Followup to the OJJDP GIS Planning Tool Discussion*****J. Robert Flores, OJJDP***Starting this year, OJJDP asks grant applicants to provide the following information regarding the locations where services are to be provided: physical addresses, roadmaps, and street descriptions. This information will be placed into the planning tool so that GIS maps can be generated. Mr. Flores also requested that representatives of federal agencies on the Council provide the same information to Bob Samuels on their agency's programs, such as mentoring programs (HHS, ED, and other agencies), 21st Century Learning Grants (ED), and job training programs (DOL), to name a few. Gathering information on locations where services are provided, in addition to the location of the lead agency or grantee, will give local and federal planners the detail they need to determine priorities and other decisions.DOL, HHS, and ED have been collaborating since the second half of 2004 to support job training, and special thanks go to DOL staffers Richard Morris, Gregg Weltz, and Emily DeRocco for their efforts.The omnibus appropriations bill requires OJJDP to address Internet safety for children and youth and requests that OJJDP and the Council provide information on the types and quantity of Internet safety programs that are federally funded. This information will be shared with parents, law enforcement personnel, school personnel, and after-school program staff. OJJDP's Child Protection Division is collecting this information, and the Council chair asks that Council member agencies respond as quickly as possible to their requests for information. The resulting report will be available on the OJJDP and Council Web sites (http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org and www.juvenilecouncil.gov), and Web sites of other federal agencies can provide a link to it as well. As mentioned at the December 2004 quarterly Council meeting, the bill's conferees recognized the work of the Council and encouraged the group to move forward and increase coordination across agencies. Practitioner members of the Council also are encouraged to put forth suggestions for improved coordination.**Discussion Among Council Members Regarding Coordination Opportunities**Lorenzo Harrison (DOL) responded to OJJDP's request for ideas on coordination for 2005 in a letter received February 9, 2005, and proposed two issues for consideration: alternative sentencing strategies and juvenile offender reentry programming. Gregg Weltz (stand-in for DOL designee, Mason Bishop), Program Manager, Office of Youth Services, also mentioned at the meeting the issue of increased coordination among state agencies serving the neediest youth.Mr. Weltz reported that DOL will continue to use their regional forums and coordination with states. In addition, DOL is working with DOJ and performing a long-term impact evaluation of alternative sentencing on labor market attachments at a youth facility in Avon Park, FL. Mr. Flores raised a related concern: Can alternative sentencing and connections to a job help build and maintain hope in the minds of youth who are in confinement? The programs at the Avon Park facility are an example of social entrepreneurship, one of President Bush's priority areas.Mr. Weltz also referenced another group of impact evaluation studies (the kind of studies recommended by the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth) at five more youth offender sites: Boston, MA, Nashville, TN, Philadelphia, PA, San Diego, CA, and the South Bronx, NY. Mr. Flores asked that Council members and their staffs consider how to make the youth who enter these programs and agencies more welcome, despite their deficits in education, job skills, and other areas. What allowances can be made at the front end so that the youth are not seen as, for example, bringing down the norm or success rates or affecting the bonus structure?John Foster-Bey (CNCS) reported that CNCS is in the process of mapping their program sites and will forward that information to OJJDP. Mentoring is also a priority at CNCS and conversations with HHS have begun. Finally, working with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, DOJ, and several nongovernmental organizations, CNCS will develop reentry programs.Practitioner member Larry Brendtro proposes two items for consideration regarding increased coordination: (1) broadening the definition of Internet safety to include cyberbullying by teens who sponsor Web sites that target and threaten other teens and (2) promoting strategies for building positive aspects of the youth culture.Mr. Flores announced that OJJDP will sponsor a weeklong national conferencetentatively slated for the winter of 2005-2006. OJJDP extends an invitation to all the agencies represented on the Council (and several others that serve youth as well) to attend. The conference will offer intensive training, not only speeches, and in effect, will be 5 or 6 national conferences scheduled simultaneously (with up to 50 breakout sessions), each offering forums for the partner federal agencies on the Council to interact and learn from each other. Participants from non-OJJDP agencies, such as those from schools and the police, would be encouraged to attend so that all the professions and disciplines that affect youth can be at one conference hearing the same messages. OJJDP can cover the costs of the logistics and common tasks such as registration. Mr. Flores asked that Council federal agency designees identify their issues and speakers by setting up a working group to begin planning their portions of the conference. Bob Samuels will contact Council members for followup. (Note: The dates will fall in the new fiscal year.)Mr. Flores asked federal agency Council members to review their budgets regarding types of program they might have in common with other federal agencies, such as mentoring, addressing educational deficiencies, and job training. The Departments of Agriculture and Commerce are not members of the Council, but they offer programs that serve youth, such as nutrition programs, 4-H, and enterprise zones. Making grant solicitations on related topics public on the same or nearby date would be ideal and would present a more unified approach.Many grant programs give advantages to previous and existing grantees; OJJDP is suggesting that agencies set aside portions of grant programs for first-time applicants. In addition, although small and nonprofit agencies may be intimidated by the grantwriting process, they may have the potential to serve more youth on a per capita and per dollar basis than other larger organizations. Deborah Price (ED) informed the group that the Department of Education has identified ways to give novice applicants who have never received any federal funding priority status, such as awarding extra points or providing technical assistance for grantwriting. This is stated in the application instructions, on the ED Web site, and in mailings to constituencies. The Corporation for National and Community Service is setting aside funds for new applicants, experimenting with intermediary organizations to reach out to the smaller organizations, and offering Next Generation grants. Another group to be encouraged is young researchers.Judge Gordon Martin, practitioner Council member, asked whether DOJ had requested the Secretary of Agriculture to name a designee to the Council. Mr. Flores responded that DOJ has had conversations with USDA and has invited various staff members to attend meetings. (USDA is involved with an OJJDP pilot program on gang reduction.) DOJ is preparing the way for the Attorney General to invite the Secretary of Agriculture to join the Council. This request must be approved by President Bush. Judge Martin noted that when he was head of the Roxbury Court, USDA field representatives (who exist in every county in the nation) created a resource booklet, which included such topics as drug abuse and mental health, and disseminated them to all probation officers.Judge Steven Jones, practitioner Council member, described the difficult drug-related problems in his state of Tennessee and their efforts to deal with them, including federal funding. The training provided by these federal grants, including Byrne grants through the state, has been among the best he has experienced. However, once the grants are completed, getting additional funding is very difficult; localities and states will not continue the programs and services provided by them—even though they have been shown to be very effective.Mr. Flores suggested that practitioner members help the Council figure out how to work more effectively with governors, who receive the majority of OJJDP federal funds through state formula and block grants—which are then passed on to localities. Community-level feedback indicates that some of the funding does not get passed on to the localities, and state-level feedback indicates that funding that goes directly to the local level lacks coordination with relevant state agencies. For example, when funding goes to the governors' offices, should matching funds from the state be required? What other mechanisms could facilitate more coordination between localities and states?Michael Mahoney, practitioner Council member, suggested that the federal grant solicitation should require that governors' offices and state advisory groups coordinate and that applications indicate how that coordination will be implemented. He suggested, in addition, that some of the extra funding that OJJDP has received be placed into "challenge grants" of perhaps $100,000 or so for one or two states to develop state coordinating councils that mirror the work of the national Council and make sure that innovations such as supporting novice grantees are carried out. Judge Jones agreed with Mr. Mahoney's ideas, supporting it with the example of the successes of governors' offices that have coordinators for faith-based programs.Mr. Flores asked that federal agency Council members (including ONDCP and CNCS) contact Bob Samuels regarding what staffing, technology, or other resources are needed by their agencies to step up their level of commitment and do the work the Council agrees to in its coordination efforts for 2005. Council funding may be able to cover some of these needs.Ms. Price (ED) announced that Margaret Spellings, the new Secretary of Education, will welcome the group later in the morning. She also thanked Sigrid Melus, Program Analyst with the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, for her work in planning the meeting, along with Bill Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Undersecretary in the same office.**Review of Past Meeting and Written Public Comments Submitted to the Council*****Bob Samuels, OJJDP*****Working groups.**The Council working groups that will be created in the coming weeks and months to accomplish the goals of the Council should be considered in the context of the recommendations of the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth. Mr. Samuels asked that members think about other public and private partners that ought to be involved, in addition to generating topics and tracks that can be built into the national conference in the winter of 2005-2006.**Partners in attendance.** Mr. Samuels welcomed representatives of several federal partners who work with youth populations and have been invited to attend this Council meeting: Carleen Copple, contractor to the Community Capacity Development Office within OJJDP's Office of Weed and Seed (DOJ); Laura Cordero, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, External Affairs, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia; Darren Cruzan, National Program Coordinator from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (DOI); Ernie Gonzales, Director of Youth Outreach Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs (DoD); and June Tracy, Senior Legislative Analyst with the Indian Health Service (HHS).**Public comment.** Doug Dodge, formerly with OJJDP and now in the private sector, responded to the call for public comments in the *Federal Register* and proposed setting up a civic justice corps. The corps would involve youth in civic engagement projects as a way to repair the harm they have done by way of a crime and helps them finish their education, gain skills, and move into a job. The Council will take his recommendation under consideration.**Welcome and Remarks*****Margaret Spellings, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education***At this point in the meeting, Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings joined Council members and guests and welcomed them to the Department of Education. Secretary Spellings thanked the Council for its work in cooperating and coordinating with activities across agencies and at the local level, particularly in a time of scarce financial resources. She discussed the focus of the Department of Education's work: the No Child Left Behind law, which addresses key principles related to safe environments and learning environments. For example, parents have the option to remove their child from an unsafe school.President Bush in his 2005 State of the Union speech talked about at-risk youth and gang prevention, and First Lady Laura Bush is traveling the country to highlight these issues, particularly as they relate to young boys and young men.Secretary Spellings pledged to coordinate Department of Education programs with the programs of the other federal agencies on the Council.**Presentations and Discussion on the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program*****William Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy Undersecretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education***Council members viewed a 7-minute video describing the Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS) program, a Department of Education initiative in 190 communities to protect children from the physical, psychological, social injuries found in their schools and communities. The video profiles the SS/HS program in Salinas, CA, and shows how this comprehensive, integrated program helps parents and schools reduce crime and violence around schools.Bill Modzeleski provided a historical perspective on the SS/HS program. In 1999, four factor converged to set the stage for the program: (1) a series of school shootings occurred across the country, (2) Congress responded by providing unencumbered discretionary funds to states and communities to address this issue, (3) federal agencies were willing to address problems not with a categorical program but instead with a comprehensive and strategic approach to creating safe schools, and (4) federal agency staff understood, based on research, that new interventions had to be created.As part of SS/HS, the Department of Education collaborated with DOJ and HHS, which also helped to forge linkages at the local level. Further, grant requirements included partnerships between local education agencies, local law enforcement agencies, and county or local mental health agencies.Grants ranged from $1 to 3 million per year for 3 years to urban, suburban, and rural communities. Almost $800 million has been awarded from 1999 to date. For fiscal year 2005, solicitations will be released around March 8 and applications will be due April 29; 40 new grants will be awarded. President Bush's budget proposed new funding of $88.5 million in fiscal year 2006. The program has substantial commitments to technical assistance, communications/social marketing, and evaluation***Sonia Chessen, Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services***Ms. Chessen stated the four major goals of the SS/HS initiative: to improve and increase services to at-risk children and their families; to link child-serving agencies in a consistent and complementary way; to decrease violence, substance abuse, and school disciplinary activity; and to increase the healthy development of children. The underlying principles of the program include the following: linking security with healthy childhood development; providing comprehensive, coordinated services that are developmentally appropriate; encouraging partnerships with schools, law enforcement agencies, juvenile justice agencies, and mental health agencies; and implementing science-based programs with demonstrated outcomes.To ensure a comprehensive approach to violence prevention and healthy development, SS/HS grantees link and integrate the following core elements: safe school environments; violence, alcohol, and other drug prevention and early interventions; school and community mental health preventive and treatment intervention services; early childhood psychosocial and emotional development services; supporting and connecting schools and communities; and safe school policies, such as discipline codes.Ms. Chessen related examples from SS/HS programs in Fort Collins, CO, Niagara Falls, NY, Salinas, CA, and Springfield, MO, that show probation officers encouraging students to attend school and linking them to needed services, a hotline that helps prevent threats of violence and connects students in crisis to services, students in crisis getting help rather than facing suspension or expulsion, and a Columbine-like shooting averted with a tip to the school resource officer.Participants in the SS/HS program believe that it is working. Real partnerships have been forged at both the federal and local levels. Effective, comprehensive, and coordinated approaches to preventing youth and school violence have been implemented. And, vibrant learning communities on youth violence prevention and healthy development are evolving.***Kellie Dressler-Tetrick, Branch Chief, Demonstration Programs Division, and Former Safe Schools/Healthy Students Program Coordinator, OJJDP***Ms. Dressler-Tetrick discussed the key support components of the SS/HS program, the pieces put together at the federal level to support grantees at the local level: training and technical assistance (TA), communications support, and evaluation assistance. The National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention provides training and TA on implementation, sustainability, partnership building, evidence-based programs and practices, and evaluation. The national center also offers assistance with regional training, Web-based training, teleconferences, onsite training and TA, site-to-site mentoring, and national conferences.The communications team provides communications planning, message development, media outreach, social marketing, spokesperson training, and materials and Web site development. In addition, training institutes, onsite TA, specialty workshops, and teleconferencing, along with national promotion of the SS/HS Initiative and local grant accomplishments are offered.A national cross-site evaluation of the first 97 sites is being conducted and preliminary data will be released in 2005. Several consortia of local evaluators were developed in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, which required coordination and collaboration on specific topics using vigorous evaluation methods. The evaluation grant also states that local sites must set aside 7 percent of their budgets annually for evaluation purposes. Local sites realized that they must work harder at evaluation; therefore, SS/HS is pilot testing a concept providing them targeted training on evaluation, which will empower local directors and help them work with local evaluators.***Marilyn Copeland, Director of Elementary Programs, Jonesboro**********Public Schools, Jonesboro, Arkansas***Jonesboro, AR, an urban community with 6 school districts and a population of more than 55,000, received its SS/HS grant in 1999. The community was majority white, with 40 percent minority, including a growing Hispanic community drawn by the region's agricultural jobs.Prior to the grant, two middle school students, waiting in ambush outside the school, killed four students and a teacher and wounded many others. As part of a response to this tragedy, a communitywide strategy was devised to address the following general elements: school safety, alcohol and other drug violence prevention and early intervention programs, school and community mental health preventive and treatment programs (this element consumed about 65 percent of the budget), early childhood psychosocial and emotional development programs, educational reform, and safe school policies.The schools and the community were in need of help. Approximately one in two students was referred for discipline because of insubordination, and one in six was referred for disorderly conduct. Almost half of eighth graders reported drinking and 41 percent said they smoked cigarettes. The juvenile population in the county was rising substantially, increasing by 16 percent from 1990 to 2000 and totaling almost 20,000. This sharp increase made it clear that prevention had to be a focus of the program.The three main components of the Jonesboro program were partnerships with local law enforcement, changes in school design, and increases in school security. The SS/HS model of collaboration between the schools and law enforcement spread to the entire county and its other departments. Design changes in school facilities were made effective without giving the appearance of a prison; they included secured exterior perimeters of school properties and playgrounds, additional lighting, replacement of doors and windows to impede unauthorized access, and electric door openers at front entrances controlled by office personnel. Safety assessments of school facilities revealed the types of security devised, unsafe areas, the need for monitoring of school entrances, types of emergency communication needed, and alternate sites and access to them. Other security features include low fencing, security cameras, recording equipment, updated telephone systems with adequate lines for emergencies, walkthrough metal detectors, and a software identification system.Ms. Copeland also discussed crisis management policies, the alcohol and drug/violence prevention and early intervention program, and school and community mental health services, including a therapeutic day school, parenting classes, and daycare. With the help of these and other services mentioned, juvenile drug arrests fell dramatically starting in 2000 from almost 120 to less than 20 in 2003.The Jonesboro program is in its second year of sustainability without federal funding. The original cost borne by the federal grant was around $2.7 million a year; the community has garnered approximately $2 million a year to carry the program forward.**Presentation and Discussion on Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk*****Gary Rutkin, Education Program Specialist, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs, U.S. Department of Education***Mr. Gary Rutkin described the main provisions of Title I, Part D, also called Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk. These programs were reauthorized under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and are administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education. Title I, Part D, provides formula grants for educational programs for youth in state-operated institutions or community day programs. It also provides grants to local school district programs involving collaboration with locally operated facilities for neglected or delinquent youth. It serves approximately 12 million students throughout the nation with a yearly budget of more than $13 billion.The goals of Title I, Part D, are to improve educational services in local and state institutions for students to meet challenging state academic content and achievement standards; provide services needed to make successful transitions to further schooling or employment, and reduce the number of dropouts and provide dropouts and youth returning from institutions with a support system to ensure they continue their education.Under state education agency formula grants (Title I, Part D, Subpart 1), states receive funds based on the number of children in state-operated institutions. Each state's allocation is generated by child counts in state juvenile institutions that provide at least 20 hours of instruction from nonfederal funds and adult correctional institutions that provide 15 hours of instruction a week.Mr. Rutkin outlined the required content of the state educational agency plans, including the awarding of subgrants to local districts with many children in juvenile correctional facilities. Grantees have an obligation to coordinate and collaborate with local businesses, as well as juvenile justice and delinquency prevention agencies. The concept of earned redemption, which allows juvenile to return to the community after learning new attitudes and behaviors, is applied in increasing numbers of programs.State agencies and school districts that conduct a program under Subpart 1 or 2 evaluate their program to maintain and improve educational achievement, accrue school credits, make the transition to a regular program, and complete secondary and postsecondary education and job training programs.Data collection was incomplete in the past; two systems in the Department of Education will collect data beginning with the 2004-2005 school year: the Consolidated Performance Report and PBDMI/EDEN, an ED-wide system that will potentially replace the consolidated report. Previously, reporting requirements included such demographics as race/ethnicity, gender, age, disability status. Starting July 1, 2005, academic and achievement outcomes will be collected for those students in the program at least 90 days, including school, GED, and postsecondary enrollment; credit completion; workforce entry; and demonstration of responsible citizenship.To increase accountability for student performance, a uniform evaluation model in the form of a self-study will be designed to help states and institutions collect data and use it to improve their educational programming. The technical assistance center that supports Title I, Part D, participants will make the self-study available and will provide states with additional key factors on which they may want to collect data. For more information on these and other issues, such as funding and potential collaboration partners, visit the Web site of the National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center for the Education of Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk, www.neglected-delinquent.org.**Discussion on the Day's Topics, Followup to Action Items, and Plans for Future Meetings*****J. Robert Flores, OJJDP***Mr. Flores opened the floor to comments and questions regarding the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative and Title I, Part D, presentations.Richard Morris (DOL) noted that juvenile drug arrests increased from 1999 to 2000 and then dropped significantly from 2000 to 2001 in Jonesboro, AR. He asked what might account for the drop. Marilyn Copeland with the Jonesboro Public Schools responded that the SS/HS program has a broad range of services and programs, which makes it difficult for evaluators to know which individual or combination of strategies produce a certain result. However, Ms. Copeland believes that software that identifies where events occur, which students are involved, and what school and district they are from helps to pinpoint the problem and summon resources quickly. In addition, reviewing a year's events using the software, for example, facilitates planning for more efficient responses in the future.Mr. Flores indicated that Council staff will be contacting members in the near future to obtain information related to action items the Council has agreed to perform.The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for addressing many of the immigration issues the Council has on the table, which are of great concern because of the large number of immigrant youth in primary and secondary schools. Mr. Flores encouraged Council members to reach out to DHS and coordinate efforts regarding youth and immigration, especially as they interact with educational systems.The next Council meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the HUD Departmental Conference Room at 451 7th Street SW., Washington, DC, on June 3, 2005. DOJ will host the September 9, 2005, meeting and CNCS will host the December 2, 2005, meeting.**Closing Remarks*****J. Robert Flores, OJJDP***Mr. Flores reminded Council members that OJJDP has funding to help federal Council agencies carry out the Council's goal of coordinating and combining federal efforts that impact juveniles. He asked members to let Council staff know how those funds can be used by members in member agencies. Mr. Flores acknowledged that members face challenges regarding staff time and ability to track certain information, two aspects that the OJJDP funding may be able to address. He will meet with (in person or by telephone) each Council member in the next 6 weeks. Until then, he asked that members contact him or Bob Samuels to indicate what specific resources they need to take their coordination activities to the next step—and the related dollar amounts to support them. It is important to continue to demonstrate to the conferees who recognized the work of the Council last year in the appropriations bill that they continue to make a good investment in the Council. Practitioner members also were asked to offer their recommendations about programs and activities that work. All members were asked to stay in touch with each other and to learn from each other.Mr. Flores and Deborah Price (ED) thanked Council members and other participants for attending and Mr. Flores adjourned the meeting at 12:37 p.m.**Attendees****U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)***Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs*Ernie Gonzales, Director of Youth Outreach Programs**U.S. Department of Education (ED)***Office of Safe and Drug-Free* *Schools*Jane Hodgdon-Young, Federal Project Officer, Safe Schools/Healthy Students InitiativeSigrid Melus, Program AnalystWilliam Modzeleski, Associate Assistant Deputy UndersecretaryMichael Wells, Education Research Analyst, Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative*Office of the Secretary*Margaret Spellings, Secretary of Education*Office of Vocational and Adult Education*Diane McCauley, Research Analyst*Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs*Gary Rutkin, Education Program Specialist**U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)***Division of Children and Youth Policy*Justin Milner, Research and Policy AnalystSonia Chessen, Chief of Staff, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation*Indian Health Service*June Tracy, Senior Legislative Analyst*Office of the Secretary*Sarah J. Gesiriech, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary*Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration*Anne Mathews-Younes, Director, Center for Mental Health Services**U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)**Darren Cruzan, National Program Coordinator, Bureau of Indian Affairs**U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ)***Demonstration Programs Division*Kellie Dressler-Tetrick, Branch Chief*Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)*Chyrl Andrews, Deputy Associate Administrator, State Relations and Assistance DivisionRobert Burns, onsite contractor to OJJDP and GIS Coordinator with Lockheed MartinRobert M. Samuels, Acting Designated Federal Official for the CouncilPhelan Wyrick, Gang Program Coordinator*Office of Justice Programs*Mary Louise Embrey, Senior Congressional Affairs SpecialistJoan B. LaRocca, Public Affairs Specialist*Office of Weed and Seed*Colleen Copple, contractor to the Community Capacity Development Office*Task Force for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives*Patrick Purtill, Director*U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia*Laura Cordero, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, External Affairs**U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)***Office of Youth Services*Richard Morris, Workforce Development Specialist, Office of Youth Services**White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)**Barbara Spencer, Policy Analyst**Other Participants**Henry H. Brownstein, Abt Associates Inc.Joyce Burrell, Project Director, American Institute for ResearchMarilyn Copeland, Director of Elementary Programs, Jonesboro Public Schools [AR]Michelle D. Duhart, CTC Project Consultant, Channing Bete Co., Inc.Erika Fitzpatrick, Executive Editor, *Criminal Justice Funding Report*David Hayeslip, Senior Research Associate, The Urban InstituteDavid Lewis, Special Assistant to U.S. Senator Norm Coleman [MN]Marion Mattingly, Washington Editor, *Juvenile Justice Update*Sharon P. McCully, Judge, Third District Juvenile Court [UT], and President, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court JudgesMary V. Mentaberry, Executive Director, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court JudgesCarol Sadler, Assistant Manager, Juvenile Justice Resource CenterDennis L. White, Research Scientist, Hamilton Fish Institute, The George Washington University
  
Date Published: March 4, 2005
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      Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

        
        
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