March 7, 2012. The Lakeland Ledger.
Sobering statistics are fueling congregations countywide as they go into a countdown for the Polk Ecumenical Action Council for Empowerment’s annual Nehemiah Action rally on March 26.
The grassroots group’s targets this year are:
More alternatives to the judicial system for children who get in trouble in Polk County
Further progress on the need for increased access to health care and better coordination of that care.
PEACE is a multiracial, faith-based organization that devotes itself to identifying problems facing the community, proposes policy solutions and presses public officials to support them.
Polk County’s 6,294 referrals to the Department of Juvenile Justice in 2010-2011 were 10 percent higher than the previous year, said the Rev. Jean Cooley of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lakeland.
Those are referrals rather than individual children, meaning that several referrals could be for one child.
Cooley shared PEACE’s goal of another diversion program for those youths at a Monday night rally. About 400 PEACE members from different congregations attended that event at Harmony Missionary Baptist Church in Lakeland.
Polk County schools’ referral rate to the Department of Juvenile Justice, about 19 referrals per 1,000 students, is well above the Florida average of 12 per 1,000 students.
Polk’s referral rate from schools is greater than in nearby Hillsborough, Orange and Pinellas counties, said Jennifer Haynes, chief probation officer with the DJJ in Circuit 10.
“We are the fifth-highest in referrals in the state,” Haynes said.
“We need more programs in this area. We have a desperate need of more services for these kids.”
A low-risk child who already has problems functioning will “come out worse” when put into secured facilities like the detention center. Having alternative programs improves their chances of success, Haynes said.
One possible solution, which she said already is used in more than half of the state’s circuit court districts, is a civil citation program for youths who commit misdemeanors.
PEACE wants to see the civil citation program available to at least two Polk schools by the end of the school year, with a rollout to the rest of public schools by August. That program would be another diversion option for school officials and resource officers, in addition to an existing Teen Court, if Polk Sheriff Grady Judd and the State Attorney’s Office agree.
PEACE has contacted those agencies and invited their officials to attend the Nehemiah Action event, where they would be asked to commit to implementing the program.
The program could expand to all of Polk County, not just for children in schools, in 2014, Cooley said.
Nancy Woolcock, assistant superintendent of learning support for Polk public schools, said the district supports any program to help students graduate and not go through the system.
While PEACE is clear on its current goal for children in trouble, specifics on its next steps for better health care are awaiting a Friday report by consultant Scott Ponaman. He will speak at the Polk County Commission’s annual retreat.
A safety net plan PEACE and others helped him design would expand and revamp programs funded by Polk’s half-cent indigent sales tax.
