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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #2255 |
| Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center |
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| Requester: |
Miami-Dade County |
Organization: |
Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center |
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| Project Title: |
Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center |
Date Submitted |
1/14/2005 1:35:18 PM |
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| Sponsors: |
Margolis |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| Juvenile Assessment Centers (JACs) were established by state statute within each circuit. Primarily they provide the state with the ability to gather data to determine how to allocate limited resources in an effective manner to reduce re-arrest and impact public safety. JACs are the central point for receiving and processing arrested juveniles. They represent an enormous opportunity to screen and assess arrested juveniles to determine the appropriate services and prevent re-arrest. They also allow the ability to capture specific information on this special population to identify various needs, appropriate services, gaps in services, funding needs through the collection and analysis of data. |
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| Recipient: |
Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center |
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Contact: |
Wansley Walters, Director |
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275 NW 2nd Street - 2nd Floor |
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Contact Phone: |
(305) 755-6262 |
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Miami 33128 |
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Contact email: |
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| Counties: |
Dade |
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| Gov't Entity: |
Yes |
Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
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| Project Description: |
| In the middle 1990's, the arrest process for juveniles in Miami-Dade County, Florida was so dysfunctional that organized crime was using juveniles as its labor force and coaching them on how to "trick" the system. In an urban community of over 2 million, juvenile arrests hit 20,000 in 1995 with dire increases predicted. High profile and violent juvenile offenses were discouraging visitors from all over the world. In an era where information holds the key, the only information authorities in Miami-Dade County had about the juvenile arrest population was the actual number of arrests. Even that information was difficult to obtain, with over thirty law enforcement agencies individually processing arrested juveniles.
At this time, the Florida Legislature created language in the state statutes that established the concept of Juvenile Assessment Centers (JACs). These facilities represent, first and foremost, arrest-processing centers that coordinate the different agencies that interface with arrested youth. As the JACs have developed and opened in Florida, the eighteen facilities reflect the needs and resources of the individual community they operate in. Miami-Dade County's needs dictated a large, comprehensive state-of-the-art facility designed to be the starting point for juvenile justice system reform.
The Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) opened in late 1997 as a community partnership under the leadership of the Miami-Dade Police Department. (In Miami-Dade County, the countywide police department serves as the sheriff's department. Miami-Dade County does not have an elected sheriff. This department is not to be confused with the City of Miami Police Department, which is a municipal department serving a population of 350,000.) While the MDPD and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice provided the resources, all juvenile justice stakeholders were invited to be a member of the JAC Partnership. These Partners include the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Florida Department of Children and Families, Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, Miami-Dade Public Schools, Miami-Dade Department of Corrections, Miami-Dade Department of Human Services, Miami-Dade Administrative Office of the Courts, Administrative Juvenile Judges, the Miami-Dade Office of the Clerk of the Court. All partners, whether they are physically located at the JAC or not, have been active participants in the planning and implementation of all processes. During the intensive 3-year planning process to develop the JAC, one major goal was critical. The Miami-Dade JAC wanted to do more than simply process arrested juveniles.
The first year of operation was dedicated to the huge task of defining a new way of doing business. While contending with procedures, turf issues, and the sometimes difficult implementation of advanced technology, the collective agencies at the JAC achieved unprecedented efficiencies.
� Previously, a process that could take up to six weeks for a non-detainable juvenile offender, can now take less than two hours.
� Police officers, formerly spending an average of six hours processing juveniles, are in and out of the JAC in an average of 15 minutes, including their pre-file conference with the State Attorney's Office.
� Livescan fingerprint technology and a multi-tiered identification process tell the JAC whether or not this is a juvenile's first arrest.
� It allows the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to administer assessments to 100% of juveniles entering the system, which was not possible before the JAC.
� The courts' connection allows the case to be created in the JAC. Lastly, the complete cooperation of all law enforcement agencies through the Dade County Chiefs of Police permits this JAC to be the centralized point of entry into the system.
� This allows the Miami-Dade JAC to collect critical information on the complete juvenile arrest population.
In October 2002, the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) was made into an independent county department. This allowed the expansion of the JAC's mission of processing arrested juveniles.
The National Demonstration Project
During the first year of operation as efficiencies were achieved, two very important observations were made. First, the overall arrest population could be broadly categorized into three groups: 1) kids behaving in a typical delinquent way, i.e. loitering, shoplifting, school fights, etc.; 2) kids acting out on serious issues in their lives, i.e. substance abuse, family and school problems, etc.; and 3) serious, habitual, and potentially dangerous juvenile offenders. Second, there was a great deal of quality research being conducted throughout the United States in the area of juvenile justice. Unfortunately, no instruction was given on how to apply the principles of the different areas of research in a 24-hour operation processing a diverse and complex population of children.
This was the basis that led the Miami-Dade Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC) to propose a demonstration project and receive funding from the United States Congress that would partner researchers and operational staff in the reform of an active, functioning system. It would allow Miami-Dade County to develop the foundation needed to effectively plan and strategically apply specialized, research-proven interventions and programs based on the needs of the children in the system. In a time of limited resources, it would ultimately be possible to provide an alternative to the "cookie-cutter" way of dealing with an entire population of juvenile offenders. The JAC has now been awarded four Congressional earmarks, totaling over $3.8 million.
For the project to begin to accomplish the objectives, planning needed to take into account the three broad categories of arrested juveniles previously mentioned. Add to this mix diverse ages (ranging from 8 to 18), gender differences, ethnic composition and all the different combination of factors that these imply and it became obvious that the project had to begin in the broadest, most comprehensive way. Four initial components were identified that would start to address multiple issues across the scope of the juvenile arrest population that contained both minor and serious offenders.
1) Post-Arrest Diversion:
This is an alternative arrest-processing program that allows the JAC to keep first-time-arrested juveniles for minor offenses from entering the traditional system. It also provides a format to apply the best research practices at the earliest point of entry, identify risk factors and apply a personalized diversion program that addresses the issues of the child, including the family, and not the offense. Florida State Statute language was passed to allow juveniles successfully completing the program a mechanism to eliminate their arrest record. This program began in December 2000 and has achieved a 4% recidivism rate and was awarded the NACOS 2003 Achievement Award.
2) Screening and Assessment:
This component looks at the actual instruments, application, training of staff, and dissemination of information. |
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| Is this a project related to 2004 hurricane damage? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| In calendar year 2004, return of approximately 71,000 police hours to the community in one year, return of over $2 million in police costs and reduction in processing time of arrested juvenile to less than 6 hours (which reduces JAC operational costs). Since the JAC opened in 1997, the cumulative return has been over 631,000 police hours returned to the community at a cost savinds of over $15 million dollars. This represents over 105,000 arrests for 47, 900 juveniles. |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$729,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$6,000,000 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local |
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Cash Amount |
$6,000,000 |
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In-kind Amount |
$2,000,000 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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Yes |
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Fiscal Year: |
2004-2005 |
Amount: |
$729,000 |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$729,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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Yes |
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Agency |
Juvenile Justice, Department Of |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
Department of Juvenile Justice statistics for Miami-Dade |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation |
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Hearing Meeting Date: |
01/06/2005 |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
