Juvenile programs get 1-year trial period from state

Two new initiatives to help troubled Lee County kids are taking shape after a hard-fought battle in the state Legislature.

Four programs intended to divert juvenile offenders from jail, along with start-up funding to open a center for at-risk girls, made it through the state budget signed into law last month by Gov. Jeb Bush. The only catch: The cash is a one-time shot. Local organizers have to return to Tallahassee next spring to persuade legislators to make the programs permanent.

Earlier in the spring, the Lee County Juvenile Justice Council begged lawmakers for help after realizing the county commits one in 19 youths to residential correctional facilities — a higher rate than Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach counties, among others.

Four of their five requests were granted; two were fully funded. With the cost to commit a minor hovering around $30,000 a year, programs that keep kids in the community are less costly and often more effective, experts say.

One, a conditional-release program, assigns a case worker to intensively monitor juveniles just released from a residential facility.

"This allows us to do a much better job of making sure they don't go back (to jail)," said Kevin Lewis, who chairs the council. "We need to maximize the investment we made with them. Without this, they go from an intensive commitment to having almost no support."

The rest of the funding includes domestic violence, mental health and family counseling, as well as counseling for offenders who have been victims of trauma.

"Presently we do not have a lot of funding for that here. Our mental health for children is appalling," Lewis said.

Lee County hasn't had enough mental health resources for kids for a long time, said Rep. Jeff Kottkamp, R-Cape Coral, who spearheaded the effort and will present the check for nearly $700,000 on Tuesday. The state budget usually doesn't keep up with the area's explosive growth, shortchanging kids here, he said.

"These are very critical pieces of the puzzle in dealing with these juvenile offender problems," Kottkamp said. "We have historically been underfunded in our region. It's very rewarding to have been able to balance the scales and get our fair share."

On the other hand, one of the Juvenile Justice Coalition's major initiatives was vetoed by Gov. Bush. The $175,000 that was cut would have paid for substance-abuse treatment, something that affects three in four juvenile offenders. Right now, there is a two- to three-month backlog for treatment, Lewis said, and kids sometimes commit another crime while they wait.

"We're very concerned," Lewis said.

Because Bush vetoed the money, the council will ask the Lee County Commission to consider funding the program, which Lewis said after a year keeps 81 percent of participants drug-free and 98 percent crime-free.

Also getting the go-ahead is a new center for girls, although it's getting far less than the initial $1.4 million request.

A grant of approximately $240,000 is intended to help create a PACE center in Lee County, a combination school and social-service center for girls at risk of dropping out or getting in trouble with the law. Local organizers are already looking for staff and a place to locate the center but also must raise money before a 2007 opening.

"The big piece ahead of us now is the community support, whether it's through time, talent or treasure," said Circuit Court Judge James H. Seals. "We've got ... to match whatever the state gives us."

The juvenile justice system, the school district or even parents can refer girls who are in danger of dropping out or getting into trouble. The school offers counseling, vocational training and an education and has had a proven results in Florida, including at a center in Immokalee, said Sandra O'Brien, director of Florida Gulf Coast University's Center for Public and Social Policy.

"PACE really is a proven program. It's currently going nationally," O'Brien said.

Seals said he feels confident that once the program is up and running, legislators will be willing to fund its operation every year.

"We're going to significantly change the lives of girls, 45 at a time, and I think we're going to turn them from burdens on the community into assets to the community," he said.