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Minutes 11-17-10 MINUTES OF THE YOUTH VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROJECT MEETING HELD ON NOVEMBER 17, 2010, AT 5:30 P.M. AT THE CAROLYN SIMS CENTER, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Wally Majors, Recreation and Parks Director Sgt. Cannon Mary DeGraffenreidt Frank Ireland Nate Nichols (arrived at 5:43) Steve Waldman ABSENT: Jose Rodriguez, Chair Buck Buchanan Vickie Henderson Katrina Holder Doris Jackson Retha Lowe Vinola Rada Elsa Sanchez I. Welcome and Opening Comments - Jose Rodriguez, Chair Wally Majors called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. and welcomed those who were present. II. Roll Call - Recording Secretary Roll call was taken as noted above. III. Introduction of Guest Michael Low, Deputy Director of Utilities and volunteer at the Sims Center was present as was Don Scantlan. Mr. Scantlan advised he was present in different capacities. He is interested in youth, is a member of the community, and the Workforce Alliance has a year-round youth program under him. He is running for the District IV City Commission seat and is also the Chair of the Financial Advisory Committee. He commented it was nice to meet other active members of the community that have a common goal. 1 Meeting Minutes Youth Violence and Prevention Project Boynton Beach, FL November 17, 2010 IV. Approval and/or additions to the Agenda None. V. Approval and/or additions to the Minutes of September 15,2010. Minutes were available but deferred to the next meeting. V. Chairman's Comments None. VII. Old Business A. Meeting with BBHS Principal Action: Steve Waldman was asked to get a meeting with Principal. No word yet. Steve Waldman reported he called the principal but has not had a response. The YVPP program ends in December because that is when the grant expires. Originally the grant was supposed to close out at the end of September but it was extended and it was hoped the program would receive new funds. The focus of the program would be on gang prevention and intervention, and would use a model developed by the Boys Club of America. Mr. Majors discussed they could still benefit from meeting with the principal, but the program should engage youth already involved in the system with a case manager. The case manager would meet with the principal. It would be important to obtain youth for the program. The intent was the school should take advantage as much as possible of the YVPP services. Now that the program has taken a bit of a turn, the Committee needed to determine the level of participation in the program the school would have. At this point, no further action would be taken. Mr. Majors would be meeting with the school in the future because the Recreation and Parks Department would be assisting with the homecoming parade next year. The Choir was also the Holiday Parade Grand Marshal and everything was in order. The City ratified its part of the YVPP agreement and it was forwarded to the County for signature. They then would receive a formal Interlocal Agreement which spelled out each party's responsibilities. Mr. Majors hoped to start the program in January. The grant is awarded to the County and the City receives its funding as a sub-recipient. The details of the new grant were being reviewed and staff was moving forward with the case-manager position who would focus on social services. . A question was posed if the age requirement was raised from 12 to 14, would the youth already and/or formally involved in the program that were 12 and 13 years old be grandfathered in? Mr. Majors explained regardless of the funding, staff would not turn 2 Meeting Minutes Youth Violence and Prevention Project Boynton Beach, FL November 17, 2010 anyone away. Vickie Henderson, the Program Coordinator, had already met with the Department of Justice and discussed filling the case manager position with them. B. Mayor requested Social Skills Development Class Action: Received two proposals for paid services. Working with Prime Time to try and locate volunteer service. Ms. DeGraffenreidt advised Ms. Henderson was working on the item and Prime Time had different providers on staff that could provide the service. The service, through Prime Time, was free and Ms. Henderson was attempting to develop an agreement with them for the program. C. Mayor request youth of YVPP to present to the Commission. Action: YWPP Will Present in February 2011. VIII. New Business Mr. Majors announced the Department of Justice was awarded another Office of Juvenile Justice Grant. The grant will be distributed to the City because the Sims Center was one of the five Empowerment Centers in the County. Staff anticipated they would have received slightly over $71,000 that would be used primarily for the case manager position. The case worker would work about 25 hours a week and he/she would be interviewed by the staff. Any funds left over would be used for the providers. The City's match will pay Ms. Henderson's salary and staff intended to start as soon as possible in January. Mr. Majors will research the ages for the youth who are eligible to participate in the Youth Gang Prevention and Intervention Grant. The premise of the program was they would have a case manager to work with the local agencies and with the youth who are exposed to illict activities and have them become involved in an environment with structure, rules, guidelines and limitations. The model developed by the Boys Club has shown, through extensive research, that having positive role models reduces the chance of youth becoming violent. The program's facilities have a tremendous amount of value and Boynton Beach has a gang problem. Hopefully through the program, youth will make the right choices. Mr. Majors pointed out the program was an 18-month program. Mr. Majors did not know how the Executive Board would fit in with the scope of the new program. Ms. DeGraffenreidt found the youth would be aged 13 through 17. It was important to the City and the Recreation and Parks Department that staff did not turn away interested youth that did not fall within the age qualifications. Staff will develop a way to fill the void and has always fought hard to ensure the Center was a community facility. The Department wanted to be the lead example as having choices available to youth has always been a mission of the department. 3 Meeting Minutes Youth Violence and Prevention Project Boynton Beach, FL November 17, 2010 IX. YVVP Update A. Program Overview & Extension Mr. Majors commented there were 14 programs this year. The program offered a great lifeguard training program with eight youth receiving Lifeguard Certification and two obtaining jobs. He commented that with the inordinately high African American drowning rate in Florida, this was an outstanding accomplishment. Five youth completed the Driver's Education Course offered through the Safety Council and the RM Lee Computer Concepts, the Art of Film, and the female mentoring program will all be extended to the end of December. B. CJC Reporting Process The Criminal Justice Commission reviewed the current forms. The forms were created to provide good outcomes for youth participating in the programs C. Teen Council Mr. Ireland advised the Teen Council met on November 5th and five youth were in attendance. The youth discussed how to move forward and developed some solutions about how to recruit new members. The youth would make a presentation to the Education and Youth Advisory Board. It was important to have a viable Teen Council in the City. Mr. Waldman spoke about the efforts of the Education Foundation and commented there may come a time they can integrate with the program. X. Member Comments None. XI. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, the meeting properly adjourned at 5:58 p.m. Qculvu/~ ~kUL~^ Catherine Cherry a Recording Secretary 123010 4