Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board
Comprehensive Plan
2015-2018
Updated November 2014
The Current Juvenile Justice Board of the 10th Judicial Circuit
The Juvenile Justice Board of the 10th Judicial Circuit continues to have a very strong presence in the community. With over
50 members, the Board has solid participation from law enforcement, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Public
Defender’s Office, the State Attorney’s Office, the School Board of Polk County, service providers, faith based partners,
Business partners, Department of Health, Community Service partners (profit and non-profit), and DJJ service providers.
Juvenile Justice Mission Statement
The mission of the Department of Juvenile Justice is to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency through
effective prevention, intervention and treatment services that strengthen families and turn around the lives of troubled
youth.
Circuit 10 Advisory Board Mission Statement
The mission of the Circuit 10 Juvenile Justice Advisory Board is to reduce juvenile delinquency within our counties in
collaboration with community, business and faith partners/leaders.
In 2012-2013 the Department of Juvenile Justice received 6,163 referrals for Hardee, Highlands, and Polk counties, a
reduction of 13% from the previous year. The three top felony offenses were Burglary, Aggravated Assault of Battery, and
Grand Larceny. The three top misdemeanor offenses were Assault or Battery, Petit Theft, and Misdemeanor Drug offenses.
Referrals by age:
Age 17+
Age 16
Age 15
Age 13-14
Age 11-12
Age 5-10
1,591
1,462
1,186
1,521
330
73
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
Referrals by race, ethnicity, and gender:
White Males
1,850
Black Males
1,816
Hispanic Males
715
White Females
736
Black Females
680
Hispanic Females
250
Other Males
78
Other Females
38
Source: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Juvenile Justice Information System.
General Functions of the Board
Authority for the Board comes from Chapter 985 Florida Statutes which authorizes each judicial circuit to establish a
juvenile justice circuit board. The circuit board is an agency of the state and serves the Department of Juvenile Justice,
hereinafter referred to as the “department”, and is subject to Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.
The purpose of the circuit board is to:
 Provide advice to the department in the development and implementation of juvenile justice programs.
 Work collaboratively with the department in seeking program improvements and policy changes to address
the emerging and changing needs of Florida’s youth who are at risk of delinquency.
 To participate in facilitating interagency cooperation and information sharing.
 Advise and assist the department in the evaluation and award of prevention grant programs, including the
Community Juvenile Justice Partnership Grant program authorized in F.S.985.415 and Invest in Children
license plate proceeds.
 Provide an annual report to the department describing the activities of the circuit board.
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
The Circuit 10 Juvenile Justice Board will continue to work in accordance of the Florida Statute but will also focus on
addressing the following strategic issues and accomplishing the stated goals and objectives.
The Board has also adopted the following Guiding Principles:
1. Delinquency cannot be addressed in isolation of other systems (school, family, medical, mental health, substance abuse,
etc.). Youth are shared by multiple systems and methods must be developed to share information, improve communication
and increase the effectiveness of the service delivery system.
2. Juvenile justice advocates cannot plan in isolation and must integrate data, research, resources and needs with other
community planning efforts and bodies.
3. The Juvenile Justice Board organizational structure must be updated to address limited resources in the community and
to develop mechanisms for solving systemic process and problems.
4. The Juvenile Justice Board must continue to work closely with the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and the
federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and the community to support initiatives aimed to
target high-risk populations (i.e., Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC), female offenders, juvenile domestic violence
offenders, juvenile sex offenders, etc.).
5. The Board will identify key individuals to be a part of the Board and its plan to increase general membership and
participation in committee work. Each organization will be contacted by an existing Board member to engage participation.
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
Strategic Issue – 1
Preventing and diverting youth from entering the juvenile justice system.
As part of the continuum of services in the juvenile justice system, prevention and diversion are critical to avoid low
risk youth penetrating the system for minor offenses. In examining data trends in Circuit 10, the following are noted:




In 2012-2013 there were 1,447 felony arrests. The three top offenses were burglary, aggravated
assault, and larceny.
In 2012-2013 there were 2,760 misdemeanor arrests. The three top offenses were assault or battery,
petit theft, and misdemeanor drug charges.
In 2011-2012 17% of the arrests in Polk County occurred at a school. For Highlands it accounted for
14% of arrests. For Hardee it was 13%.
The most recent data for 2013-2014 noted that there were 1165 referrals for first time misdemeanors
in Circuit 10.
Source: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Juvenile Justice Information System.
Goals
1. Developing prevention and
diversion programming as an
alternative to juvenile justice
processing.
Objectives
1. Examine school arrest data to
address trends.
2. Examine the need for additional prearrest diversion programming.
3. To increase multi-system
collaboration.
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
Strategies
1. Develop committee to analyze
data per county to assist in
making strategy
recommendations to the board.
Include members to represent
multi-system partners.
2. Board to present
recommendations to DJJ
leadership.
3. Participate in DCF Local Planning
Teams for
collaboration/recommendations
regarding youth prevention and
diversion.
Strategic Issue – 2
Increasing the use of alternatives to secure detention.
According to Department data, over half of the youth in secure detention across the state are detained because of a
court order. In many instances the youth has failed to appear for court, and statewide it accounts for 15% of
admissions to secure detention. For Circuit 10:



In 2011-2012 the County Detention Facility (PCSO) had 205 admissions for failure to appear (FTA) for a
total of 735 service days.
In 2012-2012 the County Detention Facility (PCSO) had 279 admissions for FTA for a total of 1,085
service days. Of those admissions, 56% of those detentions were for black youth.
In looking at data for admission by age (7/1/12-1/31/14), the average age was 16. 42% of admissions
involved a youth under the age of 16. Polk has a higher percentage of youth detained for FTA who are
aged 12 and under.
Source: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), Briefing Report: Failure to Appear Policy Analysis.
Goals
1.
Increasing the use of alternatives
to secure detention.
Objectives
1. Reducing failure to appear (FTA)
rates.
2. Developing alternatives to
arrest and detention for
suspected human trafficking
victims.
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
Strategies
1. Develop committee with multiagency representation to develop a
process for FTA’s
2. Partner with Juvenile Detention
Alternative Initiative sites in the
region for ideas and promising
practices.
3. Active participation in the Circuit
Human Trafficking Task Force.
Strategic Issue – 3
Working to establish community resources to increase prevention, alternatives to detention, and community
interventions.
As part of the strategy to address serious, violent, and chronic offenders, it is critical that the local community have
a continuum of services starting with prevention. Focused prevention for at risk youth as well as a system of
graduated sanctions promotes public safety and reduces recidivism. Additionally, focus should be paid to young youth
(aged 12 and under) through multi-agency collaboration as age of onset is a strong predictor for future delinquency.
In 2012-2013 Circuit 10 had 403 arrests of youth aged 12 or younger.
Comprehensive Strategy is from: Howell, J.C. (2003). Preventing and reducing juvenile delinquency: A comprehensive framework. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage):
Goals
1. To examine and address any gaps in
local resources across the juvenile
justice continuum.
Objectives
1.
Comprehensive gap analysis of all
three counties across the
continuum.
2. Community education of available
resources, gaps, and strategies.
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Juvenile Justice 10th Circuit Board Strategic Plan
Strategies
1. Implementation strategies
though the Juvenile Justice
Systems Improvement Project.
2. Coordinate/participate with DCF
Local Planning Team.
3. Continue to work on development,
expansion, and utilization of prearrest alternatives.