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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #534 |
| Putnam County Sheriff's Work Ethics and Training (SWEAT) Program |
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| Requester: |
Harry D. Hutchens, III |
Organization: |
Putnam County School District |
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| Project Title: |
Putnam County Sheriff's Work Ethics and Training (SWEAT) Program |
Date Submitted |
12/21/2007 2:37:49 PM |
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| Sponsors: |
Lynn |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| Juvenile prevention program targeting youths with family problems, substance abuse and juvenile delinquent behavior. |
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| Recipient: |
Putnam County School District |
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Contact: |
Harry D. Hutchens, III |
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200 South Seventh Street |
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Contact Phone: |
(386) 329-1231 |
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Palatka 32177 |
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Contact email: |
hdhutchens@msn.com |
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| Counties: |
Putnam |
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| Gov't Entity: |
Yes |
Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
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| Project Description: |
| SWEAT is an alternative restorative justice program for juveniles who are issued Civil Citations, assigned community service hours, referred by the school or are referred by the juvenile justice system in lieu of prosecution or adjudication. The program addresses individual problems the youth are having in a timely manner, so that there is no lapse between the offense and penalties since youth often re-offend before their first case is disposed in court. SWEAT is immediate and has proven to be very effective and plays a major role as a deterrent to future juvenile offenses and behavior problems. Participants are required to work an 8-hour day cleaning and picking up trash from public parks, roadsides, neighborhoods and other community sites. Two Sheriff's Office Deputies supervise and evaluate the juveniles during this work detail. Juveniles are given orange colored vests to wear over their clothing. The Sheriff's Office provides each juvenile with water to drink and lunch and transportation to and from the work sites. Parents and juveniles are required to sign a contract agreeing to the conditions of the specific referral. Parents are responsible for picking up their child at the appropriate time at the end of each workday. The SWEAT program will help to relieve an already overburdened juvenile justice system in Putnam County. |
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| Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| Program completers are expected to have decreased problem behaviors, improved school attendance, remain crime free for six months following completion and keep the juvenile justice referrals from increasing in number. The program coordinator will arrange tutoring for participants who are identified as having low reading skills and truancy concerns. Each enrollee will be administered the MAYSI-2 to assess if the juvenile is in need of other services. The MAYSI-2 has proven to be a reliable tool for identifying: alcohol/drug use, depression/anxiety, somatic complaints, suicide ideation, anger/irritability, and traumatic experiences. After scoring the MAYSI-2, if any individual shows indications that any of the risk factors are present, the juvenile will be referred for additional assessment, counseling and support. During the 2006-2007 fiscal-year the SWEAT program served 206 juveniles and 11% of the 206 were identified by the MAYSI-2 for additional services, including suicide ideation. Currently for this fiscal year, 26% of participants have been identified as needing additional services. Once a juvenile is enrolled in the program, s/he has 45 days to compete the assigned community service work hours. Because this is an alternative diversion program offering no time lapse between offense and consequences, students will be served and complete within the 45 days. The methods used to identify youth eligible to participate in the SWEAT program are: referrals from DJJ as a diversion, civil citations from law enforcement agencies in lieu of a court referral, referrals from the State Attorney prior to filing a petition and court referrals, and school referrals in lieu of suspension or expulsion. |
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$75,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$104,300 |
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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 |
$ |
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In-kind Amount |
$29,300 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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Yes |
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Fiscal Year: |
2007-2008 |
Amount: |
$75,000 |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$75,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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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: |
Agency Needs Assessment |
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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: |
Putnam County Legislative Delegation |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
