Members Present

Dr. Wilcox
Sheriff Crowder
Elizabeth Whittles
 

Harry Yates
Vern Melvin
Bruce Colton

Jim Vojcsik
David Collier
Ray Collins
Judge Burton Connor

Others in Attendance

David Cardno
Danny Lyons
Sharon Slattery
Morgan Sprott
Robyn Cleghorn
Maryellen Quinn Lunny

Kelly McIntyre
Eric Miller
Jon Milton
Cheryl Bass
Anita Cocoves

Major Bill Snyder
Alec Connolly
Beth Stone
Donna Hosang
Kelly McIntyre

Welcome and Introductions

Dr. Sara Wilcox welcomed meeting participants and guests.  Mr. Blackburn was unable to facilitate today’s meeting and asked Dr. Wilcox to do so.   Executive Roundtable members and guests were invited to introduce themselves and did so.

Review/Approval of Minutes from January 28, 2004

Executive Roundtable members reviewed the minutes of the January 28, 2004 meeting.   There were no additions or corrections and the minutes were approved unanimously by consensus. 

SSN Alliance Update: Community Based Care Initiative

Mr. Melvin was asked to update the Roundtable members and guests on the progress of the Shared Services Alliance of Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast.  Mr. Melvin offered the following:

·         Mr. Bob Quam, newly appointed CEO of New Horizons, was a featured speaker at a recent meeting.  Mr. Quam brings many years of experience to the position and Mr. Melvin is encouraged by his leadership role.  It is anticipated that the community will see a significant improvement in services provided by New Horizons.

·         Highlights of a recent meeting included a PowerPoint presentation by Kathy Basile and Beverly O’Neil, Alliance members, regarding the successes of the Alliance over the past four years.  This presentation validated the importance of the continued collaboration by Executive Roundtable members from all four counties.

·         There was recently a joint meeting of Alliances from across the state which was well attended.  Representatives from our local Alliance attended.

·         Foster care and adoption services have been transitioned from DCF to United for Families in Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee Counties. Indian River County is scheduled to transition on May 1.  Barring some minor issues the transitions have gone rather smoothly.

·         In April 2003 the Alliance sponsored a Child Watch which focused on foster parent recruitment and retention.  It has been recommended that a similar program be presented to Executive Roundtables in each of the four counties. Okeechobee and Martin County have already included the foster care presentation on upcoming agendas.

·         The Alliance will continue to focus on a broad array of issues that affect children and families at risk.

Communities that Care Mobilization Planning:

·         Strategies for Plan Implementation

·         Sub-Committee reports

Ms. Whittles facilitated the presentation of a PowerPoint slide show that outlined the work of the four sub-committees working on the Community Action Plan to reduce youth substance use.  A copy of the slide show was distributed to meeting participants.  Assisting Ms. Whittles were Ms. Hosang, Ms. Cleghorn and Ms. McIntyre.  Highlights of accomplishments to date are:

·         the kick-off of the Parents Who Host Lose the Most campaign, including the development of PSAs by Executive Roundtable members (to air on Adelphia cable and MCTV20) and expansion of the campaign into adjoining counties

·         the development of a FACT Sheet which is an internal SSN document listing who to call if citizens are interested in assisting with reducing youth substance use.  The FACT sheet is posted on the SSN Website at: http://ssn.sbmc.org/fact_sheet.htm

·         the promotion of the 211 Information/Crisis Line and use of its website: http://www.211treasurecoast.org, including two specialized trainings for agency staff.

·         the distribution of developmental assets newsletters to schools and community agencies for use in their individual newsletters

·         the introduction of the WISE Skills Curriculum, a comprehensive character education curriculum tied to literacy implemented in the MC School District during the 2003-2004 school year

·         the implementation of year three of Project Northland, a prevention-based behavioral curricula for middle school students

·         the development of a MADD chapter in Martin County, and the highlights of MADD activities since chapter inception

·         the researching of social hosting and administrative penalty ordinances from other parts of the country and discussions with local city and county administrators regarding the development of similar ordinances locally  

There was discussion regarding the development of an insert in the local paper outlining the risks of youth substance use, signs and symptoms of substance use and local stories.  There is a model of such a publication which was developed in another county in Florida.    The anticipated cost of the publication is $5000 and Steering Committee personnel have had preliminary discussions with the local newspapers.   Some Roundtable members indicated that they were not confident that such a publication would be valuable as many people do not pay attention to the newspaper inserts.  There was some discussion regarding a direct mailing to parents as a marketing tool or maybe targeted newspaper ads.  This issue was tabled pending additional information from the Steering Committee.

 Mr. Vojcsik asked when the results of the 2004 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey would be released.  Ms. Cleghorn indicated that the survey had been administered to students in local high schools and results would be released anytime between November 2004 and January 2005. 

Article V: Status of Teen Court/Juvenile Drug Court

Judge Burton Connor was detained in his arrival and in his absence Ms. Whittles updated the Roundtable members on Article V.   Per Ms. Whittles, the House and Senate versions of Article V have been blended (glitch bill over Article V).  The bill as it stands at this time protects the fee structure for teen court.  Funding for law libraries and drug courts is not solidified.  Ms. Whittles indicated surprise to see the fee structure in the bill.  Essentially nothing would change if the bill passes as presented.   Under the glitch bill the drug court administrator position is maintained but no funds are allocated for treatment.  Judge Connor arrived and echoed what Ms. Whittles had presented.   

There was a question regarding whether the Chief Judge will use the local Trust Fund dollars for the court system or whether the funds must be used for teen/drug court.  Judge Connor indicated that the funds that have been collected may be used for teen court/drug court.

Juvenile Justice Five Year Plan: Correlation to the SSN Community Action Plan

The local Juvenile Justice Five Year Plan was distributed to meeting participants.  Ms. Whittles gave a short overview of the Circuit 19 DJJ Board, including its participation on the Statewide Coalition.  The DJJ Plan is correlated to the SSN Action Plan and members were asked to review the plan at their leisure. The context of the plan includes local statistics and outlines early identification and front end prevention practices.   The Department of Juvenile Justice will award a grant of $80,000 for substance abuse prevention to a local agency.  Applications have been submitted and review by a selection committee.

Announcements from the floor 

David Cardno was recognized and discussed newspaper ads promoting increasing the homestead exemption in Florida.  The publications do not indicate what the implication and/or loss of funds would be for social services providers.  Mr. Cardno urged meeting attendees not to support the proposal to increase the homestead exemption. 

Adjourn 

With general business concluded the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.  The next meeting of the Executive Roundtable will be held on Wednesday, June 16 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.  The meeting will be held at the Stuart/Martin Chamber of Commerce unless otherwise indicated in the meeting notice.