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I've started a series of fliers that I give to people in courtrooms, at the detention center and other places where we all tend to gather. I call these notes FastFacts when they deal with documented facts and Voices when they raise concerns about the Juvenile Justice System as a whole. Here are the ones completed so far. Others will follow. If you have a fact or concern you would like to address, contact us at justice4kids.org please click here. Remember, Tim Niermann Chief Probation Officer/Circuit Manager for Pinellas County says “Call on me—I’m your key to juvenile justice services.” Phone (727)893-2000 or (727)423-1260 or e-Mail Timothy.Niermann@djj.state.fl.us FastFacts and Voices
Voices #1
JDC: “We Need Help…”
8/10/01
FastFact #1 Cost of Care. Save up to $50 a day! [Note: this is now outdated; see FastFact #5]
Chapter 985 also says the fee may be reduced or waived if you tell the judge:
*Removed in 2001 statute. FastFact #2 Have a “Judge” Complaint? Just because they wear robes doesn’t mean judges can’t be exposed!
Mail your complaint to
FastFact #3 File a Grievance... Don’t like it? Don’t take it! The Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) has a 4 step grievance process:
STEP 5
(the hidden step)
Discouraged? Don’t despair! Call 850-921-0803! Get a copy of the DJJ Organizational Chart and call, call, call to administrators in Tallahassee. This may be the only way changes might happen! Logon to justice4kids.org, if you can, for this information. Note: Click on Documents for a copy of the DJJ
Organizational Chart with one-click access to e-mail addresses...cc FastFact #4A Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center: So much is wrong...be a VOICE for change!
Troubled? Call JDC Superintendent, Jim Uliasz, (727) 538-7119 or e-mail Gov. Jeb Bush at jeb.bush@myflorida.com or Curtis Krueger of the St. Pete Times at krueger@sptimes.com. FastFact #5 Cost of Care Cut...But time lags for tail to move when head says "Wag!"
The law, Chapter 985 of the Florida Statutes, says you can be billed a daily fee if your child is “in the custody of or committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice for a delinquent or criminal act.” Chapter 985 also says the fee may be reduced or waived if you tell the judge:
*Removed in 2001 statutes.
FastFact #6 Oh, The Power of
Books! Did you know that, in the hands of a determined youth, a book can be used to:
The first 4 uses are the reasons given why the 5th use is not allowed in a youth’s room at the Pinellas Regional Juvenile Detention Center. Yet, JDC is probably one place where reading can be promoted and TV can be demoted. Maybe, while in detention, a youth could learn something positive from a...
Click here to add your support to the petition to get books in the rooms of kids at Florida's Juvenile Detention Centers. FastFact #7 We've been duped!! Juvenile Delinquency Records are NOT Confidential
The cost for this background check is $23 for each name search. This is contrary to what most of us have been told by attorneys, members of the court, and employees of the Department of Juvenile Justice. If you think this is wrong, contact your state representative! Or, contact FL R Representative Kim Berfield, 50th District, 727-724-3000 or berfield.kim@myfloridahouse.com Or click here to send us an e-mail Or, call justice4kids.org, inc. at (727) 799-9762. Remember: “Together, we make a difference.”
Voices #1 JDC: “We Need Help…”
Voices #2 You Have a Voice! Judges bark but they rarely bite!
“The mission of the judicial branch is to protect rights and liberties,
uphold and interpret the law, and provide for the peaceful resolution of
disputes.” Voices #3 You Have Rights…Even Though You’re in the Juvenile Justice System
These basic rules apply to adult and youth alike:
Voices #4 We Can’t Be Heard If We Don’t Speak Up
Justice4kids.org offers a voice for your voice. If you have a suggestion or complaint that you want given to an organization with the intent to make the juvenile justice system better, please e-mail it to justice4kids.org; it can be sent anonymously. Here’s how it works: Logon to justice4kids.org; click Contact Us; pick a topic; type your comment or suggestion; press Send. When you use Contact Us, you don’t have to tell us anything about yourself: no
name; no phone number; no e-mail address; just a voice with the intent to make
the system work. Voices #5 FELONIES FOR FREE...Or, at most, $5 a day! A 17 year-old girl was brought to JDC on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge. In the 4 months she’s been waiting for help, she has acquired 3 felony charges for battery on detention workers. Judge Ramsberger ruled that this girl is mentally incompetent. He said she needs treatment in a mental health facility. justice4kids.org received pleas for help from JDC staff who are expected "...to deal with all kinds of youths with drug, sexual, suicidal, psychological, temper, and mental problems, even though we have never been trained to." A teenage girl battered detention workers? AMAZING! Voices 5A FREE FELONIES...and Misdemeanors! What’s wrong here? Take a teenager, troubled, angry, confused but innocent of any crime. Put him, or her, into the juvenile justice system. And,,, voila! Out pops a convicted felon! How can this be? A youth is brought to a Juvenile Detention Center, Residential Commitment Center or Boot Camp not for punishment but for a safe place until help can be found. While there the youth pushes a detention officer, drill instructor or other staff member and the result can be a charge of Felony Battery! Can such a system be fixed? Voices #6 Please Stop Turning The Other Way! I was an employee at the Pinellas Juvenile Detention Center...and was a
victim from the se Voices #7 Something's Happening Here! At the Pinellas JDC for the last fiscal year (7/1/00-6/30/01), youth incurred 14 new felony charges for battery on staff. If you consider that there are 23 other JDC's throughout Florida and hundreds of placement facilities where similar charges occur, then possibly over 500 youth per year receive new criminal charges WHILE DETAINED. Are the staff at these facilities so poorly trained that they are unable to defuse, but rather escalate, these situations? Or is it something more sinister?
Revised 12/17/2005 |
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Did you know that you can be ordered to pay as much as $50 per day if your
child is “in the custody of or committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice
for a delinquent or criminal act”? It’s true! Chapter 985 of the Florida
Statutes says so!
Did you know that you can complain about a judge based on his or her
personal conduct or behavior; Not on rulings. Include the following information
in your complaint:
...BOOK!
ANYONE
can access the Florida arrest records of any youth. A prospective employer,
landlord or any member of the general public is able to get all of this
information from the Florida Dept of Law Enforcement (FDLE) 
At the detention center, our starting pay is $22,000 a year; we are expected
to deal with all kinds of youths with drug, sexual, suicidal, psychological,
temper, and mental problems, even though we have never been trained to. We are
forced to work overtime (16 hours) with short notice, which creates burnout,
which leads to short tempers and poor decisions towards youth. The staff to
youth ratio is poor and more attention is placed on our appearance... than our
and the youths needs... We are the only detention center that received "deemed
status" which means we complied with all the standards. The staff here cares a
lot, but the resources we need are limited. We need help, we have tried to voice
our opinions... Rules are set and broken by staff in upper positions, with no
consequences. Upper management rarely shows up for work on time, if they show up
at all. Sick leave is highly abused; there is no accountability at all...We need
every person to be accountable for what they do. Sometimes we don't receive our
forced overtime pay, which leads to call-ins (sick), leading to poor moral,
which affects our attitude towards youth. The main person who has an effect on
our poor performance is Mr. Raggett. Please be a (voice) for us and help us.
Please help weed out the bad people here, so we can function more efficiently.
If we speak up, we are targeted as troublemakers. I wish to remain anonymous;
Insist that your judge responds to your concerns not your
emotions.
Remember, what you say should be more important than how you say it.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always
happen. Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re before the judge:
As
a parent, guardian or youth in court, JDC, JAC, JARF, etc. you are at the mercy
of the system. You’re on their turf. They know each other: have
lunch together, work with each other in those buildings every day; you don’t.
That doesn't mean that you give up, or lose site of, your rights. No matter what
pressure you feel, you have the right to keep your wits about you and to take
your time. 
We all have a stake in the juvenile justice system: kids at loose ends,
parents looking for help, employees overworked and underpaid and all of us
wrestling with the “system.”
cond
I walked in…Thankfully I left that job so I don't have to feel sick to my
stomach every day knowing what I would have to endure. If you drug tested all of
the staff there you would have to let 75% of your staff go…It is okay for the
male staff to sexually harass female staff. It is okay for staff members to
physically abuse youths in the facility and cover it up with a good report. I
have seen all of these instances and I am ashamed of actually being a part of
the Pinellas JDC team at one time. How are we role models for these kids when
staff can't even follow rules and regulations or even the law. How come it is
okay for...supervisors to cheat, lie, judge, and show prejudices towards people.
I thought that you guys are supposed to be team players. I wouldn't be on that
team again for all the money in the world. How can we expect for the youth to
leave there better human beings when staff shows all of this behavior in front
of the youths????? Please stop turning the other way.