<p> Ouachita Area Youth Council Minutes- January 28, 2015</p><p>Present: 29 Members Linda Ragsdale (OCC) Pati Trippel (OCC) Steve Nawojczyk (AR DYS) Vicki Cook (Community Vol.) Denice Davis (Community Vol.) Darla Kelsay (CSI) Jim Hoffpauir (Salvation Army) David Robbins (UA AR Promise) Katie Gibson (United Way) Terri Helms (NPCC CCA) Monica Bell-Longtin (GCJC) Rhonda Hadley (GC JDC) Donna Meeks (CASA) Stanley Barnes (YMCA) Bill Vining (HS Community Schl) John Morgan (OCC) Carol Freeland (OCC) Jodi Chalmers (LHSD) Melisa Glenn (HumanTrfckng GC) Natalie Caldwell (AR Promise) Rachel Duvall (CCS) Katie Allen (GC Library) Donna Dobbs (CCS) Lisa Haynes (GC Juvenile Court) Stacy Casbon (CCS) LaJean Burnett (GC Cares) David Fleming (Grand Ave. UMC) Denise Marion (Justice of Peace) Sue Legal (OCC)</p><p>I. Welcome and Introductions Linda Ragsdale, Chairman of OYAC, welcomed attendees and invited each member to introduce themselves to all present.</p><p>II. “ Wheels Don’t Roll Without a Hub”- Steve Nawojczyk Steve Nawojczyk, Manager of Systems Improvement with Arkansas Division of Youth Services, delivered a rousing presentation, “Wheels Don’t Roll Without a Hub”. Notes:  Mission is to help communities keep kids close to their home communities.  Juvenile Detention Centers (JDCs) are under control of individual county, not DYS, so there is not consistency in programming (including education).  Because of this, one solution may be to have one DYS intake center for the entire state.  Garland County JDC is a 5 star facility as rated by DYS clients.  Youth incarcerated in JDC’s are members of the 5H Club: They are homeless, hopeless, helpless, hungry, and hug-less.  There is a push all over the nation to reduce commitment of youth- jail does not work for kids.  Lots of kids should not be in JDC, including status offenders and those with mental health issues. o Medicaid stops when a youth is in jail o 70% of those with mental health issues have a dual diagnosis o JDC’s need a good front end assessment tool- being worked on by DYS</p><p>1  What motivated Steve to leave coroner/crime lab/ambulance director career for a DYS career was realization that over a 10 year period, there was a 300% increase in youth homicides.  Now considers himself to be an ombudsman for kids about education, respect- that THEY are the director of their lives.  Does not judge parents- they are doing the best they can.  Tells kids to tell DYS contacts everything about their situation so they can be better helped.  Trauma informed care is so important- we are dealing with an individual kid’s belief system and reality and must address a given situation with this understanding.  A very large proportion of kids in JDC also have a parent in a detention center.  For most kids in JDC, violence is a big part of their lives.  2 million children are arrested each year. Of that number, 95% were for non-violent offenses.  The U.S. spends $10,500 per year on each child for education  The U.S. spends $88,000 per year on each child for juvenile detention.  The U.S. incarcerates 5x more youth than any other nation.  For more information go to: stevenawojczyk.com or gangwar.com, be sure to view the YouTube “kids for cash” on the website  The THEA foundation located in North Little Rock (theafoundation.org) supports and promotes the arts as a means healing and growth in youth. o Developed A+ schooling, a curriculum delivery system, which if used across the board in JDCs, would ease the transition when a youth moves between centers.  Kids in JDCs are typically 3-4 years behind in reading skills- part of why it is so important to have mentor/tutors for these kids.  The film regarding the choir at PS22 in New York shows how effective an arts program can be to challenged youth. Google it!  Steve introduced Rev. David Fleming of the Grand Avenue United Methodist Church, recently moved here from Pine Bluff. David gave testimony as to how vital it is to use the resources of the community to achieve an objective. One agency cannot do it alone.  The diagram below is an example of how a Youth Service group as ours can operate in a community (using North Little Rock Youth Advisory Council is the example).</p><p>2  Steve spoke to an ACTION plan for success, acronym:</p><p> Ended with the playing of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come. III. Agency/Program Updates  Substance Abuse Awareness- LaJean Burnett & Sue Legal o This week is substance abuse awareness week with schools participating in an online chatroom with scientists o First Partners for Success Meeting: February 17, 2pm at OCC  Suicide Coalition- Sue Legal o A 2 day training will be offered in the Spring- date to be announced o Garland County has 3x the national average of suicides (youth & adult)  SWAP (South West Arkansas Partnership)- Sue Legal o In order for a community to get funding for the homeless from HUD, a homeless count must be done in the last 10 days of January. o Our community’s was done on January 22nd. o Breakfast and lunch were offered at Transportation Depot- fed approximately 300 people o From this council, Sue Legal, Stanley Barnes, Megan Masone, Katie Gibson, Melissa Glenn and Jim Hoffpauir assisted. An impressive number of volunteers helped on this very rainy day. o Arlington Hotel donated 500 blankets. o Known “Homeless Camps” were visited and even though no one was present, supplies were left at camps. o Numbers of homeless are still be tallied, though the rainy day and mobility of the homeless did not help- as soon as daybreak dawned, the homeless were on the move and hard to locate. o The way HUD allows us to count homeless is they are only counted as being homeless if they did not have a roof over their head the evening prior to the count. So a homeless person who was in a shelter, crashed on someone’s couch, was not counted. o Services were available to homeless including; health checks, insurance coverage sign-up, veterans benefits, clothing, food, hygiene products, blankets, tarps, hats, gloves and scarves, and brochures regarding Human Trafficking, Suicide prevention, shelters and housing.  Human Trafficking- Melisa Glenn o The Human Trafficking Task Force of Garland County seeks to educate and equip</p><p>3 individuals and communities to strengthen local efforts in the fight to end Human Trafficking. o The Task force had a very successful month this January, the National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. On January 13th they had a presentation featuring Hot Springs Middle School student Maddie Scott, who created a Public Service Announcement on Human Trafficking awareness under the supervision of EAST Instructor John Stokes. We also had Kathy Bryan, a survivor who was trafficked from the ages of 15 to 17. o We also screened the documentary In Plain Sight on January 20th. This documentary focuses on 6 shelters in 6 different cities, including Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock's Shelter's Director of Partners Against Trafficking Humans (PATH) shared and also a survivor who graduated from the shelter's program. o As a result of these awareness events, the Garland County Sheriff's Department interested in becoming trained in order to fight human trafficking in our county. o The Task Force meets the second Tuesday of every month, the next meeting will be February 10th from 1pm to 2pm and we will have guest speaker Bill Temple share an educational presentation on Human Trafficking. This meeting is open to the public and a great opportunity to learn more about Human Trafficking. Melisa Glenn's email is [email protected]. o Human Trafficking affects our youth. In 2014 five victims were identified under the age of 18. According to the Department of Justice, approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States. And according to the National Runaway Hotline one in three teens on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home. o Tonight (1/28/15) there will be a documentary on AETN with Nicholas Kristoff and Ashley Judd called Path Appears at 6:30. IV. Committee Reports  Resource Directory- Stacy Casbon- no report  Mentoring Futures- Stanley Barnes o Mentoring in Garland County has received much attention over the past month. At the January 20th Board of Directors Meeting, Stanley received a Proclamation acknowledging January as the National Mentoring Month on behalf of all Garland County mentoring programs. Our mentoring programs were also featured in the Sentinel Record and in the On the Go Magazine.  Community Awareness- Darla Kelsay- no report V. Nominations- Carol Freeland  Carol presented a proposed slate of officers on behalf of the nominations committee (Carol Freeland, Stanley Barnes, Chris Burrow) which will act as a steering committee for OYAC: o Chair- Pati Trippel o Secretary- Janet McAdams o At Large 1- Linda Ragsdale o At large 2- Denice Davis o Mentoring Chair- Stanley Barnes o Education Connection- Jodi Chalmers o Resource Directory- Stacy Casbon</p><p>4 o Public Outreach/ Community Awareness- Darla Kelsay  La Jean Burnett made a motion to elect the proposed slate of officers and steering committee. Vicki Cook seconded the motion and it was passed by voice affirmation. VI. New Chair’s Remarks  Pati Trippel thanked everyone for their vote of confidence.  Members of the Steering Committee were asked to stay after the meeting for a moment to arrange a Steering Committee meeting date to be scheduled in February.  After reviewing the standing meeting dates of various organizations, it was determined that the fourth Tuesday of alternating months would be the best meeting time for most members of OYAC. The dates for the remaining OYAC meetings this year are: o March 24 o May 26 o July 28 o September 22 o November 24  Unless notified, all OYAC meetings will be at 1pm at the Ouachita Children’s Center for the remainder of the year. VII. Other Business, Updates, Announcements  Bill Vining, representing Hot Springs Community School, would like to form a coalition to “stop the cycle” by changing the mindset of youth. He asked anyone interested to please contact him. VIII. Adjournment: 3:05pm</p><p>Respectfully submitted, Pati Trippel, 01/29/15</p><p>5</p>