Criminal Justice
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
Since 2003 the jail population in Broward County has declined by12%, but the number of people with mental illness in jail has
nearly doubled. In Broward County it costs $160 / day to keep people with a mental illness locked up. In 2018 more than 14,000 people were baker acted in Florida. Broward County had a homeless population of 2,318 – 25% of them are living with mental illness. It costs the county $65,000 / person / year for some one to be on the streets
2014: We got the Hollywood Chief of Police to begin issuing civil citations.
2015: State wide bill passed expanding civil citations to 3 times
2018: State wide bill passed requiring all circuit courts to have a juvenile civil citation program, and encouraging them to have an adult program
2020: Commitment from Sheriff Tony to get juvenile and adult civil citations up to 80%
2021: We got a commitment from State Attorney Harold Pryor to conducted a 3 step screening process so that all eligible juveniles and adults get a civil citation.
Our work expanding civil citation has lead to 31,000 fewer children being arrested saving $140 million.
————————————
In 2015 and 2018 BOLD Justice worked with 9 other organizations in Florida to get two bill passed through the state legislature that expanded civil citation. .These bills:
- Expanded Civil Citations to
3 offenses, adding 1227
citations for second and
third offenses. - Removed the $75
expungement fee and
ensuring removal of Civil
Citations from background
checks. - Encouraged each Circuit
Court to institute an adult
Civil Citation program
Our work has seen 23,225 fewer
children in Florida arrested saving
the state more than $104 million.
Mental Health
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
Since 2003 the jail population in Broward County has declined by 12%, but the number of people with mental illness in jail has nearly doubled. 1,600 people in our jail are on the mental health caseload.
In Broward County it costs $160 / day to keep people with a mental illness locked up.
In 2018 more than 14,000 people were baker acted in Florida.
Broward has the 2nd largest homeless population in Florida
The new 2021 Annual Point in Time county showed 2,529 individuals who are homeless which is an increase of over 300 from the previous year
1,657 literally on our streets which is an increase of 673 from 2020
It costs the county $65,000 / person / year for some one to be on the streets
2019: BOLD Justice got the Sheriff to commit to train all 2,800 of his officers in Crisis Intervention Teams by the end of 2020. CIT is a 40 hour training for officers to learn skills for approaching Mentally Ill Suspects and alternatives to incarceration. It reduces injuries for both suspects and officers.
2021: BOLD Justice got a commitment from Commissioners Dale Holness, Barbara Sharief, and Beam Furr to support funding for an additional 200 units of Permanent Supportive Housing. BOLD Justice leaders have been attending county commission meetings, budget hearings, and induvial briefings with commissioners to move this issue forward.
The Broward County Homeless Continuum of Care board endorsed the proposal voting unanimously that the county should provide $3.8 million for the expansion of at least 65 units of PSH and that it should go through the budget process.
We anticipate funding will be approved and included in the upcoming budget
CIT has been shown to reduce the number of people with mental illness that end up in jail. This allows for more effective interventions and treatments AND saves the county money.
—————————————————————-
Permanent Supportive Housing is a housing model that provides rental assistance and supportive services to people with mental health issues who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness. Services include mental health treatment, physical health care, education, financial literacy education, employment opportunities and peer coaching.
It is proven that PSH reduces incarceration and hospitalizations among this population.
A large majority of PSH participants remain stably housed, ending their cycle of chronic homelessness
At a local PSH provider, it cost approximately $48.62 a day to house someone compared to $160 per night for incarcerations and anywhere between $350 to nearly $700/day for emergency room stays.
Care For Creation
Initial Research/ Problems:
Update:
- Black Americans are 75% more likely to live in close proximity to oil and gas facilities, which emit toxic air pollutants; as a result, these communities often suffer from higher rates of cancer and asthma.
- Black children are twice as likely to develop asthma as their peers.
- Racist redlining practices from the 50s and 60s is one of the main reasons that neighborhoods with low-wealth and communities of color have less trees, more concrete and therefore can be up to 20 degrees higher temperatures.
- Heat radiates off of roads and buildings with little ventilation in a pattern called the heat island effect. In some cases, these neighborhoods, which also tend to be occupied by low- income residents and minorities, can be 22 degrees than surrounding areas.
- In 2020: US spent $96 billion in natural disasters and weather events – this is double from 2019!
- Poorer urban communities are often less equipped to deal with oppressive heat, having less access to transportation, medical care and cooling centers. Access to air conditioning can also be a game changer
- In January, BOLD Justice partnered with 17 other justice ministry organizations throughout
- the DART network, to kick off our national Care for Creation sponsoring committee.
- Barbara Hassall (The Sanctuary Church) and Roland Abel (Miramar UMC) will be representing us on the national sponsoring committee.
- The sponsoring committee has started exploring issues of climate and environmental justice. Initially, the goal of working with other groups will be to strategize how to talk about climate issues within our congregations and prepare a question for our listening process next fall in order to hear stories about how environmental issues impact our daily lives.
- The committee has meet with experts and organizations and have several upcoming meetings already set up to learn about the connection to redlining and the heat index, rising costs of utility bills, and the rising sea level which is specially of interest to us here in Broward.
- We will officially form our local committee this fall after listening to the stories of our people; therefore, we are not bringing an action item to our Nehemiah Assembly this year.
Abuse of Seniors
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
Broward County residents of long term
care facilities are being abused and
neglected From 2011 to early 2014,
350 different Assisted Living Facilities
in the county were cited for dangerous
violations by the Agency for
Healthcare Administration (AHCA).
Fines for Assisted Living Facility
violations from July 2013 to June 2014
total over $70,000.
——————————————————————
In September 2017, 12 seniors
died in a Hollywood Hills nursing
home in the aftermath of
Hurricane Irma due to the
neglect and unsafe conditions in
these facilities. In response, the
State legislation passed a bill
requiring nursing homes and
ALFs to have a generator,
however the state agency
responsible for inspections does
not plan to inspect all facilities
each year.
2018: BOLD Justice got both the
Sheriff and State Attorney to agree to
form a task force to conduct
unannounced visits to nursing
homes to check on their compliance
with safety measures.
2019:BOLD Justice partnered with
the State Attorney to push The
Agency for Health Care
Administration (AHCA) to enforce the
generator law and ensure all nursing
homes and assisted living facilities
(ALFs) had working generators.
Inspections began in July of 2018.
Those inspections led to the
discovery and correction of safety
violations such as gaping holes in
residents floors, lack of
emergency plans, and poor dietary
conditions. Inspections occurred
once a month until the Covid-19
pandemic forced them to stop.
They will be restarting as soon as
it is safe to do so.
————————————————————–
When we started this campaign 116
facilities in Broward County did not
have working generators. Now all
308 facilities have generators and
all but 2 of them are permanent
generators. This change will protect
thousands of our seniors from death
in the case of a power failure due to
severe weather
Affordable Rental Housing
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
Rental Housing cost in the Ft.
Lauderdale area have risen making
attaining a home untenable for the
most vulnerable residents.
BOLD Justice Got the County
Commission to provide more then $2
million a year for 2 years for gap
financing to encourage the
development of affordable rental
housing.
2,322 new affordable rental units have
received full funding around the
county. These units are located in: Ft.
Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Dania
Beach, Miramar, Davie, Sunrise,
Deerfield Beach, and Cooper City.
Elementry School Reading
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
BOLD Justice got a commitment from the Superintendent to pilot Direct Instruction in underperforming schools in Broward County
BOLD Justice Got the County
Commission to provide more then $2
million a year for 2 years for gap
financing to encourage the
development of affordable rental
housing.
Dillard Elementary School in Fort
Lauderdale launched in the Fall
2013 and will serve around 300
students. Direct Instruction is a
research based reading curriculum
that has been shown to raise the
grades of low performing students.
It was more than 40 years of
research documenting its success.
Jobs
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
There are 54,000 people in Broward
County who are unemployed. This
includes some areas that still have
unemployment rates as high as 28%
BOLD Justice got the county
commission to pass the Workforce
Investment Act. The Workforce
Investment Act is a program of the
county the includes requirements and
incentives for companies that do
business with the county to hire local
Broward County residents, as well as
people who are traditionally hard to
hire (i.e. Veterans, people without
high school diplomas, people with a
felony conviction, people who are low
income, etc).
The policy went into effect in January
2015 and has already impacted more
than $200 mill worth of contracts
Drug Court
Problem
Resolution
Long Term Impact
The Drug Court system needed reforms
made to serve the greatest amount of
those in need.
Working with 5 other organizations
across the state of Florida, we got
SB400 passed through both the
house and the senate and signed
into law by Governor Scott.
SB400 changes several “red tape”
problems with admitting candidates
into the drug court. It is estimated
that over a 2 year period of time the
drug courts will serve 4,000 people
and save the state of Florida $95
million.