News & Public Affairs

DJJ's Peterman emphasizes Reinvestment Act at conference listen

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Tags: mental health care, substance abuse, criminal justice, youth

Yesterday, WMNF reported on the first day of a conference in Tampa which brought together state and local officials to discuss ways to divert people with addictions and mental illnesses from being incarcerated in the criminal justice system. Today the conference concluded with an emphasis on helping juveniles.

Friday’s Keynote Speaker was the Secretary of the Department of Juvenile Justice, or DJJ, Frank Peterman, Jr., who was appointed as Secretary by Governor Charlie Crist in February. ...

Legislature plans cuts to children's services

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Tags: budget cuts, youth

According to the Florida Coalition for Children, a Tallahassee-based advocacy group, the state Legislature will cut services to children by $18.9-million below last year's levels, and will slash $30.3-million more that's needed to pay for a growing number of adoptions and youths too old to stay in foster care.

Last year in Florida more than 3,000 foster children were adopted, up from 1,500 in just the past three years. The new budget would cut subsidies to adoptive parents by $3.8-million....

Job Corps breaks ground on new center listen

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Tags: Job Corps, jobs, youth, Rick Baker, Elaine Chao, Bill Young

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao was in St. Petersburg’s Midtown neighborhood this afternoon to break ground on the Pinellas County Job Corps Center.

Job Corps is a “no-cost education and vocational training program administered by the U.S. Department of Labor,” according to its website.

Chao said the Job Corps Center, which will open in the summer of 2009 at the corner of Fifth Avenue South and Twenty-Second Street South, will cost $40-million to construct. According to Chao, it w...