By Margaret Hopper

The Grant County Youth Advisory Council met Tuesday, September 21, 2016 at noon in the 6th Judicial District Courthouse Jury Room. Councilors attending included Lynn Baca, LULAC; Margaret Begay, Adult Drug Court; Charlene Webb, Grant County Manager; Dianne Rothpletz, Silver High Youth Member; Ron Hall, County Commissioner; Lisa Ortega, La Plata assistant principal; Jose Carrillo, Cobre assistant superintendent; Martin Maxwell, attorney from DA's Office; Melissa Frost, Courthouse Financial Officer; Rachel Medina, JPO; and Judge J. C. Robinson. There are others on the committee that were not in attendance.

Bianca Padilla had a PowerPoint-

JPO School/Learning Lab exists when school is in session, accepting all suspension and provisional expulsion students Monday through Friday, meeting in a classroom at the JPO office, 8:00 to 12:00 noon, with a certified teacher and an instructional aide. Silver Schools funds the aide; Juvenile Justice, the instructor. A licensed counselor, Debora Berry, is also available to students on site. This program is beginning its fourth year.

The Truancy Prevention Program was also presented in the report, outlining the personnel and the work they did. A $50,000 grant made this possible this year. Other programs included the Citation, Courtesy, Family Strengthening, Drug and Alcohol, Wilderness, Community Youth Building, and more.

Citation Program served 103 students, representing 15 to 20 families. These were referred to court but many resolved their issues before going through the entire process. Padilla said Courtesy Program served 108 cases, 78 for truancy, 14 runaways and 16 non-mandatories, referred to prevent further issues. She considered this voluntary prevention, an aspect that had not been available in earlier years.

Family Strengthening activities started with a 30-minute sit-down dinner, adults and children together, followed by an hour learning session, one for adults, another for the student(s). Another hour of family shared activity ended the session. The 8-session program served a total of 57 families.

The Drug/Alcohol/Substance Abuse program served 156 youth and 166 adults last year. The sessions met twice a week. An added bonus for Silver clients was that their attendance could help reduce their suspension period, according to the presentation.

The Wilderness Project had fewer attending and two trips were made, perhaps as a pilot effort. Padilla reported 10 boys and 9 girls attending in the past. More trips are being planned, mainly on school break periods, and seasonally, as fall and spring.

Perhaps the largest project is Community Youth Building. There are more subdivisions under this program, such as working and serving at Habitat for HumanityG