JPPO program coordinator, Bianca Padilla, with Big Brothers, Big Sisters director Dawn Starostka
Photo and article by Margaret Hopper
The Grant County Youth Advisory Committee met at the courthouse on April 24, Monday noon. The advisory committee seems to change from meeting to meeting, but the table is always filled, with Judge J. C. Robinson at the head, chairing the meeting, Bianca Padilla, Juvenile Probation and Parole Office program coordinator, there beside him, and Rachel Medina, her supervisor, at the other end. Good things are happening in Grant County.
This meeting began a little after 12. After introductions were over, Dawn Starostka, Regional Director for Big Brothers/Sisters, presented information on her program. She said the program is being rebuilt, itGÇÖs up and running again after ending here in 2014. The mentors for the children being served are vetted carefully and matched to the child. The benefits of the association were many. They are ready to help Grant County kids get back on the right path.
Children in the program were more likely to stay in school, improve academically and graduate while they avoided illegal drugs, violence and alcohol. Attitudes were improved and many reached successful goals and lifestyles later on as a result of these helps. The program can work with children between the ages of 5 and 18 years of age. Geography does play a part; matches are much easier to make if both a child and the partner come from the same general area.
The existing program fell apart in 2014, she said, and since then, efforts have gone into rebuilding the program, redeveloping the mentoring adults and strengthening the structure. One encouraging fact is that, in addition to the present 26 mentors, WNMU athletes will soon be interviewed and recruited for service beginning this fall. They hope for about 40 new mentors from the college. This presents a larger pool of mentors, something needed to help the kids, especially boys, who presently wait for their partners.
At present, the program is still being administered out of Las Cruces, but Starostka said they hope to have a new director placed locally in Grant County by October. In the commenting part, Jose Carrillo, CobreGÇÖs assistant superintendent, said he would like this to be presented to staff at the mining district schools.
In Program Updates, Padilla said that the Early Warning System, an add-on, pilot program tied to the Power School work, flagged 75 La Plata students last fall. They immediately started counseling those on individual education plans and tutoring for those kids, and in two months, the figure went down to 23 at risk; the program works. Now they need to spread the benefits out to the other schools in the district. Her program is one of three pilot projects in the state.
Saying the Governor has approved another yearGÇÖs funding for Truancy/Dropout Coaches, the applications would be out soon and Padilla would be writing for that grant. Her plan is to ask for two coaches for each school district, Silver and Cobre. This work helps kids stay in school and graduate. Summer school could have about 150 kids in it, with seven instructors. Most would be from the district, with perhaps two from JPPO.
The flower boxes for Main Street, a project of the Community Youth Building Program, are back in place for the year and the community should see blossoms before long. Look for the boxes near the municipal court and city hall. More are being constructed and available soon.
Another grant proposal, the JJAC (Juvenile Justice Advocacy Committee) has been approved by the Grant County Commission. This one affects the Learning Lab, the Strengthening Families Program, and the Community Youth Building Program, which has been teaching kids practical skills for the past few years.
Under Youth Report, a student who is now in the program was on hand to tell board members how the program has helped him. After being expelled, he was placed in JPO school, where he is finishing out his senior year. He said the JPO teachers are good; they allow some classroom music if the work is being done properly. He will have some summer school and he expects to graduate at the end of June. Without this program, he would have just dropped out.
Padilla asked David Holguin and Tony Sosa, truancy and dropout prevention coaches, to tell of their idea for another intervention program. The plan seems to be to call in cases at the five-day point, (after five absences) where students will face the municipal judge, rather than allow it to go to the 10-day period, where it now becomes a criminal offence. This avoids a lot of expense, as well as the mandatory, more serious court process.
Sosa and Holguin reasoned that this could avoid the serious consequences of the 10-day actions and likely resolve a large number of the present more serious legal actions before they happen. At least one municipal judge has listened, they said, and seemed to like the idea. Many more details need to be worked out, but these officers felt it could benefit a number of families and avoid the far more serious legal consequences that some have seen in the past. They want to follow up on the idea and make it a program.
The agenda called for the fiscal year 2017-18 budget to be reviewed, but Padilla said conditions in the state made it difficult to plan. There were too many unknowns. It would be better to wait until more facts were in place and work on it later. That meeting date will be announced after more information makes budget construction clearer.
Padilla is also working on scheduling ideas, which will be affected by whether the area schools work on a four- or five-day week. She commented if Silver goes to a four-day week, many things will be placed on those open Fridays. They could become very productive.
The Youth Advisory Committee meets quarterly so next meeting dates are not predictable. The future agenda will include the 2017-2018 budget information. This meeting ended at 12:45.