Okay, good morning. I'd like to go ahead and call the Alachua County Special Meeting to order April 7th at 10 o'clock. We've only got one item on the agenda, and with that, I'll take a motion to approve the agenda.
So moved. Second.
Motion and second to approve the agenda. Any discussion? Any public discussion? See you now. Back to the board. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion is unanimous. Okay, so we've got, Mr. Clerk, the item is the Department of the Jail quarterly update. This quarterly update is to the board on the Department of the Jail programs and mental health statistics. And I see we have our distinguished guests in the back. Mr. Undersheriff, do you want to get us started? Or, Sheriff, would you like to get us started? I see there's a lot of backup provided. We've got all of the program updates. I know we're just really going to focus in on the stats. So, Sheriff, welcome. Thank you for being here.
Welcome. Very glad to be here this morning. I'm Commissioner's and County Manager, Sheriff Scott. I'm here to give you an update, and I'm going to turn it over to Captain Swallows.
Okay. Captain, welcome. Morning, morning. Morning.
So, Captain Swallows, Division Commander of Support Services. This presentation is essentially updated from what we presented a few months back. So, it's not delineated as to which parts exactly were updated. So, we're going to have to just kind of go through it and recap everything we've done before.
Okay. So, you're a little taller than most of us. So, if you'll pull it there, you go. Pull that up there closer to you. We have to get a little closer. That way they can hear you at home. There you go. Yeah. Thank you. All right, Captain. Sorry.
That's okay. So, as you all are aware, the Programs Unit organizes and facilitates a whole bunch of different classes and programs in the jail. They also run the volunteer program. They've been, you know, increasingly networking with community partners to, you know, keep these relationships up, trying to get as many different programs and resources and services that we can to the, you know, inmates at the jail. So, they've been augmented pretty significantly by volunteers who are doing everything they can do to help us, you know, push this mission forward. As of, you know, last week, we had 99 volunteers come to us. You know, they're obviously looking to help out and provide as much support and facilitate the growth with our population as much as they can. You know, they're not only giving us services, but they're also, you know, recognizing the ongoing, ensuring the importance of ongoing support once these folks are released from jail. And, you know, it's starting to show that it provides a pretty tremendous resource to them. In addition to those volunteers that we have always had that have had unescorted access to volunteer inside the jail, we also now allow some justice-impacted individuals with certain prior felonies or adjudications withheld the chance to serve as escorted volunteers with inside the jail. To be considered for approval as an escorted volunteer in the jail, they've got to successfully pass an administrative review process. It's a little bit different than the standard background that's done. The new policy pretty much shows we're doing our best and committed to supporting those that are currently incarcerated at the jail and, you know, by fostering these opportunities for meaningful engagement and growth, helping to create a supportive environment that, you know, promotes that rehabilitation and with the ultimate goal of trying to reduce recidivism, you know, and that's something that we've been chasing for a while. If anybody's interested in being a volunteer, you just have to go to the online application system at the governmentjobs.com. The link is there in the presentation, and anybody that has any questions can call our HR Bureau at 367-4040, and we're more than glad to have anybody come out and try to help.
Can I ask you a quick question?
Certainly.
Is there a sort of a statute of limitations or a timeline with regards to that, you know, like if their felony is older than X number of years old?
Not if it's one of the considered... Unless it's in that realm of what has already been determined to be allowable, there is not a statute. If somebody's got a significant conviction from 20 years ago, it's not going to make a difference, whether it's...
And that's an administrative decision?
It is.
Okay.
For those that are escorted. Obviously, for the unescorted, can't have any of that. But for the escorted ones, it is administrative.
Okay.
So...
Is there a... Real quickly, is there a list somewhere that somebody... Or, like, the crimes that are and the crimes that aren't? Like, I'm just thinking about the people who are doing peer hiring. Like, our ACFR is now doing more peer specialists and working with you all, and we have others. I just want them to be able to, like, think about this when they're, you know, doing hiring, because they're looking for peers who have lived experience. But the last thing we'd want them to do is hire someone that then would be limited by their... You know what I mean? Like, so I guess, how do they coordinate with you to identify that list of crimes for which there's a no-go on the escorted, or there's an escorted only, or... You know what I mean? Like, how do they...
Yes. So the undersheriff, Josh Cruz, greetings to everybody. Yes, there is a directive that clearly outlines... Okay. ...the goes, the no-goes. And if you would like us to send all of you, I can actually send the county manager a copy of that directive, and then she could disseminate it. That'd be great. Sound good?
Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you.
So the new things that have happened since last time we were here, and this was underway, but it's becoming, you know, more defined as we cruise along. We have a partnership with Gainesville Fire Rescue Community Paramedicine Program. Inmates are referred to this program through our change officers, and if you recall, change program is a new thing that was created back in August. Through coordinated efforts, they are assisting with transport of newly released inmates to important medical and mental health appointments, bus station if needed upon release, and they help secure SOAR benefit appointments. They've become a great partner in assisting with our re-entry efforts. The Road to Success program began within the jail in December of 25. Since implementation, several inmates have been assisted with reinstating their driver's licenses. This is something we want to see grow even more. Implemented the use of the Emilio tablets for juvenile education in the re-entry 101 program. I'm currently implementing Casebook, a tracking software. This program is going to allow for more detailed statistical tracking of jail programs and outcomes. This was specifically purchased for the change program, but it's going to have ramifications in other services and programs we offer. This is also the software that is used by our community partner, released re-entry, and we purchased it on their recommendation.
That's great. Thank you so much.
So amongst the various unique partners we have, Career Source, Alcoholics Anonymous, and Narcotics Anonymous, Catholic Charities, Gainesville Community Ministries, Women Working with Women, Anew, Peaceful Paths, Community Springs, Holy Trinity, Veterans Honor Center, Library Partnership, Release Re-entry, Santa Fe College, Meridian Behavioral Health, Gainesville Fire Rescue, Elastro County School Board, and the Elastro County Fire Rescue.
Great list.
So, you know, program procedures kind of vary depending on where these folks are housed. Minimum and medium custody can attend programs. Anybody that's considered maximum or high risk cannot. Inmates who are not permitted to participate due to their custody level charges or status or behavior, for that matter, can ask their caseworker or a member of the program staff for some assistance. Programs vary in location based on the need of the program. The unit utilizes the chapel, two classrooms, and the library to facilitate the various programs. We'd love to have more space, but, you know, real estate isn't growing, so we have what we have. Most classes meet on a daily or weekly and summer and monthly seminar format. So, again, these are essentially the same as what we presented previously. There are updates to each one. So, the inmate transition program, the program focuses on helping inmates develop new thinking patterns. The program is designed in a quarterly format, and each participant completes set curriculums to include thinking for a change, which is a cognitive, behavioral, evidence-based class addressing thinking through patterns, developing social skills, and improving problem-solving skills. Getting ahead while getting out, focusing on building a plan to address the 72-hour window when an individual is most likely to re-offend upon release. Case management services and referrals to community resources assisting in successful transition back to the community.
You said when you say in-house program, do you mean that's taught by staff of the Bellagia County Sheriff's Office?
So, who? I mean, yes. I don't know which specific one, but yes.
Okay. Okay.
During the past educational cycle, which is, you know, January through March, 12 participated in the transition program, and eight successfully completed the program. Since 2020, there have been a total of 12 cycles with 180 participants. 135 of them successfully completed the program, and 80 of those have not been re-arrested. 59% reduction. Change program, again, you know, it's for those inmates that are in custody that have about 45 days left to serve. And the, you know, the acronym stands for Community Housing Academics Nutrition Groups and Employment. The goal is to connect them to resources and assist them prior to release with any, you know, counseling or employment assistance and, you know, housing help and nutritional resources, hoping to help them lead more, you know, productive lives when they get out and prevent them from coming back, you know. The transition program provides cognitive tools and support and prep for release, and the change program's major emphasis is on resources and filling in those critical gaps that are not addressed elsewhere. Since September of 25, 238 inmates have been screened for services, 183 of them accepted. 30 received assistance with securing a job. 44 were referred for job placement. 40 received assistance with securing housing. Nine have received relocation assistance. 15 referred for food assistance. And 45 for various other services that are available. There have also been referrals for SSI benefits, transportation assistance, job applications, and GED and educational referrals. As you all know, the jail has its own chaplain. Offers spiritual guidance and encouragement to the population. Alongside the chaplain, there's over 35 volunteers who provide religious services, Bible studies, worship service opportunities. Currently, 11 different churches and denominations are represented within the Department of the Jail. The Electric County Sheriff's Office chaplain as well, as volunteers and various community partners facilitate the chaplaincy and religious service program. More in-house programs, domestic violence, weekly group sessions with Peaceful Paths victim advocate. The goal is to educate inmates who are victims of domestic abuse and provide information about safety planning, intervention, and any available community resources. Library services, obviously. You know, we have a full library branch at the Department of the Jail. And they have all the reading materials and resources, a legal section for law reference, career section for future employment. They also provide literacy programs to include book talks, poetry programs, and biography writing. The book club, facilitated by the library specialists. M.A.s read selected books of the week and as a group reflect and share ideas. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, weekly meetings for M.A.s who suffer from alcohol or drug addictions and desire to achieve and maintain sobriety. Local A.A. and N.A. members are facilitators. Project Me, weekly group for female inmates to work on improving their self-esteem and enhance their relationships. Anger management. Weekly courses taught by released reentry staff for inmates who struggle with managing their anger. This course helps inmates learn techniques to identify their triggers and manage the stress and effectively resolve conflict. Again, released reentry is facilitating that. School board offers adult and juvenile education. The jail offers GED services for adults and individualized secondary education for juveniles. To improve juvenile education, we recently got and implemented the use of ingenuity platform, allowing students to gain access to their school board accounts using the Emilio tablets. We have 20 tablets dedicated to this program, and that's currently what they're using to connect to. Basically, it's kind of a Canvas service, and they're able to go and log in and do the things that you would normally do if you were doing Florida Virtual School.
Has the school board dedicated a teacher or a paraprofessional to be able to run that program? They have, finally? Okay. Great.
Again, anger management, released reentry as facilitator. Weekly courses taught by their staff for inmates struggling to manage their anger. Helps them to learn techniques to identify their triggers and stress and effectively resolve conflict. Oh, I'm sorry. I just rebooted myself. Life skills. Weekly class that concentrates on social skills, money management, resume writing, job search, life planning, and goal setting. This program has been in place as long as I've been with the sheriff's office, and I've been for 31 years. And it seems to be a functional program that helps. It's facilitated by Sarah Sutherland, professor at Santa Fe College. Living Your Best Life, facilitated by Belinda Smith, the founder of Women Working With Women. It's a weekly group session that helps women focus on their work planning, goal setting, and social support. Parenting classes. Weekly group sessions that provide instruction and support on child development and strengthening the parent and child bond. Again, Sarah Sutherland, professor at Santa Fe. Yoga. Weekly group sessions focusing on breathing techniques and controlling the mind and body. Facilitated by Dr. Teresa Drake and Jonathan Maxwell. Resources for substance recovery. Facilitated by release to reentry. Bi-weekly seminar hosted by them that assists and educates inmates about addiction and mental health challenges that need to be navigated. Also provide education on managing addiction and preventing overdoses with a guide to local resources. It should also be known that, you know, in an effort to assist with educating and providing inmates with necessary tools, the Sheriff's Office has installed Narcan dispensers in our front jail lobby. It's available for both released inmates and visitors. They also now have access to Narcan in their welcome home kits that are provided to them upon release from the jail, which is provided by released reentry. Substance abuse intervention weekly groups aimed at educating, managing, and overcoming addiction. William Wall with Meridian. Veteran justice outreach program. Trying to educate and connect veteran inmates with services such as veterans court or veterans community programs. Facilitated by Reva Scipio, VA outreach specialist. So moving away from programs that are interactive and into a seminar format. Probation and parole. Monthly seminar informs the MA attendees about what probation is, how important it is for them to communicate with their officers that are assigned to their cases, types of resources that are available for them, and other valuable information to help them understand the process and how they can successfully complete it. Facilitated by employment specialist Karen Black and senior officer Mary Farrell with probation and parole. Santa Fe Freedom to Learn. Facilitated by Shelby Mickelson, a specialist at Santa Fe. It informs inmates about various college programs and services offered by Santa Fe upon release. Freedom to Learn provides one-on-one support and coaching to assist those who are justice impacted becoming successful through their academic journey at Santa Fe College. Jail resource fair. The resource fair showcases local community resources to inmates leaving the jail within the next 90 days. It allows them an opportunity to gather information that can help facilitate their successful re-entry into the community and make valuable connections prior to release. The next fair is scheduled for April 28th starting at 9 a.m. Some community resources that will be newly invited to the fair this quarter is Bank of America, the Gainesville Fire Rescue Paramedicine Program, Women Working with Women, and Nehemiah's House and Elite Training. The Jail Employment Expo allows sentenced inmates an opportunity to connect with local employers and career training agencies to gain valuable information and make connections to assist with obtaining a job upon release. Our first employment expo was held on January 13th and 56 sentenced inmates were able to participate in the event. President of the Expo were agencies such as CareerSource, Santa Fe College Freedom to Learn, Workforce Development, Goodwill of North Florida, and a rep from Santa Fe College's trade programs.
Really good. I'll wait till the end.
Okay.
Post-release services and resources. So again, you know, trying to connect the inmates to the resources that are going to help them reintegrate themselves into the community upon release. We're continuing to leverage those connections as much as we can and help the inmates have those connections with the partners while in our care that recognize the importance of providing that ongoing support to the inmates beyond their release. And it's all the exact same community partners. Again, with the addition of Gainesville Fire Rescue, Latchew County School Board, Latchew County Fire Rescue, and Meridian Bay of Your Health. So collaboration with Released Reentry Program, they are facilitating several classes for our MA population to include anger management once a week, substance use education twice a month, and Reentry 101 once a week. Additionally, Released Reentry provides a resource workshop within the jail library twice a month, and they have their staff member conducting professional visits to complete program intakes and assess goals. In February, the housing coordinator from Released Reentry began conducting screenings for housing assistance to ensure that inmates are aware of the services. Flyers have been posted in every pod. With the increased presence, a shared office space has also been provided to Released Reentry staff to assist with their needs. It's located inside the chapel on Wpod, our professional visit area. Upon release, welcome home kits and bus passes are made available to inmates through their program. The change program officers also refer and connect inmates to Released Reentry for continued support and services upon release. As far as future plans go, you know, we've got a lot of programs and partnerships. We're going to continue to look for ways to improve them and expand them. In the near future, we're looking to reinstate the Paused on Parole program. It's a program that I was part of when it started. I adopted two animals from the program. I love it, and I'm very excited to see it come back. You know, in addition to that, the securing funding to re-implement the Read to Me program, which allows for incarcerated parents the opportunity to read age-appropriate books to their children via a recording that's mailed to the caregiver. The goal of this program is to promote literacy between both the parent and child. Under Sheriff, did you want me to continue with staffing? In January 25, when Sheriff Scott and the administration took office, there were 68 certified detention officer vacancies. Since taking office, 63 persons hired, trained, and retained. 35 current detention officer detention deputy vacancies. It does not include 17 that are currently in the academy or on military leave. If you include academy and military leave, we have only 18 vacancies. In the hiring pipeline, we have 15 detention officer recruits. Currently in the corrections academy and graduation is scheduled for May 5th. 11 persons are in background for detention officer recruit. 5 persons in background for DO, detention deputy, certified. Additionally, there were 10 certified detention officers that took part in the agility course process on March 18th. No mental health services are provided by WellPath. It's our medical contract provider. Over the past three months, from December to February, initial behavioral health evaluations completed were 498. New psychiatric patient visits were 247. Average monthly mental health caseload of 644, with a total average daily population between December and February of 908.
That's it right there. That's the stat right there. Yeah. Yeah.
And today's population was 880.
All right. Getting down.
Baby steps. We recently passed our annual unannounced FMJS inspection. That's Florida Model Jail Standards on March 11th. True testament to the ongoing commitment to those in our care. We always look forward to the opportunity to be reviewed by our peers. It gives us a chance to shine and show what we're doing right and listen to things we aren't, but we rarely ever hear that we're having the wrong thing.
Okay, Captain, great update. We've got some lights. You'll field some questions for us. Mr. Prizzi. Sure.
Yeah. First, thank you. I really appreciate you all coming quarterly. I know it's a lift to have to do this, but it really helps, I think, our community understand the commitment you all are making to this coordination effort around programming and trying to reduce recidivism and create successful reentry. So we really, really appreciate it. I'm really, really excited about Casebook, the idea of having tracking software that will allow us to better coordinate and communicate and track our progress over time, be able to see how those referrals are actually warm handoffs, how many of them are successful, to be able to refer directly to release and other service providers. I would really love to know, and it doesn't have to be answered today, but I would really love to know how our court services is working with Casebook or if they could be so that we could coordinate there, too, so that there's, like, seamlessness. I mean, when we're looking at what's working for successful reentry, we see that the more coordinated, like, that case management software is that everybody that's kind of in the cycle is using the same one, you know? Perhaps we could even train our ACFR community paramedics folks on that same software so we would all kind of be using the same, you know, playbook, if you will, and one sort of case management, you know, story for individuals. So as they pass through different systems, everyone's working from the same set of information, and that would be huge. So not a question to answer today because none of our court services folks are here either, but I just want to put that out there. As we're revamping court services, this could be a really powerful way to support those efforts that you all are already making in the jail to continue with their case managers in court services and in probation and then with released out in the community.
And in the discussions that we had with the individuals from Casebook, they had indicated that there's an opportunity for sharing information between the systems. Limited information, obviously, because you wouldn't want to.
Right. You don't want the stuff that's private.
But statistical data and things of that nature can, that information can talk.
Yeah. And referrals, like, if we're talking about, okay, well, we refer to them to this, and they're on this medication, and they were using this at the formulary. Like, if they've got the – it depends on who it is. I mean, if they have the HIPAA, you know, but, like, different people would have different access to different information. But anyway, it would be great, and I hope we can make that happen. Thank you for getting it started. I think this is fantastic. A question about the in-house program, the change program. I know some of the women that have been doing that, and I really appreciate their, like, go-gettedness and how much work they've done to just dive in with both feet to make this program work. I wonder what sorts of supports and help, you know, we can provide in just thinking future about, like, training for social services, for mental health supports, like, to give them some of the tools, the skills, the supports that they need to continue to advance that program. So just a thought for future, there are, you know, things that they want or need or that we can identify with community partners that might be helpful for them. I know we've really had some great success with the new programs that we're using with our community health workers and our folks in our mobile integrated health team to help support folks that are trying to do that navigation support services, and maybe we could provide some of that support as well.
The change program is still getting its feet underneath it. It's still brand new. We have very limited data on it. You can see from what we provided. It's doing well, but we're still sort of forging a path. Yeah. You know, and I think once we have some good data behind us, we'll be able to come back a little more educated and see what exactly we need in terms of future help.
Yeah. That'd be great. Yeah, I've noticed that having that sort of social service support and trauma-informed sort of education around how you do this work can really make a difference in feeling empowered around doing it, but also having self-boundaries around the work, like all the things that end up. I know that the men and women in your service are doing so much work up front, and they have a lot of mental health challenges, I'm sure, as well, having to be in that work. So I just want to make sure that the folks that are doing the work every day to make this possible are as supported as the folks that, you know, we're trying to support going forward so that everyone sort of is working from the same playbook again.
Absolutely. The two officers that we have work in this program, Officer Boston and Officer Pittman, both have a history of working in the community with various programs. They're very passionate about it, and they care, you know, so they come to us frequently with questions. So we're getting there. It's just, you know, as we build it, it'll get bigger.
And I appreciated them coming to the Family Homelessness Summit last week, I think it was, too. I wondered about the Resource Fair and the Jail Employment Expo. I attended those last time. I really appreciated those getting started, too. This is more of a comment than a question, but for Michelle and our HR folks, it'd be great if the county was there. Since we're a fair chance employer, if we could actually be at the Resource Fair to share our employment opportunities and be there to talk about how folks can, you know, make it into our employment services. And the city, as well, you might want to invite. I know that they also have a fair chance employment program. So just thinking about how we can support you all in doing the things that we're asking you to do. We'll put a table up for you. That's more of a comment. Then my other question was, in the Read to Me program, I would just bring up, you know, Peak Literacy is now working, I know, with you all and with DJJ to look at a pilot for literacy support programs that would be offered, like tutoring programs, essentially, to help people with their literacy challenges. And they may, if you share this with them, they may be able to identify some grant programs or some partnership programs that could assist with that. So I just wanted to bring up, you know, Peak Literacy may be a good support person to work with on the Read to Me program. They may have some ideas there. Last thing I wanted to ask is the hiring pipeline. So exciting to hear we're finally getting there, finally back up almost to real numbers. Thank you for that hard work. I know that was a major lift. And I'm excited to see that so many of them are in the corrections area so that we don't have such a gap in the jail. I'm wondering, do we have social services or mental health trainings or support in those actual, like, programs for training? Like, in your actual academies, do you talk about mental health? Do you talk about rent re-entry? Do any of your re-entry partners or your change program come and present?
I can't say for the current iteration of the Corrections Academy I went through in 1994. However, even back then, there was a large component of mental health. I'm just going to assume that it's probably significant or more significant now. Not re-entry though.
Okay. Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, I mean, I think just any place where we're putting that sort of idea and that sort of mentality and focus into folks as they're coming into our team so they realize this is a strong part of what we're trying to create. And they feel part of that process. Even if they're just doing detention, you know, they get that understanding and it helps them to be a part of the team that's working on that goal. That would be great.
I can tell you there's been a paradigm shift over the last 15 to 20 years. When I started in corrections, and I've done both law enforcement and corrections, we came into this business at the county jail level with an understanding that we're more or less detaining, right? And there was not a big component of rehabilitation and re-entry. And over the last 15 to 20 years, that's changed. And so now the focus is obviously trying to get it kind of grassroots where it's starting and see if you can prevent it from getting to the Department of Corrections. And I think it's a great thing. It's probably long overdue. And had we been thinking this way 30 years ago, you know, who knows where we'd be today.
For sure. For sure. My final comment is the mental health numbers. I know these aren't anything you can do anything about. I appreciate that you all are trying to work on medically assisted treatment and coordinating with Meridian better. You know, I think this is something just to my colleagues, like, this is an area I think we really need to think about. Like, we need beds in the right places because our jail is becoming the de facto mental health hospital when we don't have spots for people. And then they have mental health crises and they end up in our jail as a result of it. Or they're unmedicated. They're not getting the services and supports that they need to stay on track. And then they re-offend or they offend for the first time because they're having that mental health break and they just can't take it anymore. So I really do think, I don't know what all the answers are, but I think we did the central receiving facility. That was a big first step. And I know we're doing a lot on the prevention side with our literacy campaign and our work in the community to partner with the Children's Trust on a lot of supports and gun violence prevention supports. But I do think this is another one we really need to think about. Like, how do we ensure that people are in the right place getting the right supports? Because if they're just in the jail and they're dealing with this mental health crisis, it's just going to be a cycle. And it's going to cost our taxpayers money over the long haul.
Well, one of the things that we're doing already is the continued communication between release reentry, the change unit, and our co-responder teams that are out on the street. And so whenever they reintegrate back into the public, the co-responder teams are getting information when they're allowed to get it from our change and release reentry programs so that they can follow up and make sure they're getting the needed medical follow-up. And it may be, you know, communicating with something that's less intrusive or, you know, less aggressive by communicating with ACFR's team as well so they can follow up. So we kind of steer it to the one that's going to probably get the most traction, if that makes sense.
That's great. Yeah. I mean, I think those relationships building and those constant communication and casebook, having a single point of data entry and support will be really powerful for that. So that's really exciting to hear. Thank you.
All right. I conclude. For now. Commissioner Alford and Commissioner Wheeler and Commissioner Chestnut.
All right. Thank you. I apologize for being late. I forgot my phone. I had to turn it back around and go get it. But a few things. Again, thank you for the presentation. There were a few things that I was hoping to see that weren't in here that we talked about, I think, in previous presentations. And one of those is the number of people in the jail that qualify for these programs and the number of people that are actually attending them. And I've talked to Major Keith about it and we talked about it, I think, at the last presentation. Yeah, I feel like that that's, you know, it's great to have these programs, but if, you know, because I want to understand the limitations, right? So there's a book club. Is the book club limited by the number of copies of books available or is it limited by who's allowed to participate or is anybody? You know what I mean? There's these things out there. So we can't look at what the limitations are and try to fix them if we don't understand who's participating, what the limit of participation is, and all of that. Right? Yeah. So anyway, that was one thing. I appreciated Commissioner Prizia bringing up literacy because I feel like that is one of the things that is most tied to recidivism is literacy issues. And on that, I understand that in the adult and juvenile education programs, I'm super excited about the 20 tablets. I think that's great. I understand, though, there's a Wi-Fi limitation in the jail about where those tablets can be used. Is there a way to we could work with you all to fix that so there can be a more expanded use of Wi-Fi, or is that not the limitation of the tablets?
Well, I don't think that that's completely the limitation. There is a – it's a big load on the Wi-Fi system, which has already been taxed by a number of other systems that were unexpected. I don't run ITU, so I don't know exactly where that fault is or where the failure is. It works. It just is not going to – it's not super robust. It would be probably a need for an infrastructure improvement to be able to fix the problem totally.
Have we done any assessment of that? I know I had a conversation with Travis Feldman a while ago. He was coordinating with your IT folks. I don't know if they got anywhere with regards to how there could be Wi-Fi in the pods or how we could make the Wi-Fi better so that they're not kicking off while they're in school and stuff.
Yeah. Yeah, we're going to have to look and see. I really don't know what the current limitations of the Wi-Fi system is. We have two separate Wi-Fis that run in the building, one secure and one that is kind of a guest system. And the guest system that's not attached to any of our critical infrastructure is what is used for this. Yeah. Yeah, so anything we find, we're going to fix, right, or ask for help.
Yeah, that's something I think I would like to see in the next presentation is where we are exactly with that. But, you know, I'm mostly interested in how participation in these programs is limited on supplies, on, you know, ability to get access to a tablet, all those kinds of things. So as we...
So I'll let Takevia talk to that for a second. Okay. She knows more better than about that.
Oh, thank you. Good morning. My name is Takevia. I'm the programs manager. So, yes, with the Wi-Fi situation, I have been working with IT. They told me that it's just pretty much a dead zone over there in that area. But they've been in meetings and they're working with trying to get a box over there. So much... I guess it would be somewhat like a... Like a booster? We have... Yes, there we go. A booster. Yes. Thank you. Okay.
Yeah, that's excellent. And that's what I want. And I want to understand, like, what the limitations are in the programs. I know there's a space limitation.
Yes, space is against us right now because there is a growth in our unit. So we're doing the best that we can to accommodate our current programs and accommodating any new person who's coming in to want to be a participant within us. However, and then another limitation is we have to make sure our juvies are going to school. So with our juvies going to school every day, that does take away from any new additional programs that may want to be implemented. And also just wiggling our current programs around with different times, which all of my volunteers have been very good with working with me about adjusting as needed. Another limitation, but I don't really know if I want to call it a limitation, is, like you said, you wanted to know how to try the success, right? So there is certain populations that can come to programs, and then there are certain populations that cannot come to programs.
Right, that's what I was asking, is, like, how many people are eligible for the programs in general? Because, you know, it looks terrible to say you've got, you know, 850 people at the jail when, and seven are participating, but if only, that number changes a lot if only a couple hundred people are eligible for the programs to begin with. So I just, I'm trying to understand that.
Yeah, and just keep in mind why you're trying to understand it is that although it might be 850 individuals, there's only a certain percentage that can go. And out of that certain percentage, not everyone wants to go. Right. And then it's also a very fluid situation where one might be here Monday and they're gone by Wednesday, so.
No, I totally get that. But I just want to understand, you know, the, and I think the public wants to understand the statistics.
And we'll work on that for you in your next quarter.
I just wanted to say back to the literacy question, anytime I bring up literacy in the jail in the same conversation, I have people interested in volunteering to help inmates learn to read. Well, PEAK needs volunteers for that. And PEAK needs volunteers, but I don't want them to go through the whole volunteer process if there's not going to be resources. It's for them to actually do that work. Right.
They're working with them directly now.
Well, currently in our education unit, we do have about 12 interns from UF. Oh, very good. Yeah, they come in daily. Well, I do have one who comes in with me on Friday. But they're coming in daily, and they're primarily with our education teachers, and they're helping our teacher from the school board, Mr. Rick. And as far as our literacy program would read to me, that was me, and that still is me when the program does come back. But with those volunteers who wants to come in from PEAK to help, that would be a great addition to help me go in around the pods to sit with the inmates who've signed up to record as well.
Yeah, I think that's good. I just want people to be able to read when they leave the jail, if we can make that happen. That would be great. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Commissioner Alford. Yes, sir. Also, it brought to my attention that Emily is increasing literacy programming, so we are actively working on this right now.
Yeah, I did know that PEAK was getting involved, so I appreciate that. Thank you so much. And let's see. One thing that was brought up in CGM SAG was when talking about the jail employment expo was the idea of doing a mental health expo. I know we talked about that a couple of times before, given that so many folks in the jail have mental health challenges, having them understand the resources that are available in the community when they leave is, I think, you know, something that we could, they could, you know, meet people, understand. And it could sort of normalize the process of getting help when you leave, you know, when you leave incarceration. So, Meridian offered to help coordinate that, so I would love to see that added to the in-house seminar section. Oh, under mental health, when you talk about the average mental health caseload, is that 644 individual patients, or is that the number of appointments? 644. 644. That's a huge, huge number.
How many mental health counselors are on staff with WellPath? I'm sorry. How many mental health professionals?
I think there's three, four.
Well, so...
Come to the point.
There are, I believe, there's two actual mental health counselors, and then there's the mental health director, and then there's also a psychiatrist. Thank you.
That's 214 people. That caseload's, like, untenable. Yeah. You should probably talk to WellPath about that as a goal for their contract moving forward is to increase the number there. Maybe Meridian could help. I don't know. What do you think?
Meridian might be willing to help. I mean, they've talked about coordinating on other things that season's back, so I think that they might be open. And I think there needs to be a better communication between the jail and Meridian. I think they're wanting that, so...
It could be a place where peer volunteers, I mean, they'd have to be escorted again, but I don't know if WellPath would be considered an escort, but...
Yeah, I just feel like anything we can do to sort of normalize treatment once someone leaves the jail is a good thing. Normalize, encourage, require maybe, I don't know. Finally, I guess this is a question for staff. Does the county have a data analyst that could help the jail in getting the data that we're trying to get here?
Well, you missed it, but they started a new... They have a new case management software that they've just started.
I understand that, but that isn't necessarily going to track programs. I hope it does. It should. Does it? It will? It will.
Okay.
Okay. Well, if that's the case, then I look forward to getting that data.
Yeah, and you weren't here for it, but as I explained, it's just getting its feet under it. It's being populated with data. It's brand new, so we're working on it, and it's going to take some time.
Okay.
But it will. Eventually, it'll pay dividends.
Yeah. It's... Yeah, take your time getting it right to get it started, because I've been there for software implementations like that. All right. I felt like, just in general, there wasn't a lot of new information in the presentation, so...
There was. It was sprinkled throughout the entire thing. Yeah, yeah. So it wasn't... Originally, I was thinking maybe we'd put the highlights in red, but it just kind of blended in. There were a ton of updates, but every slide got touched.
I believe that. It was just, you know, a lot of the pages were the programs, and I was hoping to get more information about each program in terms of numbers, and that's the part that I was looking for, so... I conclude.
Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Hoffman. All right. Commissioner Wheeler, and then Commissioner Tessa.
Thank you very much for the work. This is really an impressive framework in how to serve the folks in our community, and it's ambitious, and I'm amazed, you know, of the opportunities there. I can't see how you could possibly fill all of that at the same time, so I understand about the coming and going of the participation in the programs and the volunteers it would take to pull this off. It's pretty amazing. I have a question about the juveniles. How many of our kids do you all usually have on average at this jail as opposed to... And what's the difference in our juveniles that we serve at our jail and the ones that are at the facility out at the airport?
So the juveniles that are inside the department of the jail have been adjudicated in an adult by the courts, so they're facing adult charges. Okay. Yet they can't be mixed in with the adults, so they have to have their own specials in place. Okay. I think there's currently... 12 juveniles? 12 juveniles, and, you know, again, their participation in the juvenile education is not mandatory. They don't have to. Some of them do, but we have to offer it, and it has to be equal to what they would get if they were in the community.
Offer, offer. And what's the average age of the... That I don't know. Do we generally 17, 16? Not 16. Okay. And they're all Alachua County kids? Are they here, or do we take them from surrounding...
The ones that we house from other counties, I don't know that we... Do we have any right now? One.
One from another county. I'm just curious, because generally those are kids that I probably had taught at one time, not that much, but that kind of kid.
And the only time we end up housing somebody for another county is when their facilities just don't... They don't have proper facility to be able to house a juvenile.
I got you. And then the ones then out by the airport, those are state?
They are. Department of Juvenile Justice.
Okay. All right. So we have no oversight of that at all. None. When there is an altercation like there was the other day, are our people called in? Are you all called in there, or do they have their own...
I believe the city of Gainesville...
Okay. That's the backup for them. I'm just trying to understand the work that you all are doing, because I know you're also working with ACAR now, too.
Right.
So you're kind of spread out in a lot of different ways, too. And how is that one going? We've got folks that we have sent to you all that are working with animal shelter. Right. Yeah.
I would... Yeah.
Oh, it's a different... No, I'm just curious about how that's going, that's all. So we have to talk about that at another meeting?
Yeah, it's just not the jail.
Yeah, this is all jail programming.
Okay, okay. Okay. All right. Okay. Well, we'll get to there later, then. I just... Because of the central receiving, can we talk about that one? Central receiving, as to how that one's... Has that helped with your work?
Central receiving...
With Meridian that we have up there. I just... I didn't know if that had decreased the amount of work that you are having to do at the jail. That's what I was trying to get an update on, no?
No.
Okay, well...
It doesn't necessarily... So our Baker Acts within the jail do get transported to the central receiving facility, so I'm sure there is a...
Well, that's what I just was trying to see, because we're talking about not having enough beds for the folks that we... that, you know, have mental health issues, so that's what I was just trying to see where we've tried to lessen that load at all.
You've definitely tried.
By doing that. Okay, that's all I wanted to know. And the... Back to the idea of less beds, when I first came on this board seven and a half years ago, Hutch passed the Sejim SAG to me, and so I worked with that group for a couple of years up until we got the central receiving facility up and that was in place. One of the things that we talked about there in terms of mental health issues and not having enough beds was the fact that Takachali had beds, housing there, and everybody on that board at the time, from law enforcement to the judges to the mental health workers, were enthusiastic about the possibility of having one place that we could take some of our folks while they were waiting to be transferred to a more secure facility. We have, and this is something, you know, that I've talked about regularly for the last seven and a half years, carrying what Hutch had, but me taking it in a different direction, too, in terms of making sure that we had resources available in the community especially with the huge campus that we have out there like that now.
Right.
But anyway, I just, we have already gotten a spot for our fire rescue. Elastricht County Fire Rescue has a little site out there now. Okay. And I just, you know, I think it's something we need to keep in the back of our minds as going forward. It's a huge campus. It's not the sort of thing that we would impact by having one cottage or dormitory.
Right.
set up.
And not for nothing, it backs up to our back door.
Exactly. Exactly. So I just want you all to keep that in your minds as I come off this board. You know, it's something that I think needs to be kept in mind as we go forward. Paws on patrol. I'm excited, too. I'm really excited. Did you guys recently take a puppy from shelter? There was one there. No, there was one there that was a shepherd.
Oh, no. We haven't restarted the program yet.
Okay. Okay. You guys just have to excuse me. I've got six months left, and I'm trying to cram everything in. I'm trying to cram everything in I can. Yeah, I understand. And all these people who are running for my office now, I want to make sure they know what's important to me and that you all are. Yes, ma'am. And that you all are. Okay. Just about through, guys. Juveniles. Oh, incentives. Being the old lady schoolteacher that I am, are there incentives that you all can use to get more involvement and more participation in the classes that you have, even to giving certificates of completion or something that they could show when they go to these workplaces and say, I've completed this amount of work at the, you know, while I was in. And so that, you know, they're working for something that they can have in their hand to show, look, I did this, I completed this.
So some of the things, some of the programs do have a certificate of completion. Okay, good. Some of them don't.
Okay.
Now, a lot of, you know, they also get gain time.
Okay, that's another thing. Good. Okay.
So it's, they, the incentive would be to, you know, get a little bit of gain time, get out a little sooner, get a certificate if that's what they're interested in, and, you know, potentially have a new skill when they leave. Right. Beyond that, I don't know what else we could do outside of trying to bribe them, if you will, and to go into one of these classes because they're given the opportunity, those that are eligible are given the opportunity to sign up, and you can lead them to water, right, but you can't make them.
Gotcha. Trades, have you got trades introduced at all at any of those close?
No, the closest thing we have had to that years and years ago, we had a culinary program that was, that was kind of a heavy lift for the food service provider, and that was a different food service provider. So as far as I know, and again, there was a two-year gap for me. I don't know what was occurring in the in-between. I know it's not a thing now. And the Paws on Parole program. You know, that program, a handful of individuals that have graduated from that program have ultimately ended up working for Lattray County Animal Shelter.
Yes, there were a couple of guys that were out there working when I was there last week that were working alongside, and it's really cool.
It really is.
The thing about these programs, if we could get trades in there, they don't necessarily have to have the equipment in there, but there's a lot of work that's, you know, can be done on paper or training that could be done there so that when they do come out, they could go into a trade program. You know, it's...
I think one of the big limitations to that is time. I'm sure you've got an impressive... Yeah. Once you get them started in something, they've got to be able to commit to a certain amount of time, and frankly, most of the folks out there have no idea how long they're going to be in the
community.
I got you. No, I understand. I know it's a moving target, and I appreciate, you know, the effort that you all have made to present this. It's quite impressive. You know, I mean, we have award winners all throughout our county, you know. I don't know why this would not also qualify for that kind of recognition, so I appreciate the work all of you are doing, and I've enjoyed working with you and continue. We've got a little more time, so just tell me, guys. Just tell me what you want me to say. I'll say it. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Okay. All right. Thank you. My number is... My number will be the same after I leave office, so thank you, Mr. Chair.
Okay. Thank you. Okay.
Thank you for the presentation, and thank you for the update. It was very informative to me. I just want to say thank you for the new programs, the Road to Success, and the Change program. I think that that will really, really, really help the inmates, and these programs that you're having gives them the opportunity to be successful when they are released, and I really appreciate that, and I think my only comment is to thank you all, and thank you all for doing a great job in addressing these issues, because I don't know if other sheriff departments are doing this, but I know that you guys are from your presentation, and I think it gives the inmates in our community the opportunity to be successful, and that's the most important part when they are released, I think, is the most thing to get them back in society and get them on the right track, so thank you. Thank you for your presentation. I can tell you
that this administration is staunchly committed to reentry and finding ways to prevent recidivism, more so than any sheriff I've worked forward for a few.
Yeah, well, keep up the great work. Thank you. Welcome back.
Commissioner Prezio? Yeah, I just wanted to say a quick thing on the trade stuff, and a shout out to y'all for working with Emilio. You know, I think, I know it's been like, it always takes some time to get a new program situated, but I know as a non-profit provider, you know, they have a lot of connections around the country where they're already implementing this, and they do have some trade programs that they can, like, already set up that they could probably install, and I know, like, that would be basics, like, the basic classes for certain things for people that are probably sentenced to our jail versus those that are just passing through, but so that might be something to explore with them, and I know that there's probably some interest from some of our trade unions and things like that. They may be interested in just doing, like, a 101 that they could put on the tablets that would just sort of talk about, like, what the options are, what the training programs are when they get out, so that would be another resource that I'm sure that we could create, so I just bring that up as a bookmark for Dikivia and others, so we can circle back on that. I'm happy to help on that front.
Thank you, Commissioner, and I'll just conclude by saying kind of what Chuck just said. You know, I really appreciate this cultural shift of really embedding release into so many programs and really focusing on the volunteers and the community partners that are helping to reduce recidivism once folks leave the jail. Great update. Really happy with the hiring pipeline update. That says really everything to me as far as folks not only wanting to come there, but you guys providing the reduction in vacancies is huge. I mean, it's really a big achievement, so thank you for that. I agree with Commissioner Alford in that the mental health numbers continue to be alarming, which is a society thing that you all are being asked to manage as you operate the jail for this board, which I'm eternally grateful for. I continue to say, you know, you don't have to do that, but I agree with the captain. I've only been here 12 years. He's been here 31 years, and this administration has far exceeded my expectations with regards to how quickly you've been able to kind of move the needle and continue to move the needle and continue to work with. I know our staff really has a great working relationship with your staff, and that is, for me, the key. You know, when you need something, hopefully we are here and vice versa. When this board needs something, I know you all are there. I just know it. So, Sheriff, thank you. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for making this a priority for your administration and our community.
Well, as the Sheriff, I just want to let you guys know that we hear each of you, and we're dedicated to solving each of the problems. If you can see, we have a lot, a lot that's going on, and besides that, you know, we were down a lot of officers, and as you can see, that's picked up tremendously. So, and that's a testament of the employees at the Department of the Jail, that they are really hard workers. You know, they're really trying to establish, you know, and take care of the things that you guys are asking for. I've witnessed this myself. So, I'm honored. I'm honored to be the Sheriff. I'm honored to be able to serve my community as the Sheriff. So, I just want to applaud the employees at the DOJ that's consistently working hard to cut down on recidivism, reduce recidivism in the jail population, and also with that going on, just trying to get hired good folks, you know, qualified folks. So, thank you for the opportunity.
Mr. Chair.
Before we get to the public, go ahead. Yes, just the graduation that you all are talking about, is it May 5th? Is that there? No?
That's what's in the presentation.
That's what's in, but was there another one? Because there was a conflict, I thought,
with, that's what I
just want to make sure you all know that we had a conflict that night, so if.
Oh, I think you're referring to all anchors. That's what it is.
The awards banquet. Okay, all right. So, the May 5th graduation is.
You guys actually have a board meeting.
Well, we're starting to miss that. Yeah, we are.
Yeah, I think I just wanted to point that out so that it's not a lack of interest or concern.
Yeah, and I will tell you all that the fire awards banquet, Lachsburg County Fire Rescue, the sheriff was there with staff from the CCC and was well represented. Thank you for attending that. Okay, Commissioner Alford, and then we're going to open it up to the public to speak on this item before we get to general public comment. Commissioner Alford?
Yeah, I just wanted to thank the sheriff for Major Keith's response over the weekend. I got a communication from the sister of one of the inmates concerned about a medical issue and blood pressure and medications, and when I contacted her, she dealt with the problem at midnight on Saturday night. So, I just wanted to give her kudos for that and thank her for the quick response and dealing with it.
Thank you. All right, let's go ahead and open it up to the public. Did anyone want to speak on this item? Mr. Blunt, go ahead.
Yeah, a couple comments. I wanted to talk about juveniles in the jail. I was a community control counselor in the past, so I do know a little bit about what they're dealing with. They're saying that juveniles have been judged adult because of their offenses. So, they may be criminally adult, but they are physiologically and emotionally still juveniles. So, if a special section is set aside to separate them at the adult jail, space permitting, they should be at the JDC with a special section set aside. And my experiences in the past about the jail, it was a long time ago, many members of my nursing graduating class were invited to tour and interview to work at the jail. And I turned down the interview after the tour because what I saw, the health section then, was like a chamber of horrors, especially for mental health. Now, this was in 2000, so it's been a while. So, you were still a kid, right? So, but I hope things have changed. I also volunteered with the prisoner education program at one time, which I quit because the staff treated me so shabby. The inmates were fine. I just got tired of being mistreated by the staff. So, I hope that has changed. But in terms of the health care, I didn't hear anything about outcomes. So, outcomes, especially morbidity and mortality, I think should be part of this report. And about having a law library within the library there, I think consultation with the law library in the old courthouse should be added on, that that would be part of making sure that law collection is adequate.
Thank you, Kelly. Next speaker. Emily, welcome.
Good morning. My name is Emily Westerholm, and I'm the founder and executive director of Release Reentry. I'm also a mental health clinician. I wanted to take a moment to thank the commissioners and the sheriff's department for this opportunity to observe what happens in our community for our community behind bars. As noted in the PowerPoint, Release Reentry has been busy. We provide a plethora of services inside the jail in the county. And I also want to take a pause to thank the sheriff's office in particular for making accommodations for staff with lived experience to be able to serve as volunteers. That was a long haul. I know that took a lot of effort. In March alone, our staff provided 93 hours of service in the jail. Our services include a lot of professional visits. We do two different anger managements. Just to clarify one thing on the PowerPoint, we do it both for men and women now. And we do provide certificates for anyone who does eight of the ten classes. So that is something we can offer. I have spoken in the past about getting gain time for anger management. Other facilities I've worked in throughout the United States give gain time for anger management. And I know that that's not necessarily the sheriff's choice. But if there's more voices that are advocating, especially for important classes like anger management, receiving gain time, I think it could go a long way. We don't necessarily not have enough people coming, but I think it could serve as motivation. Just to go a little bit over our stats, who we serve, our most common demographic is 67% male. So we mostly see males, but of course it's 32% women, which that number has increased over time. Typically it's males between the ages of 30 to 40 years old. And our largest demographic demographic we see at release or entry, pre-release and post-release, is African-American or black. 46% of our participants identify as unhoused or experiencing homelessness pre- or post-released. So that's a big thing we've been talking to the commission about as well. Last month that number was up to almost 60%. So this is throughout the year that about 46, but between 46 and 70% of our people are without housing that are coming home from incarceration. 17% have experienced an overdose and been revived by naloxone or Narcan. So again, that's another thanks I want to send out to the sheriff, but it is the reason why it's so important. Is that my one minute warning or 30 seconds? 30 seconds. Thank you. Okay, I'll try to go fast. I'm sorry. So, you know, we are serving mental health. I'm a mental health clinician. We also help people with transportation, employment navigation. We hope that this data, casebook that we provide and you all have, I'm happy to continue to work with Chief Perry to see where we can have overlap. Just like the numbers I gave you just now about our statistics, I think it's also important who programs is serving to make sure it reflects those who are incarcerated. Thanks, everyone.
Okay. Thank you, Emily. Anyone else? Okay. Any, Commissioner Prizia, do you have a comment? Commissioner Alford?
I just wanted to quickly comment to Collie's comment. Well, first I want to say, yeah, I think all the things he brought up are many, many, many years ago and I think we can see a testament in this presentation to how things have changed in terms of our attitude and behavior but, and I know we will probably have another conversation about health care at another point but this wasn't that presentation. But what I did want to say is that on the front of opportunities around the library, I know that that's another thing that Emilio has offered to explore is ways in which we could create a secured conduit to library services so they would be able to access some of the law library resources and the academic resources to search issues around their case or just like academic pursuits of their own and interests for reading and things like that on those tablets. So that's another thing that I know Emilio is open to as we continue to get our feet under us with that program and expand those tablet accesses.
Thank you. Commissioner Alford?
This is more of a question for county staff. I was really sort of shaken by that 17% revived by Narcan number and I really appreciate the jail providing Narcan in the lobby. I also noticed that we had Narcan in the lobby at the Sports and Events Center. But I thought we were going to get Narcan in the lobby in this building. What was the, why hasn't that happened?
I'll have to check with staff, Commissioner.
Okay. Do you remember that conversation though? I remember being told that we were going to put a dispenser in this building and I just wanted to, I think that given our location downtown, it would be really useful. Yeah.
Good idea. Yeah. By the restrooms or something.
Yeah. But yeah, I think we could solve a lot of jail problems if we could solve the housing problem and yeah, mental health.
That's in 67 other counties and 50 states. You're right.
RAHAC, just for the record, and I brought it up to you all already, but I think RAHAC has made a recommendation that we like explore the idea of sunshine in housing as we renovate it, like being dedicated specifically for re-entry housing. So, you know, as we have vacancies there. So that was a recommendation that we talked about and that there's been conversation about, but because we're still in the renovation phases, I don't, it's, I don't believe it's come to you all as like a formal let's do this or not do it, but just as a kind of a heads up, it is a conversation that we're having, I think, released and other service providers have come to us with this issue that it's, it's really impacting all the work that changes is doing, all the work that release is doing, and we're sort of really kind of limited by the fact that many of these people are trying to navigate all of this while not having a roof over their heads. So we're trying to think about the ways in which we could make recommendations to this board to solve that.
Okay, good. Commissioner Alfred, did you conclude? I'm sorry. Oh, yeah, I did. Okay. All right, very good. Sheriff, Under Sheriff, thank you, Captain. Appreciate the presentation. Yeah, did you have something else? Did you want to?
Yes. Commissioner Wheeler, everything seems to be going fine with Animal Services so far. We are trying to train our new staff, so it's very early on still, but everything seems to be going well as it can be. Since you let the dog out of the bag, we have partnered with Animal Services on a rescue that we are trying to utilize as a service dog for the Sheriff's office, but we're still a very young puppy, and we're still in the testing and evaluation phase of working with them on that. So, so far, so good. That's awesome. He's a very energetic guy with a lot of drive, and we believe that he's going to do good work, but we, you know.
You think his ears should perk up? Yeah. You know, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
He's very prototypical looking Malinois Shepherd.
Awesome. I saw him, and I saw that saddleback, and I thought, oh,
goodness, there's... So, but we're still working through that, so, yeah. And additionally, one of your assistant county managers has reached out with potential grant funding to assist in training our inmates inside the jail for the pause on parole program. program, so we're looking at that as well. Our grant writer is reviewing the grant, and we're going to work with the county on that, exactly how we could collaborate on it and utilize those funds to get these folks out of that program with a certification to come to animal services and go straight to work.
Awesome. It's win-win.
Yeah, that'd be great.
Thank you.
Thank you for that update. Thank you so much. Okay. All right. Next up, we've got our closing comments, so we've got an opportunity for the public to speak to us about anything not on the agenda. There'll be another opportunity at our next meeting. Okay. No public comment. Commissioner comments. Mary, do you have anything for this morning? You got anything?
Oh, yeah. Congratulations to Michelle.
Michelle, congratulations. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, your staff really led that charge, and I was happy to do a little letter when they asked, so congratulations.
You were so low-key on that. Yeah. Yeah, that's our servant leadership. Yeah, I think.
Okay. You got anything?
I just would like the board to join me on a special meeting. I'd like to have a special meeting to invite our staff and Travis to explain the contract that we have with UF going forward so that we go through it kind of together. I had a couple of questions. I'm not trying to delay anything, but I would like our legal staff to go with us so we understand what it is you signed and also have Travis come in and give us an idea of what the timeline looks like moving forward in terms of contracts and land prep and all of that so that we can also commit ourselves to making sure that the old shelter has what it needs until we have a new one open.
So I like the idea. I don't know if it needs to be a special meeting or an agenda item. I'll ask Michelle what she thinks.
That's up to you all whether you want it agended on a regular meeting or you would prefer to have a dedicated time slot on a special meeting.
That's what I would prefer so that we can have the time to talk about it whether it would then worry about it being an agenda thing that's going to take too long. You know, that we have our time. We have that thing in front of us. It's all been sent to you so you can look at it. You know, I just want to make sure that we know what we're signing on to. Yeah.
I like the idea of understanding the timeline for the build. You know, is this a one year, two year, three year, and what's involved? And I think Travis is the right person to give us that update. It's up to the board.
I mean, I ask that our next commission discussion, like I put an agenda on our next policy meeting and they always ask us for our...
And I thought I was doing that, but they told me that it... Because it has to be staffed. That wasn't the format, right. That we need staff there so it would take a different...
So it would be the May 5th meeting then.
Could we add that to the May 5th meeting? What else do we have on May 5th?
Is that going to be...
I mean, I asked for a conversation. I don't know if the policy meeting is being had, but I asked for a conversation about downtown redevelopment, specifically policy meeting for us to discuss downtown redevelopment.
So could we add... Could we do both of those on that meeting, Ms. Cheryl? On May 5th? Mm-hmm. If you...
Yeah, let me look real quick and I will tell you what's on there.
Is it within the 130 days or whenever how many days that we have to...
For the due diligence?
For the due diligence, right.
I would have to check, but we're already moving forward with everything. Okay. Um, and UF has also selected the same contractor for their demolition and rehab piece as we have selected for our construction manager at risk, which speeds up our timeline because the same entity that's doing UF's work is doing ours, so we can combine some of that work. Um...
I just have a question about that, that I'd like to have, you know, us flush out together... It seems like if we're going to talk
about downtown buildings, Travis is going to be involved in that. This would be a good meeting to combine them if we could do that. Are you good with that? Are you okay with that?
As long as we have time enough to talk about it that we don't have to hurry. Yeah, that's a...
Yeah, that's why I want a special meeting. That's a 10 a.m. meeting, right, Michelle?
Okay.
There's a 10 a.m. There's two that day. I don't know. Some of them might be budget-related because I know that's also a budget day. Yeah, let me... Afternoon might be budget, but...
I'm trying to pull it up right now, but since we're kind of at the end, I can let you know at our afternoon meeting exactly what's on that agenda, if there'll be a concern or... Is that okay?
No, that's fine. Like I said, I just want us to all be on the same page, having the same information going forward since our names are going to be on this thing going forward.
Yeah, we... Yeah, that's something I want to talk to the manager about. There's a lot of things that we'll talk about that later. Okay, I agree. So we'll do it on May 5th. You got anything, Chuck?
Right now, the only thing I see on May 5th, I was able to pull it up. I don't see anything listed at 10 a.m. I do see the EAR at 1.30. EAR? Yes. Okay.
There's also, I do believe that's a budget day. I do believe, Tommy, if you look at the budget calendar, Tommy also has budget...
Yeah, those probably aren't listed on here yet.
I think it's the strategic guide, actually.
Okay. Which, this afternoon, he's going to be going over the calendar and that as well.
Okay, so let's verify that this afternoon.
So we can figure out how to put them all in there.
And I'll get with Missy and see how long the EAR... I think if we could do it the same day that we do the downtown discussion that Commissioner Prizzi had brought up at the joint meeting, that's good, because Travis will be at that, obviously. Okay. Yes. An expanded dose he did.
One more question, too. Have we set something up to have the Eastside Clinic be talked about at all? Is there some place that we have asked the Eastside, that UF, or whoever's working at the clinic to...
Mr. Chair, if you recall, that was originally something we were going to do on the joint meeting, but then you and the mayor had discussed bumping a lot of the things that we had come up with. Yep. So that was one of those that got bumped at our last joint meeting.
My thought, just so that you all can hear, I think I said it at the last joint meeting, but I thought the next joint meeting with the city, we could focus on that area, which would be the E-Hedi area, Cornerstone, Legacy Project, the clinic, and so that's what the mayor and I had talked about. When is that meeting?
When is that meeting? I mean, this year? Yeah, it's quarterly. Yes, yes, yes. We meet every quarter. Okay.
And staff is telling me the EAR is not going to be a long item, but right now there is no hold for the strategic guide currently.
That next meeting is June. Okay. Okay. Perfect.
Well, if the EAR is going to be short at 1.30, we could do both of these things at the same time.
And East...
The EAR took two meetings with them. Yeah.
Okay. Okay. All right. So just let us know at the 1.30 meeting. All right.
So we're going to... Right now there's nothing showing but the EAR in the afternoon, but we'll look at the budget calendar this afternoon.
Yeah. And if not, we can do that 10 o'clock in the morning for both of those items. Okay. Great. All right. So we're going to... Do you have anything else? Okay. We are going to call this meeting adjourned and reconvene for our budget meeting at 1.30. I presume we'll be in here, Mark. Yep. We'll be back in here at 1.30. All right. We're adjourned. Thank you.
Thank you.