Accomplishments from Past Year
The Shelby County Children's Policy Council members have continued to work hard to accomplish improvements in the services we are providing for our children and their families. One identified gap in service was an after-school program for at-risk middle school youth. The Mental Health & Safety and Education Committees developed an after-school program called the SKAATER (Shelby Kids Academic, Arts & Technology Enrichment Resource). They worked with Montevallo Middle school and the Shelby County Board of Education to submit a grant for funding but was not funded. They are currently seeking funding for that program.
The Economic Security Committee put on a Financial Fitness Fair that included the Reality Check for teens, a Piggy Bank contest for youth, ages 6-18, and all types of exhibits and lectures for adults in the area of financial fitness and resources. They have continued funding for the Work To WIN program for youth to obtain their Alabama Career Readiness Certification. Through four years of the grants, over 800 youth have been certified.
The Health Committee brought in resources to talk about teen pregnancy prevention efforts, health issues and is working to assemble a resource directory in a printable form to offer to school nurses and counselors as well as the general public. They also promoted the H1N1 vaccination campaign effort by the Public Health Department and distributed flyers and posters to the community.
The Early Care & Education Committee has worked to distribute information on funding available to establish more pre-K sites in the county.
The Parent Involvement & Skills Committee has been combined with the Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition Services Committee to work on getting information out to parents about the effects of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs on their children. They have also worked hard to inform the community about the extent of the problem with underage drinking in Shelby County. Some of their many accomplishments include assisting the ABC Board in alcohol compliance checks by providing funding for underage decoys to enforce established laws and educating elected officials on the benefits of limiting location and density of alcohol retail outlets and of Clean Indoor Air ordinances. The Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition also hosted a Town Hall meeting on underage drinking featuring Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb as guest speaker. This event was covered by five media representatives. They also have provided parent workshops to the community to provide parents with the tools they need to prevent substance abuse in their own home. They have provided "smoke free" signs for area athletic fields as well as recorded 30-second smoke free messages that were provided to several high schools and three city youth athletic leagues to be broadcast during school and athletic events. Their committees have continually worked for a "smoke free Shelby County" through various outlets including media, brochures, a website and presentations to elected officials. An education campaign on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs utilizing all media outlets continues though public service announcements, distribution of a parent handbook, brochures, city newsletters to provide accurate and reliable information on the hazards associated with the use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. In a partnership with the Sheriff's Office, the Drug-Free Coalition distributed and collected "report cards" throughout the community to anonymously report suspicious activity. They also distributed warning messages about prescription drug abuse to area pharmacies to encourage them to distribute these messages with each prescription dispensed as well as distributing them at area doctor's offices. The Coalition has also promoted a teen safe-driving initiative and has promoted the PAST (Passengers, Alcohol, Seat Belts, Text/Talk) message throughout the county through displays and presentations.
The School of Technology conducted the construction camp for girls again this summer which always fills up very quickly. The Calera High School design class, under Brian Copes, once again won first place in a national contest to design and construct a utility vehicle that could be easily shipped to a third-world country and assembled for use with minimal effort. This is the third year that Mr. Copes' classes have won this contest that consists mainly of competing entries from colleges around the USA. Their design has been picked up by a major manufacturer for possible mass production.
Barbara Williams served on the Shelby County Census Committee to help distribute information and bring awareness of the Census 2010 campaign of Shelby County to improve their reporting percentage.
The Shelby County Family Resource Center partnered with the CPC to put on a community Blue Ribbon Tree display to recognize April as Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Month. Eight agencies as well as county administration joined the effort by decorating trees with blue ribbons honoring children in different circumstances. The Juvenile Services Office issued a challenge to other offices in the courthouse to a contest with the winner receiving a $50 gift certificate at a local restaurant. The Office of Probate and the Circuit Clerk's Office competed with the Juvenile Services Office with the winning entry going to the Office of Probate with an outstanding hand-made tree honoring those children with whom they had helped with adoptions. Mayor Sonny Penhale of Helena, Mayor Allen Lowe of Columbiana and Superintendent of Education Randy Fuller issued proclamations citing April as Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention month.
The Shelby County Juvenile Drug Court continues to be a model for the state. Their efforts to help teens change their lifestyle has met with outstanding success.
The Parent Project continues to provide valuable lessons for parents of strong-willed teens to help them discover why their parenting techniques are not currently working. This has become a strong component of the juvenile court system and the Supporting Families Initiative.
We have had outstanding speakers for our CPC meetings including Commissioner Marquita Davis, Melissa Nelson from UAB Dept. of Pediatrics on the Shaken Baby Syndrome, John Hooper from the Alabama Department of Public Health on the H1N1 virus and Representatives Cam Ward and Mike Hill to talk about upcoming state legislation and the funding crisis of state government.
The Shelby County Juvenile Information Sharing System (SCJISS) efforts are in a holding pattern until we get permission from the Administrative Office of Courts to proceed with our plan. We have worked very hard in this effort with many community partners including DHR, Board of Education, local police departments, the Juvenile Court, service agencies and the Sheriff's Office. We hope to get clearance very soon as this is a much needed opportunity to make it easier and more convenient to better serve our families.
2010 Needs Assessment Update - Result One - Top Priority
Result: Families are Hopeful and Positively Engaged in Children's Development
Indicator: Total Number of Charges for Alcohol & Illegal Drugs
Source of data: Shelby County Juvenile Court Records
Accomplished from the 2009 Action Plan:
Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition and the Parent Involvement & Skills group accomplished these things:
(1) Parent Resource Handbook was redesigned and updated to include timely information on "sexting" and cyber-bullying. First distribution will be made to parents at registration at all 38 schools this school year.
(2) Sponsored a county-wide Town Hall meeting on "underage drinking" with Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb as featured speaker.
(3) Sponsored anti-drug messages in church and chamber bulletins, newspapers, public service announcements, publications and billboards.(4) Shelby County Drug-Free Coalition Speaker's Bureau gave many lectures and presentations in the school, churches and community meetings.
(5) Continued to place anti-smoking signs in neighborhood parks and athletic fields throughout the county
(6) Continued to promote the "Tip hot-line" referral system for the community to report illegal activities to the sheriff's office.
(7) Delivered prescription pads with warnings about the abuse of prescription drugs to area pharmacies and doctor's
offices for distribution with prescriptions dispensed.
(8) Promoted PAST (Passengers, Alcohol, Safety Belts and Talk/Texting) teen safe-driving initiative and messages throughout the school system.
(9) Assisted the ABC Board with vendor compliance checks for selling alcohol or tobacco products to minors.
2010 Action Plan - Best Ideas:
1. Work with the Sheriff's Office to design and implement a "Take Back" program for unwanted prescription drugs.
2. Work with the local ABC Board officers to implement a stronger Responsible Vendor program in our county as we still find that too many vendors are selling alcohol and tobacco products to minors.
3. Have someone from the Alabama Department of Public Health to come to speak with the community about the ramifications of the federal Health Care Reform Bill.
4. (No cost/low cost idea) Continue presenting and promoting anti-drug and anti-smoking information and messages to the community through all means possible.
2010 Needs Assessment Update - Result Two
Result: Children Are Successful in School
Indicator: Graduation Rate
Source of data: Records from Shelby County Board of Education
Accomplished from the 2009 Action Plan:
(1) SKAATER (Shelby Kids Academic, Arts and Technology Enhancement Resource) Program was developed for middle school youth to increase school attendance, grades and opportunities for personal growth through tutoring, the arts, life skills training and other extracurricular activities.
(2) Juvenile Drug Court established pro-social activities for court-involved youth, provided scholarships for treatment for youth and some parents, provided staff training and devised a resource distribution list for parents of drug-court involved youth that maintained their confidentiality.
(3) School of Technology again offered a Construction Camp for girls which was well attended.
(4) The Supporting Families Initiative worked with an array of families whose children had chronic truancy or behavior problems this past year to provide them with an variety of community services according to their needs free of charge.
(5) The Work To Win program provided oversight and testing for 161 students to obtain their Alabama Career Readiness Certification.
(6) Calera High youth designed and built a vehicle to be used cost-effectively in Third World countries. They competed in a competition in Cleveland, Ohio against a majority of college teams and won First Place in their class. The design was picked up by a major industry to be built and distributed nationally. The prototype used for the competition will be donated to a resource in Nicaraugua.
2010 Action Plan - Best Ideas:
1. Work with the school and community resources to develop programs on bullying, suicide prevention and transitioning from elementary to middle to high school and into the work force.
2. Work with local faith-based and community resources including the Sheriff's Office and local police departments to develop a program providing at-risk youth a means to participate in athletics who would not qualify for school teams to help them develop a healthy lifestyle.
3. Increase opportunities for experiential education activities for youth.
4. (No cost/low cost idea) Increase opportunities for youth to engage in community service projects.
2010 Needs Assessment Update – Result Three
Result: Families Are Strong and Stable
Indicator: Total Yearly Court Filings (CHINS, Delinquency and Dependency)
Source of data: Shelby County Juvenile Court Records
Accomplished from the 2009 Action Plan:
(1) The Supporting Families Initiative was able to serve more "at-risk" families referred by the school system this year with more needed services. We are still seeking funding for in-home wraparound services for our families.
(2) Our Shelby County Juvenile Information Sharing System (SCJISS) has been planned up to a point where we have to have permission for the system implementation from the Administrative Office of Courts. We are awaiting those decisions before proceeding further.
(3) We provided a Financial Fitness Fair for the community that provided a Reality Check program for teens, a Piggy Bank contest for ages, 6-18, and many resources and information from our financial and business partners and the Greater Shelby and South Shelby Chambers of Commerce for the adults.
(4) Our member agencies sought grants and funding to help assist the families currently finding themselves in economic crisis. A group of emergency assistance providers were awarded a grant to prevent homelessness that is to be administered by the Family Connections agency.
(5) Food drives were conducted by churches, non-profit groups and member agencies to increase the availability of emergency food supplies for families suddenly finding themselves without jobs and desperate to feed their families.
2010 Action Plan - Best Ideas:
1. Continue to explore options and funding to provide in-home services as well as supervised visitations for court-involved and DHR families. Judge Kramer is seeking grant funding to establish a separate dependency court to help these families with community services and visitation.
2. Continue with efforts to develop a model juvenile information sharing system for juvenile courts and their supporting services.
3. Continue to strengthen the efforts of the Supporting Families Initiative and resulting services we can provide to families.
4. (No cost/low cost idea)
Invite local psychologists to meet with court representatives to discuss provision of timely results of psychological evaluations for juveniles and their families involved with the court system to speed up provision of services.
