Orange County NC Website
27 <br /> Our department received a$2.5 million grant to do campaigning around gun safety. There have been <br /> several meetings that Billy Lassiter has held and they have created a gun safety committee where they <br /> will be looking at different campaigns for media, social media, and billboards. What they found during <br /> the pandemic was that it was the highest period for gun purchases at any point in history and people were <br /> not educated about proper gun safety and storage. Many were being left unsecured in vehicles leading to <br /> vehicle break-ins and the guns would then end up on the streets. <br /> There is another committee within out department called RED—Racial and Ethnic Disparities. This came <br /> about from a national campaign to reduce disparities among minority youth within the juvenile justice <br /> system. It is actually part of our juvenile justice strategic plan and we are encouraging local JCPCs to look <br /> at local data as it relates to your county and consider forming a JCPC subcommittee and devising some <br /> local strategies. Crystal Lewis is our RED specialist and has all the RED data. If interested, she can come <br /> to a meeting and present information and data related to RED. (Members expressed interest in her coming <br /> to present, David will work on getting her on the schedule.) <br /> There is a program that began in Fayetteville about 6-7 years ago by the Fayetteville Police Department <br /> called EKG (Educating Kids on Gun violence) that has gained a lot of traction. The department is <br /> embracing the program and trying to get funding for it to be implemented statewide. There may be <br /> funding available coming to the JCPCs to replicate the program. <br /> The department would like to provide some baseline training to providers on YASL YASI is the new <br /> assessment form that juvenile court counselors are completing on youth. A YASI score is provided on <br /> referrals and providers are required to enter that in NCALLIES. The training would help providers under <br /> the YASI and how the score is determined, but providers would not be required to complete the YASI on <br /> their youth. <br /> In the coming months, you may want to review the JCPC Bylaws to see if any updates are needed. <br /> Announcements <br /> Orange Partnership, through Freedom House Recovery Center, was one of seven in the county at a <br /> community level to receive a SAMHSA grant. It is a five year grant that will bring about $1.8 million into <br /> our community to focus on things around mental health, nicotine misuse, and cannabis-related issues we <br /> are seeing with youth. <br /> WIOA NextGen program is accepting referrals to work with youth and young adults aged 16-24 who are <br /> interested in education, training, and employment. All youth must have an identified barrier, one of which <br /> being justice involvement. If you have any youth that are interested in these services,please refer them. <br /> Dispute Settlement Center is hosting monthly community listening circles that are still happening <br /> virtually for now. <br />