Youth and Education
Reducing youth arrests:
In the summer of 2014, for the first time ever, all School Resource Officers participated in a mandatory training on alternatives to student arrests. From the 2013-14 school year to the 2014-15 school year, the total number of arrests decreased by 30%.
Five years ago, we decided to work with our 10 DART-affiliated sister organizations in the state of Florida to reduce the number of youths in Florida who are arrested for non-serious offenses. The state created a program called Civil Citations through which local law enforcement can divert youth to community-based programs without giving them criminal records. Youth who go through such programs face consequences for their actions. They do community service, make restitution to victims and the community, and complete whatever interventions are deemed necessary to change their behavior. Youth in the civil citations program are three times less likely to get into trouble again as youth who are arrested for the same infractions. Because of our work over the last 5 years, 23,255 children in Florida were NOT arrested for first-time for nonviolent misdemeanor offenses and instead got access to a civil citation. This means that we have saved the state over $104 million dollars by reducing youth arrests. Further, Pinellas County has gone from 80% of children receiving access to diversion program to 97% (the highest in the state)! In our county, over 800 fewer children have been arrested because of our work!
Reducing youth suspensions:
Since 2014, FAST has been pushing for an end to out-of-school suspensions (OSS). These suspensions are proven to be ineffective at changing a child's behavior and increase the likelihood that a child will drop out of school. We asked the district to eliminate all out-of-school suspensions, and, as a result, they changed their policies so that K-2 students are no longer allowed to receive OSS without approval of the area superintendent, and students in grades 3-5 cannot receive OSS longer than two days without approval.
For many years, the Pinellas County School District has used a “zero tolerance” policy of discipline. Because of our work, the district has taken steps to move away from “zero tolerance” discipline and instead roll out restorative practices in all 123 schools. The district identified the highly experienced International Institute of Restorative Practices (IIRP) to train school staff, and the district has signed a multi-year contract amounting to $500,000 to provide monthly coaching to teachers and staff on implementing restorative practices.
Education:
· In 2005, we secured commitments from the director of the Early Learning Coalition to provide funding so that all low-income children in Pinellas County can attend a full-day Pre-K program. From 2005 to 2018, 12,794 children benefited from this program, and more children continue to be helped every year.
Mental health
· In 2016, we convinced the county to fund a new mental health pilot project. This project continues to provide services to people with serious mental illness. The county reports that $2 million dollars a year has been saved by keeping these individuals out of our jail and hospitals, and 28 of the 33 individuals targeted for this program have had success. The program was recognized in 2016 by the White House for its effectiveness.
Racial profiling
· For years, we heard stories from those who felt they had been pulled over because of the color of their skin. One young man was pulled over for having window tint that was too dark, despite the fact he’d had the car for 10 years and it had never been a problem. Through research we found out that the St. Petersburg police, Clearwater police, and Sheriff’s office all accept complaints from community members about racial profiling. However, in St. Pete and the Sheriff’s office there had been no complaints of racial profiling in 2018. We realized that either community members did not know they could report such things, or they did not feel comfortable doing so. In order to fix this, we created “Law Enforcement Interaction Cards” for community members to fill out and turn into FAST. FAST keeps their contact information but passes the complaint on to law enforcement anonymously. In May 2019, the three police leaders listed above came to our Joshua Assembly and affirmed their commitment to investigate any complaints regarding racial profiling!
In our conversations with Sheriff Gualtieri, Chief Holloway and Chief Slaughter, a common theme they all mentioned is the importance of hearing the complaint as soon as possible. It is difficult for them to investigate incidents when months have gone by. We encourage all members of the community to report incidents with law enforcement officers to the appropriate department as soon as possible. Law Enforcement Interaction cards are available through the FAST office or through the links below. We also encourage everyone to keep an interaction card on hand so that it is easily accessible to you should you need it. Please turn in your completed cards to the FAST office or email them to us at fastsecretary2004@gmail.com
Law Enforcement Interaction Card in English
Law Enforcement Interaction Card in Spanish
Affordable Housing
· In 2006, FAST secured commitments from all 7 county commissioners to support an affordable housing trust fund. To date, $19.2 million has been allocated to the fund creating 1469 new units of housing for families making less than $40,000.
· In 2015, we got an additional $15 million released from Penny for Pinellas tax funds for affordable housing. Over $7.5 million has been spent to date, creating 736 new units of affordable housing. The additional $7.5 million is committed to upcoming projects.
· In 2019, we got the county commission to unanimously pass a resolution allocating 4.15% of the funds to affordable housing, with a special focus on low-income families.
If you or someone you know is in need of affordable housing, the following are available resources to check your eligibility:
- For rental units go to www.floridahousingsearch.org or call toll-free at 1-877-428-8844.
- For home ownership opportunities check the county website at www.pinellascounty.org/community or call 727-464-8210. You can also call the Tampa Bay CDC at 727-442-7075.
Drugs and Crime
· Through the FAST Hot Spots campaign, local law enforcement of the county, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg have, in total, cleaned up over 77 hot spots of drugs and crime in our communities.
· We got a bill passed by the state legislature allowing 4,000 nonviolent offenders to receive local drug treatment rather than go to prison. It is estimated that this will save the state $92 million in prison costs.
Jobs
· In 2011, Dr. Law, President of St. Petersburg College (SPC), responded to the concerns of FAST by creating the Learn to Earn Program. This program created short-term, affordable training opportunities such as industry certification and licensures. Since 2011, the workforce institute has served over 30,000 participants. As of 2019, over 9,000 industry certifications and licensures have been awarded. Additionally, as of 2017, there were over 4,500 successful job placements for students who participated in over 60 SPC certificate programs.
· After five years of work, the St. Petersburg City Council voted unanimously in 2015 to pass the disadvantaged worker ordinance, designed to ensure that for construction contracts of over $2 million, 10% of work hours will to go ex-offenders or people who have been on public assistance in the last year. To date, almost 10,000 hours have been logged by disadvantaged workers.
Healthcare
· About 200,000 adults in Pinellas County lack access to affordable dental care. In Pinellas County, for people living at 100% of the Federal Poverty Line – which for a family of 4 is a household income of $26,200 – most can get covered for only ‘relief of pain' services, like extractions. After two years of hard work by FAST members, three dental clinics were added in 2013 which serve an additional 1,900 people per year. In 2014, we successfully got the county commissioners to allocate $958,000 of reoccurring funding into the county budget for dental care. This resulted in an additional 1,600 people getting access to dental care each year. In total, 3,500 more people are getting access to comprehensive dental care in Pinellas County because of our efforts.
Transportation
· We got our county transportation agency, PSTA, to upgrade many of the bus stops to provide shelter and more safety for their riders, especially senior citizens.
· We got the Director of the Metropolitan Planning Organization to create a new, one-number system for senior transportation. This system, unveiled in March 2006, works with the Area Agency on Aging and allows seniors to speak directly with a trained professional who can help them with their transportation needs. There are over 20,500 seniors in Pinellas County who do not drive and who will benefit from this new system.