Through the schools and courts, the Juvenile Intervention Family Independence Project, or JIFI, finds youths starting down the path that leads to prison and gets them the services, counseling and other help they need to get back on track.
Those who have worked with the program said it has saved the criminal justice system hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But like other prevention programs, JIFI is getting axed in state budget cuts. And advocates said that if it disappears, those...
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A Possibility - 2009-10-20 15:58:52
You can always ask the local Churchs' if they have any programs available that might be able to help out with the kids and their situations. Just a thought.
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Bonny L. - , - Karma: Neutral
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JIFI can be saved. - 2009-10-20 14:32:43
It doesn't take just one big donor, this program can be saved if lots of people give small amounts. I work in the juvenile court system, and I've worked with this program for the last ten years. I have seen seen it's social workers really help families figure out how to pull kids from the brink. In fact, most of the JIFI kids are not repeatedly seen in the court system... good for all of us who'd rather not have our houses and cars broken into. I urge people to give what they can- I'm a state employee losing 9 days of pay this year and I still found $80 to give. JIFI is run by the Chesapeake Center for Youth Development- which does accept private donations. Here's the link to that webcite. http://bit.ly/3vqAai
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k. watts - Baltimore, MD - Karma: Neutral
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JIFI - 2009-10-20 10:17:19
So you tell me this could not be private funded? Not one person in the ultra rich Anne Arundel County, not one person in Annapolis, is willing to put up $120,000 to save this program? Why should everything be funded from tax dollars? Why isn't this money being donated from the wealthy citizens who do not want the truants running wild in the city?? Seriously, this should not be a major amount of money for many, many people in Annapolis. There are other ways to pay for things besides taxing the poor and middle class.
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S. Abbott - Annapolis, MD - Karma: Excellent
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other services lost - 2009-10-19 12:08:26
Anne Arundel County also lost another program that helps the same kind of youth as JIFI - The Choice Program. With 2 offices in the county, the Choice Program provided mentoring and advocacy for youth on probation. Those offices were shut down at the end of September because of state budget cuts. Choice previously was a statewide program, with offices in Montgomery, Prince Georges and Anne Arundel. Its only remaining offices are now in Baltimore City and County.
More than 80 percent of youth who participate in Choice do not re-offend. This is a major loss for many youth in Anne Arundel.
For more about the state's cuts to services that help at-risk youth and the impact those cuts will have on taxpayers and the public, see this Department of Juvenile Services document:
http://www.djs.state.md.us/pdf/impact-of-2009-possible-budget-reductions.pdf
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