Aug. 23 Meeting

The Annual Meeting was held on August 23, 2006 from 3-5pm and many Rochester initiatives were discussed.

The Agenda was as follows:

1) Welcome & Intro
2) Table for Election of New Officers & Board Members
3) Update (Curfew & Lock-In)
4) PINS Presentations
5) Closing, Upcoming Events, & Next Meeting

The next meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 27 @ Nazareth College.
_____________________________________________________________________

Elections:
If you feel you would be a good candidate for Board Member, you must write on why you feel you would be a good candidate and submit it to the program office by Wednesday, Aug. 30th.
_____________________________________________________________________

Curfew:
A Curfew is now in place! The Rochester City Council voted for a 90-day trial of a youth curfew in the city to curb the number of deaths that occur ever year. This effort was proposed after seven children were killd on city streets last year.

What This Curfew Means:
From Sept. 5- Dec. 4, unsupervised children 16 and under are not to be at a public place from 11pm-5am, Sunday through Thursday, and 12am-5am on Friday and Saturday.

Opinions:
- The opponents claimed that this law was a violation of the rights of young people
- The supporters say it is a crucial step to assisting youth caught up in violent lifestyles

Addition Information & How it Works:
- The city is spending approximately $250,000 on this pilot project
- How this would work is that if a minor is found, he/she will be taken to HIllside Children's Center on 1337 E. Main Street where his or her parent or guardian will have to pick them up. If a parent can not be reached, the youth will be taken to Monroe COunty CHild Protectice Services on Westfall Road. From here, there are many steps that could be taken.

For more information, see Democrat & Chronicle's article dated Wed, August 23, 2006.

Check Out This Article
_____________________________________________________________

PINS (Person In Need Of Supervision)

What is PINS?
PINS is a program based on finding youth that has runaway and then offering the child services. What usually happens in these cases is that the family is refered to family court and from there, a whole variety of things can and do happen. First of all, the family is usually investigated and then the child can be taken out of that setting and put in a children's facility, such as Hillside Center for a length of time. (To hold a child at such a facility costs the city $85,000 per child!) This process is lengthy and can take a long time to happen. Overall, PINS needs to be modified to be more people-friendly and thus...

A team has come up with a possible resolution! Mrs. Leslie Barnes and a team have proposed a "FACT" team that offers a 24-48 response team in which a parent can report a situation. Trained professionals (including probation officers, social services, and possibly parents and other youth) will be put on the family's case and will try to find the roots of the problem in a more friendly and quicker way.

The FACT team is hopefully going to be up and running by January 1, 2007.
If you have any further questions please contact Mrs. Barnes at lesliebarnes@monroecounty.gov.