As we enter February 2024 and begin setting legislative priorities for the upcoming short session, it is a good time to reflect on all we accomplished as a Division last year and look forward to our tasks ahead in the coming year. Your hard work, dedication and compassion for the children and families of North Carolina shone through during what was I know a challenging year in many ways, and I appreciate all you have done and will continue to do in support of our vision: A seamless, equitable, comprehensive juvenile justice system that fully invests in the success of our employees and provides timely, age-appropriate services to youth and their families in need, in the most appropriate settings.

Looking back, our successes from last year include:

• Implementation of the NC S.A.F.E. Media Campaign late spring, when we kicked off the NC Securing All Firearms Effectively gun storage campaign. NC S.A.F.E. is a comprehensive media and communications campaign around the issue of safe storage of guns. Engagement of law enforcement, Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils (JCPCs), and other state and local officials support this continuing initiative, which includes a website complete with printable resources, flyers, digital marketing, bus ads, and other educational materials, a toolkit for communities to host events, as well as the distribution of cable gun locks and personal gun vaults.
• JJDP worked with local hiring managers and DPS Human Resources staff to conduct hiring events across the state. Each month, JJDP conducted at least two facility hiring events and attended three to four hiring fairs. JJDP worked with DPS Communications to come up with specific advertising for the hiring events and ongoing advertising to focus on positions that are hard-to-recruit, have high vacancy rates, and are located in geographically challenged areas.
• Effective July 2023, JJDP took full ownership of the processing of certified candidates under the Regional Employment Office (REO) system, and updated recruitment/hiring practices. JJDP expanded the number of sites to eight and increased the number of candidates processed each week, resulting in a quicker turnaround between a conditional offer and Criminal Justice Standards approval.
• Court Services completed five Racial Equity Institute (REI) Phase I 2-Day Workshops related to disproportionality in the juvenile justice system. This 16-hour training was delivered to approximately 200 managers/leaders from DPS, JJDP and community partners/stakeholders.
• The JJDP Clinical Services and Programs section received $5.2 million in grant funding by the CDC for mitigation of COVID-19 within JJDP facilities. These funds will be used to hire 40 additional contractual nursing positions; provide rapid COVID-19 testing for both staff and detained youth; provide telehealth devices for all JJDP secure custody facilities to allow remote interface with providers and patients; and to purchase testing equipment, tablets for all clinical staff, and educational tablets for detained youth.  
• The Clinical Services and Programs section is working, in close collaboration with NC Department of Information Technology, to implement a legislatively funded comprehensive electronic health record system that will house all medical and behavioral health records for youth housed in JJDP secure custody facilities. The implementation date of this project is set currently for April 2024. 
• JJDP renovated and opened the Jenkins Building on the former minimum-security unit located on the campus of Richmond Correctional Institution. This serves as a temporary location to house youth in detention while construction is completed at the Richmond Juvenile Detention location in the town of Rockingham.
• Cumberland JDC sent seven staff to be trained in the EKG program and Choices and Voices. The program, Educating Kids About Gun Violence 2.0 (EKG 2.0), and Choices and Voices, which provides further discussion about the “Choices” short film, consisting of approximately 10 lessons and student workbook material for students and teachers to follow. 
• Seventeen students graduated across the juvenile facilities at the end of the fall semester. Eight students completed courses from Surry and Fayetteville Technical Community Colleges in our virtual learning program.
• A male Short-Term Residential site was established, and final renovations have been completed, with admissions slated for late winter. This program model will increase access to services needed by identified youth referred by Court Services/district courts and reduce youth development center admissions.
• The Community Programs section is using its $2.5 million award of State Fiscal Recovery Funds to provide transitional living support – seeking outcomes such as job and career placement, increased wage income due to improved career placement, enhance life skills, and lower recidivism rates – for youth reentering communities. Projects include Housing First program models with Youth Focus Inc. and Haven House Inc. Transitional Housing aimed at providing safe, stable and secure housing to juvenile justice-involved youth who are identified as homeless. 
• Opened the Eastern Area Crisis and Assessment Center- Greene Cottage on the former Dobbs Youth Development Center campus, and the transitional site, the Goldsboro Agricultural Transitional Living Home (The Farm). This brings an expansion of crisis and assessment beds to the eastern area of North Carolina, and a transitional living, residential program that serves as a stepdown out-of-home placement for male youth.
• JJDP Reentry Services was awarded a grant from the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for the Juvenile Reentry Employment Project (JREP) to increase vocational training and employment opportunities for older youth in District 3 (Pitt, Craven, Pamlico, and Carteret counties). This proposed program would involve several community partners including Craven Community College and the Volt Center, the Pitt County Local Reentry Council, and Craven/Pamlico Local Reentry Council.

We will build upon these and our many other successes from last year, as we look forward to our tasks for 2024. Topping the list of our priorities when it comes to support from the General Assembly includes:

• The need to address compression and retention among Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (DJJDP) staff, including the institution of a temporary job class for pay plan positions in facilities.
• Now a program required by statute, funding is needed to continue the NC S.A.F.E. campaign, to purchase and provide gun locks locally in community events, provide educational materials on locking firearms, employ active social media buys to augment the audience hearing the safe storage message and thus reduce the number of firearm-related crimes, suicides and injury deaths.
• JJDP needs to increase support for community-based programming to ensure community-based services and residential sites remain at least constant throughout the state.
• Implementation funding is needed to address the statutorily required establishment of juvenile capacity, to establish developmentally appropriate capacity criteria for juveniles that includes maturation; to establish minimum qualifications for forensic evaluators (professionals) working with juveniles; and to establish a remediation process to restore the juvenile’s capacity and avoid instant dismissal.

I am hopeful as we prepare to enter the legislative process this spring, in that we at long last were able to put in place a step pay plan for certain positions, and to start working on compression relief with other JJDP positions. Please join me in making 2024 a positive and rewarding year for our staff, as well as for the juveniles and their families that we work with every day.  

The JJDP HR team, in collaboration with the DPS Communications Office, has launched a new recruitment marketing campaign for 2024. From awareness efforts reaching statewide and nationally to support for JJDP hiring events, this six-month campaign seeks to bolster the division's ongoing recruitment efforts and generate a new buzz about career opportunities available in juvenile justice.

Tactics utilized in this campaign will include:

• Location-based advertising;
• Media outreach;
• Social media advertising;
• Streaming radio;
• National and statewide sports marketing; and
• Email marketing.

Last week, DPS leaders launched a new Listening Survey for employees, with a goal of collecting feedback to help inform decision-making and efforts to continuously improve the agency as a whole. JJDP staff are encouraged to participate in this anonymous survey and share their opinions.

Do you have a success story or uplifting moment from your career? Whether it’s working through the ranks of JJDP, observing a youth’s positive transformation or an uplifting story about family/community involvement, we want to hear it!

The DPS Communications Office is collecting JJDP success stories for an upcoming edition of the DPS Safety Scoop podcast. If you’re interested in participating and sharing your story, please reach out to Kirsten Barber. She can set up time to record your story over Microsoft Teams. She may ask additional questions like why you were interested in working with JJDP, who inspires you, what do you like most about your job, etc. 

Jared A. Pone, Esq., serves as the External Affairs Manager in the Analysis, Research and External Affairs section of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

In his role, he oversees external outreach, which includes stakeholder communications, legislative briefs, topic briefs, presentations and conversations with associations, agencies and interested parties in the strengths and challenges of the juvenile justice system. He also serves as a conduit for JJDP legislative reports to the DPS External Affairs office and acts as a resource to that office in furthering legislative priorities. In addition, he serves as a liaison for the NC Secure All Firearms Effectively (NC S.A.F.E.) campaign and the NC Taskforce for Safer Schools. Pone is admitted to practice law in the states of Missouri and North Carolina. He brings a depth of legal knowledge to the Division from his experience representing juvenile clients across the state.

Prior to joining Juvenile Justice, Pone served as a policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending in Durham, where he worked with diverse stakeholders, state legislators, attorneys general and governors to fight predatory lending, exploitative student loan practices, and unscrupulous debt collectors. Pone previously served as the associate dean of students at North Carolina Central University in the Division of Student Affairs and with the City of Durham’s Department of Community Development, leading various projects and outreach efforts throughout Durham.

As a proud triple Eagle alumnus of NCCU, Pone received his Bachelor of Arts in political science in 2009, a Master of Public Administration degree in 2011 and his Juris Doctor in 2020, all with honors. Upon graduation, he was awarded the H.M. Michaux Public Service Award, the North Carolina Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award, and was recognized as a 2023 NCCU 40 under 40 honoree.

Rona Privette-Frost has been named Business Officer I at Central Office in Raleigh and began her new duties as of December.

In this position, Privette-Frost will manage operations, assist with the organizational structure of the division, and allocate financial resources to assigned areas/facilities. Duties also include monitoring spending against set budgets, evaluating proposals, recommending changes, realigning funds and preparing reports.

Privette-Frost began her career with DPS in 2016 as an administration specialist with NCSHP Logistics. In 2022, she was promoted to business services coordinator for JJDP Education Services, where she oversaw a wide range of business needs supporting our facilities across the state. She has a lengthy history of working with and managing budgets.

Privette-Frost earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Mount Olive University. She is a native of Johnston County, where she is actively involved in her community. In her spare time, Privette-Frost enjoys playing music and volunteering at her church, Habitat for Humanity and Refugee Hope. She is an active member and officer of the Clayton High School Alumni Association and SEANC District 38. She brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to her new position. She has been involved with assisting several groups within JJDP and is excited to continue working with everyone in her new position.  

Deputy Secretary William Lassiter brought the message of safe firearm storage to an essential audience Jan. 27 at the NC Pediatrics Society Winter Forum. More than 500 gun locks were distributed during the conference to 44 pediatrics practices in 23 counties, empowering pediatricians to give families the tools they need to prevent firearm deaths and injuries in the home.

Thank you to District 17 Juvenile Court Counselor Shenika Lee and Chief Court Counselor Kelly Pruitt for spreading the NC S.A.F.E. message this past fall in Rockingham County. In addition to passing out gun locks and safe storage information, the team was also able to share information about career opportunities available at Rockingham Youth Development Center.

Did you know that JJDP provides therapeutic gardening opportunities for youth at our youth development centers and juvenile detention centers? This month, we’re excited to announce that the division has received a Youth Garden Grant from KidsGardening.org to expand our programming at Chatham Youth Development Center! This grant will allow youth to improve the existing gardens at Chatham YDC, and grow new varieties of wildflowers, mushrooms and veggies. Pictured below are some of the flowers and produce youth grew last season at Chatham. Looking forward to warm weather and a bountiful growing season in 2024!

JJDP promotions, retirements and passings are provided by DPS Human Resources on a monthly basis. Longer announcements on these topics may be sent to Matt Debnam for potential publication in the JJ Update. Please include a brief biography, a current photo of the honoree, and their new job description if promoted.

Firearm offenses accounted for 14% of all complaints in FY 23, compared to 13% in FY22. In the same time period, there has been a 13% increase in the number of juvenile firearm complaints.

All DPS employees are eligible to utilize the Responder's Assistance Initiative, a mental health support service provided by the department. Employees and their family members can call 833-747-0185, toll-free, 24/7. The number is staffed by a licensed clinician, who will provide immediate support to identify mental health needs.

Please continue to send in stories, story ideas, and photos

from events in your area that we can share to 

Matt Debnam.

Thank you for your service.