Debate About Multiple Roles Not New
The travel of Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman was called into question in a November 18 story brought to the public by the St. Petersburg Times / Miami Herald Bureau team of Steve Bouquet and Lee Hogan. According to their analysis of public documents, Peterman traveled consistently on Tuesday on commercial airlines to Tallahassee from Tampa Airport, near where he lives and has a second job, only to return on Thursday or Friday of the same week. In the 20 months reviewed, Peterman made the same trek 68 times. It raised the appearance that Peterman was working part-time at his $120,000 a year job and using taxpayer dollars to subsidize travel related to personal interests.
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Frank Peterman
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Peterman defended the pattern, saying it allowed him to be closer to program operations and clients in seven urban counties, including his home base in Pinellas. He cited reasons of promoting community based programs.
The next day, Governor Crist ordered an internal investigation of Peterman’s travel by the inspector general and a member of the Pinellas based Juvenile Justice Council filed an ethics complaint. In it, Council member David Plyer charged that Peterman had not met with the group even once during the 20-month span, casting doubt on the range of Peterman’s local meetings about juvenile justice matters.
A St. Petersburg Times editorial commended the governor for acting “swiftly and appropriately” in ordering the inspector general investigation.
It was not the first time that Peterman’s travel pattern and reasons behind it had exploded onto the opinion pages of his home town newspaper.
As far back as February 2003, when Secretary Peterman was then Representative Peterman, serving the south St. Petersburg district, journalist Bill Maxwell called on Peterman to resign his elected office.
Sparking Maxwell’s ire was Peterman’s decision to decline an appointment to a powerful education appropriations committee by then House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.
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Bill Maxwell
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Maxwell had chronicled Peterman’s acceptance of a pastoral post in a local church on top of a job with a local non-profit agency. Peterman when explaining his reason for declining the important legislative post told the newspaper, "Between that and family obligations, I just wouldn't have time that I knew I would need for that position.”
In his biting commentary, Maxwell wrote about Peterman’s legislative schedule, asking “What will he do? Leave Tallahassee on Thursdays before his work is done?”
The long history of Peterman’s Tallahassee-based positions and demands of a second job in another city raises questions about the extent to which the Governor’s office vetted the potential conflicts when making the juvenile justice appointment in the first place. The Department of Juvenile Justice has 4,800 employees, a budget exceeding $600-million, runs programs open twenty-four hours a day, seven days per week, and has experienced long standing problems in the quality of care, ability to protect its charges from institutional abuse, and insufficient resources to do the job.
“I can’t say there hasn’t been a time when another Department Secretary has held a long standing second job,” said Roy Miller, President of Children’s Campaign, Inc., “but I don’t remember one and would seriously question its appropriateness. The children of Florida need a full-time Secretary.”
Nothing about the past and present dispute about Peterman’s ability to juggle all the roles would justify using tax dollars to fly back and forth for personal convenience, if it were done, or a decision to use more expensive travel options than others available and to bill them also to Florida’s taxpayers.
Anonymous external sources close to the Department of Juvenile Justice have informed the Children’s Campaign that Peterman was warned about his travel and that it would be seriously questioned. According to them, Peterman ignored the warning.
Negative Amendment Offered to Important JJ Legislation
It is expected that an amendment that would increase the number of youth tried as adults and/or that would remove a judge’s discretion to determine whether to prosecute a youth in adult court will be offered to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2009.
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) provides the major source of federal funding to improve states’ juvenile justice systems. In order to receive federal funds states are required to adhere to four core protections for children. The amendment would contradict the goals and purposes of JJDPA.
The amendment is expected before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. A petition is circulating that encourages Senators to vote against the amendment. Sign the petition here.
Majority of U.S. Children Exposed to Violence
A national survey sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) studied the incidence and prevalence of children’s exposure to violence. The National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence spanned ages birth to 17, and counted incidents in home, school and the community.
According to the ODDJP Juvenile Justice Bulletin, “The survey confirms that most of our society’s children are exposed to violence in their daily lives.”
Raw statistics from the survey include;
- more than 60 percent of the children surveyed were exposed to violence within the past year, either directly or indirectly,
- nearly one-half of the children and adolescents surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, and more than 1 in 10 were injured as a result,
- one-tenth of respondents were victims of child maltreatment (including physical and emotional abuse, neglect, or a family abduction),
- and 1 in 16 were victimized sexually.
Children who are exposed to violence frequently experience negative physical, mental, and emotional effects. According to ODDJP, “They may be more prone to dating violence, delinquency, further victimization, and involvement with the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Moreover, being exposed to violence may impair a child’s capacity for partnering and parenting later in life, continuing the cycle of violence into the next generation.”
ODDJP suggests that the study indicates a need to identify children at risk of exposure to violence and services provided to children who have been exposed. Policy makers and service providers need to be aware of the high number of children exposed, and work to keep them from continuing the cycle of violence.
Debate on Shackling Juvenile Continues
The Gainesville Sun is reporting that the motion made by a local attorney requesting their 16-year-old client not be shackled in court has been withdrawn.
The presiding judge informed the attorney that the clients past criminal history could be included in the ruling. Circuit Judge Mark Moseley stated, "There are other cases that are more right that wouldn't involve a violent history or serious charges."
The process of shackling continues to be debated. Opponents believe that the process violates the rights of juveniles and has the potential for emotional harm. Advocates believe that shackles protect the juvenile and others in the court room.
This Juvenile Justice Front Burner is brought to you by:
Roy Miller, President
Amanda Ostrander, Website/Communications Coordinator