(VPPB) MEETING SUMMARY REPORT

12/17/2010 10:00

 

 

City of Vineland

Vineland Policy Prevention Board (VPPB)

Meeting

Summary Report

 

Date..................... Friday, December 17, 2010

Time..................... 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Location............... Vineland Police Academy (VPA)

I) Welcoming Remarks & Introduction of Members

Timothy Codispoti, Chief, City of Vineland, Police Department

  • The business portion of the meeting was called to order at 10:10 am by Chief Timothy Codispoti. The Chief opened the meeting with a welcome to everyone in attendance and asked the Board members to introduce themselves and the agency they represent.
  • Chief Codispoti announced that Al Vargas, Vineland Police Officer, will be taking over the Police Athletic League (PAL) program at the Vineland Police Department.

II) Review & Approval of Minutes

Timothy Codispoti, Chief, City of Vineland, Police Department

o   Minutes are emailed to everyone in advance, please read the minutes prior to the meeting. Should you have any questions or changes, please bring them with you and present them to the Board.

o   The Board approved November’s minutes.

III) report Outs from Workgroups  

Domestic Violence Workgroup

ü Gina Ridge, Center for Family Services

ü Maida Baez, Center for Family Services

ü Linda Lawhun, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office

ü Raymond Marcolongo, Cumberland County Judiciary

ü Rita Carr-Volpe, Cumberland County Prosecutor’s Office

ü Liz Hoffman, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department

 

Domestic Violence, Gina Ridge, Program Director, Center for Family Services

o   The Workgroup decided to prioritize their goals and stated they would like to finalize the order by the end of today’s meeting. The prioritized goals are as follows:

Ø Focus on increasing community education;

Ø Increase domestic violence awareness;

§ Gina indicated a need to work on goals 2 and 3. Goal 2 is to research services to provide referrals, and goal 3 seeks to connect batterers and victims of domestic violence to appropriate services.

The Women’s Center is closing as of January 1, 2011 and the Center for Family Services (CFS) is now the interim service provider for victims of domestic violence through February, 2011. The Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) will select a permanent person and agency to take over operations on March 1, 2011. The hotline number is 1-800-225-0196 and will remain the permanent contact number. 

DYFS/Out of Home Placement Workgroup

ü Eladia Gonzalez, DYFS

ü Polly Viventi, YSAC

ü Samuel Mercado, YouthBuild

ü Stephanie Iglesias, DYFS case manager

ü Beth Marks, Boys & Girls Club

ü Jamie Scott, DYFS Teen

 

DYFS/Out of Home Placement Workgroup, Eladia Gonzales, Local Office Manager, Division of Youth and Family Services

o   The Workgroup decided to focus on the second objective of Goal 2: The rights and responsibilities of DYFS participants after they turn 21. The Workgroup will focus on the information DYFS participants need until the age of 21 and the responsibilities they hold when signing themselves out of DYFS.

o   A two-hour forum will take place on May 5, 2011 at the Carl Arthur Recreation Center. The forum will host three speakers who will discuss services available to clients on independent living once they age out of the system. Nana Wilson, from Rutgers-Newark law school, will give a presentation on the legal rights of children; however, her attendance still needs to be finalized. Dante Rieti, Executive Director of the Cumberland County One Stop, agreed to attend the forum and discuss the services available from the County. The third speaker will discuss his own experiences after aging out of DYFS, he now owns a Pizza Queen. The forum may want to include a teen speaker, but this individual has not yet been recruited. It was stated that in order to promote attendance to the forum, the school will be contacted to ensure children are able to be excused from classes on May 5, 2011.

o   It was indicated that there are seventeen active DYFS participants in the Vineland Office, ages 14-21, and the Workgroup is considering adding the participants from the Bridgeton office.

 

Single Parent Households Workgroup

ü Donna Cooper, Family Success Center of Vineland

ü Jill Lombardo-Melchiore

ü Dante Rieti, One Stop/WIB

ü Leahe Togno, Department of Children and Families

ü Adrian McGriff, Parents Anonymous

ü Kathy Rodriguez, Cumberland County Board of Social Services

ü John Desparrois, Catholic Charities

ü Danielle Angeline, Big Brothers Big Sisters

ü Victor Balaguer, Human Services Advisory Council

Single Parent Households, Donna Cooper, Site Coordinator, Family Success Center of Vineland

  • The Workgroup stated there has been no contact from Samuel Mercado and that he has not attended the past two meetings. Tracy Swan recommended the Workgroup attempt to recruit another individual from Youth Build.

o   The Single Parent Households Workgroup prioritized their goals, they are as follows:

Ø Increase services for single parents and children by increasing the hours available to reach working parents;

To accomplish this, they will connect with the Sabater Elementary School in order to have agencies in attendance at their monthly community fair to inform parents of what services are available. The Workgroup noted there should be a stipend for agencies that attend all meetings. In addition, to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative, the Workgroup is planning to run a three-month pilot and review its effectiveness during the summer months. 

Chief Timothy Codispoti asked what agencies will be in attendance and Donna Cooper informed the Chief that a list is currently being developed. Tracy Swan recommended in order to track service delivery, a ticket should be given to families at these events, and that a requirement should be for families to bring that ticket with them when they receive these services. Dante added that the pilot would be a good way to learn if more, or less marketing would be needed in promoting services.

Ø Increase community awareness;

Ø Increase parental involvement;

It was indicated that to increase awareness, Boys and Girls Clubs should be more involved. 

In addition, the Workgroup discussed how to increase the knowledge of available public transportation. Dante Riete reported that Cross County Transportation will put a kiosk in the County One Stop which will explain to individuals what forms of transportation are available and how they can access these services. Dante indicated that if placing a kiosk in this location is successful, kiosks will also be placed within other agencies. Dante stated that one challenge faced with public transportation in Vineland is that New Jersey Transit is the only form of transportation available after 5 pm; however, Cross County and One Stop are trying to connect people to alternative forms of transportation.

Ø Reduce teen pregnancy.

Tracy Swan, Sr. Project Coordinator, Walter Rand Institute, Rutgers-Camden

  • Tracy Swan discussed the reformatting of the Board’s work plans, noting that WRI organized the Board’s ideas into common goals, wrote objectives for each goal, as well as potential evaluation strategies. Tracy also informed Board members that they do not have to adhere to the goals and objectives listed on the reworked work plan. The Workgroups can make changes and resubmit them in writing to WRI. Also, members were encouraged to make connections during and outside of the monthly meetings to address goals and objectives. Tracy requested Workgroups submit an update in writing as to how they are progressing, as well as any problems they encounter.
  • Tracy asked George Sartorio, Health Officer, City of Vineland Health Department, to discuss the Partnership for Healthy Kids-Vineland initiative. George reported that Robert Wood Johnson Foundation gave the City of Vineland’s Health Department a two-year, $300,000 grant to address childhood obesity in the City. A strategic plan is due by March 11, 2011. Focus groups around the city have identified issues such as access to parks, recreational activities, and safety. The grant will focus on eliminating childhood obesity by the year 2015 and is encouraging system and policy changes. A complete presentation on the Partnership for Healthy Kids-Vineland will be made at the January 2011 Board meeting.
  • Tracy then asked everyone to break into their Workgroups at 10:50 am. See Workgroups’ notes.

V) Next Steps

Tracy Swan, Sr. Project Coordinator, Walter Rand Institute, Rutgers-Camden

  • Tracy Swan thanked everyone for attending and wished everyone happy holidays and new yearThe next Vineland Prevention Policy Board meeting is scheduled for Friday, January 21, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. We will continue to work in our Workgroups.

 


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