Approve Renewal Agreement #1 with the State of Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice, as part of the Safe Schools and Students Program, Grant #Q8911 (Student Services and Federal Programs Division)

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) awarded $100,000 to Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) for the Safe Schools and Students grant funded project Promotion of Wellness, Empowerment and Responsibility for Girls (POWER for GIRLS), which targets delinquency prevention. This project was implemented between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2008, and provided mentoring, counseling services, in home assessments, referral services, parent education and support services, volunteer support services, and life enhancement groups for targeted at-risk girls, ages 5-15. Participants reside in at-risk communities and demonstrate characteristics such as numerous disciplinary referrals and challenging family issues. Services were provided by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tampa Bay (BBBS). BBBS works with DJJ, the school system, law enforcement, the courts, diversion programs, and other social service agencies to target high-risk segments of at-risk populations. The Department of Juvenile Justice seeks to renew this project in the amount of $100,000 to cover the period of July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009.

GOAL 5 - The District will eliminate the FCAT achievement gap by a minimum of 10 percentage points as reported by No Child Left Behind.

Funding for Project POWER for Girls is provided by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, Safe Schools and Students Program (Grant # Q8911). HCPS is the fiscal agent for the project and funds reside with the District.

Under the terms of the grant HCPS is responsible for facilitating the project evaluation. HCPS and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tampa Bay will coordinate the collection of assessment data to the outside evaluator for the grant. The outside evaluator will provide a copy of the annual evaluation report to HCPS’ office of Assessment and Accountability. The anticipated date for project evaluation for the 2008/2009 school year is September 30, 2009.