MEETING TIME AND LOCATION
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Wesley United Methodist Church
800 E. 12th Street
Des Moines, IA 50316-4304
Brown Bag Lunch
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 71272, Clive, IA 50325
MEETING AGENDA
SIGN IN
MISSION STATEMENT
INTRODUCTIONS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
REPORTS:
ICIW Report – Warden Patti Wachtendorf or ICIW Representative
Treasurer – Rosemary Jungmann
PROGRAM/FOCUS:
To our February meeting we welcome friend, regular attendee, and lobbyist, Marty Ryan.
Since Marty agreed to be our speaker, Funnel week has been moved up to the week of our meeting making it a very busy week for him and the legislators. He will fill us in on what’s happening at the Capitol, bills of interest to us that have died, and those still going. Don’t miss his up-to-date report.
RECAP OF JANUARY 21, 2014 MEETING:
We welcomed Jerry Foxhoven, Executive Director of Clinical Programs and a Professor of Law at the Drake University Law School, to our January meeting. Although he has been a child advocate for thirty years, he was surprised when Governor Branstad invited him to chair the Juvenile Home Protection Task Force. When he asked the Governor what he was looking at, he replied “What’s best for the girls”.
The Juvenile Home is located on 27 acres in Toledo, Iowa, and has thirteen buildings. At the time of the closing there were approximately 20 youth and 119 employees. Six of the youth were boys. Although completely separated from the girls, the first recommendation of the Task Force was that boys should not be there. The second recommendation was that the girls considered Children in Need of Assistance (CINA) should not be mixed with delinquent girls.
The Juvenile Home at Toledo was a facility of last resort. For most of the girls it was their 8th or 9th placement. They probably were never at the same school for a whole school year. The committee would prefer to see them in their own communities.
The Task Force determined that the seclusion practice was inappropriate and over done. They asked, with 119 adults there, why no one asked “What’s going on?’”
As it was, the Juvenile Home in Toledo was not economically viable. Now is the time to consider what we could do for girls under 18. It’s a window of opportunity to see what we could do as an alternative. Imagine what we could do with $500 a day, $200,000 a year. Then we can use what we learn to help boys as well.
UPCOMING MEETINGS & PRESENTERS:
Our March 18th presenter will be Buzz Hoffman, currently a professor at DMACC. Buzz is a graduate of Iowa State. He spent 35 years with the Department of Corrections as Supervisor of Parole and Probation of the 5th District and in other areas. He loved it all.
Patti Wachtendorf has said that much of her time is spent in settling disputes between inmates. To help all those entering prison, Buzz conducts a class called “Colors”. It’s a personality inventory that helps participants understand themselves and others better. The class teaches that “different is not bad, it is only different”. He will share with us the basics of this class.