Melissa Ross
She was appointed in the fall of 2008 to lead former Mayor John Peyton‘s ambitious attempt to dethrone Jacksonville as Florida’s murder capital.
She left the job during the tenure of former Mayor Alvin Brown, when the Jacksonville Journey changed focus, and lost funding (the recession also played a role in that, it’s been pointed out.)
But under new Mayor Lenny Curry, Journey Project Director Debbie Verges is back in her old post, as the reinvigorated initiative looks at the best way to apportion public funds around what’s known as the “PIE” of crime reduction (prevention, intervention, and enforcement).
“It’s really exciting to be back. The mayor believes that the way we solve Jacksonville’s problems is through our children. And the way we do that is we reach them early, and make sure they stay on the right track,” Verges told WJCT.
Curry has allocated about $3 million dollars in the current city budget to bolster Journey programs, while also adding money to pay for 40 additional police officers.
“We’ll have $1.7 million for new initiatives. It’s never enough, but given the economic climate, that’s new dollars. Most agencies are not seeing any increases. So we’re fortunate we’ll at least have that amount of money to try to make a difference.”
The Journey’s initial focus in 2008 looked at early intervention and after-school programs for kids. Verges says this time around, teenagers will get more attention. And the approach taken in the last decade may be tweaked for 2016.
“This time we want to look at what’s different? Jacksonville is different than it was in 2008. We really want to hear from the providers. How would they address reaching out to teenagers in their neighborhoods? It won’t be quite as prescribed. We want to hear from the community.”
One point of feedback that’s already registered loud and clear, says Verges, is jobs. Or rather, the lack of them, particularly for young people in the city’s disadvantaged North and Northwest quadrants.
“Teenagers and young adults aged 18-24 need jobs. So we’ll probably see more in that area of economic development.”
The Journey Oversight Committee meets Thursday. Once it issues its recommendations, they’ll be forwarded to the City Council so that funds can be brought out of reserves and implemented, says Verges.
