ADJC today

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ADJC TODAY
The mission of the Arizona Department of Juvenile
Corrections is to enhance public protection by changing the
delinquent thinking and behaviors of juvenile offenders committed
to the Department.
JANET NAPOLITANO, GOVERNOR DAVID A. GASPAR, DIRECTOR
January 2003
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
The News Inside . . .
New ADJC Translator Brings
Resources To Accomplish
ADJC Goals ................... Page 2
ADJC Staff & Volunteers
Brighten Holidays For
Incarcerated Youth ......... Page 3
ADJC Youth Success ........ Page 4
Perseverance: Keeping Focused On The Task At Hand
As you know, in November the Legislature met in Special Session. The
result was a $220 million reduction in state spending for the current
fiscal year. The cuts were comprised of reductions in state agency
general expenses and elimination of more than 1,700 jobs, most of them
vacant positions.
Governor Hull’s budget recommended a 5% or $3.2 million cut for the
Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC). After public tes-timony
by Director Gaspar before the Senate Appropriations Commit-tee,
the Legislature exempted ADJC from this round of budget cuts
based on public safety considerations. While we were spared the $3.2
million cut, there was a $190,000 reduction in overall expenses.
Looking at the year ahead, even deeper spending reductions are ex-pected.
The new Governor and Legislature face the task of closing
another gap of about $250 million for the current fiscal year, plus a
projected $1 billion deficit in FY2003-04 when the Legislature recon-venes
January 13th. While no one knows the exact impact of those
additional reductions, they are likely to affect every aspect of state
spending.
We will continue to work with the new Governor and the Legislature as
they, and we, are called to make the tough decisions that lie ahead.
In the meantime, let us all maintain our focus on the mission and values
that we have consistently labored toward: to enhance public protection
by changing the delinquent thinking and behaviors of juvenile offenders
committed to the Department.
In the end, that is how we will ultimately be judged, and rightly so. É
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Director David A. Gaspar announced in December that he is establishing a new initiative
seeking to reduce the disproportionate treatment that minority youth often encounter
within the juvenile justice system. Because language barriers are often a contributing
factor to that treatment, the Director decided to hire Taty Vilaplana as a full-time Span-ish-
language translator for the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections (ADJC).
Ms. Vilaplana knows what it’s like to come to an English-speaking nation after spending
her life in a country where everyone speaks Spanish, and ADJC’s commitment to chang-ing
delinquent thinking is one reason why she says she enjoys her new job.
“I wanted to work for an agency that is committed to serving groups of people who are
under-served, and that is why I am glad to join this Department,” said Ms. Vilaplana,
who joined ADJC on October 1 after working for the Arizona Prevention Resource
Center for more than three years.
Ms. Vilaplana brings many years of experience to the task of converting complex thoughts
and terms from one language into another. She grew up in Costa Rica and had access to
an academic environment where speaking another language and experiencing another
culture were extremely important. She started translating early in her career. During her
years at the University of Costa Rica as an English major, she also worked at the Section
English for Other Majors from the School of Modern Languages.
She was honored with a prestigious Fulbright scholarship granted by the U.S. govern-ment
to pursue graduate studies and graduated with an M.A. in English Literature, with
minors in Education/Translation, from Indiana University-Bloomington. She also per-formed
graduate studies in translation at the prestigious Monterey Institute for Interna-tional
Studies in Monterey, California.
“Often it takes hours, maybe even days, of looking in reference books and searching the
Internet for the proper word or phrase,” said Ms. Vilaplana. “Sometimes, when you’re
translating technical terminology, it really takes a lot of research to develop a correct
translation.”
Ms. Vilaplana is working with the Department’s Minority Over-representation Commit-tee
(MOR) to develop a list of literally hundreds of ADJC documents written in English
that need to be converted into appropriate Spanish documents to better serve the youth
in our care and their families.
While she continues to study ADJC and its culture, she has helped Esteban “E.V”
Veloz, the Department’s Diversity Administrator, to develop translations of Spanish-language
newspapers articles discussing efforts to reduce the numbers of Hispanic
youth who enter the juvenile justice system. “Ms. Vilaplana’s work will be a crucial part
of the Department’s new initiative to address minority over representation,” said Mr.
Veloz.
New ADJC Translator Brings Resources To
Accomplish ADJC Goals
Ms. Vilaplana also plans to attend a series of Superintendent Review Boards in an effort
to sharpen her interpreting skills, and to understand the technical terminology of ADJC
sufficiently to provide interpretation to Spanish-speaking parents. É
Thus far, she has also developed Spanish versions of an exit interview administered to
ADJC youth in conjunction with the Performance-based Standards (PbS) Project, letters
to parents announcing visitation schedules and guidelines for Thanksgiving and Christ-mas
for Black Canyon School, and a Christmas letter to parents and a list of gifts that are
allowed to be given to juveniles at the Adobe Mountain secure facility.
Ms. Vilaplana is working to
develop a list of literally
hundreds of ADJC documents
that need to be converted into
Spanish.
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It was a busy holiday season for the staff and volunteers of the Arizona Department of
Juvenile Corrections (ADJC). ADJC staff, as they do every year, worked with volunteers
to coordinate a wide range of events that brought friends, small gifts, and holiday treats
to youth who were incarcerated during the period between Thanksgiving and
Christmas.
Several events were targeted for youth who do not receive regular visitations, while
other events focused on the annual collections of small items that were placed in gift
bags and distributed to all youth. The following is a summary of some of the holiday
events that were organized at each facility:
Adobe Mountain School (AMS): Chaplain Todd Peat and the rest of the AMS religious
staff organized festivities with holiday trees in the housing units and other Adobe
Mountain buildings. The annual Christmas Inside Out event was a big hit. Volunteers
came to each housing unit and helped prepare small arts and craft gifts that were wrapped
and delivered to families of the incarcerated youth.
Starting on December 22, staff distributed gift bags containing items donated by a
number of outside groups - and staff - using a list of items that were approved by
security. These included socks, writing paper, certain books and some treats.
Black Canyon School (BCS): The girls incarcerated at Black Canyon experienced sev-eral
holiday events including an opportunity to decorate holiday trees and their hous-ing
units, and parties that were scheduled in the classrooms and at the housing units.
There was a contest in which prizes were awarded for holiday decorations. Gifts for the
youth were distributed on December 24, and a special holiday meal was served on
Christmas Day.
Catalina Mountain School (CMS): Youth at the Tucson-area facility also received gift
bags collected by community churches and faith-based organizations, along with a
musical group, the Gatekeepers, who augmented their usual work at Catalina Mountain
by organizing a Christmas Caroling event and by donating bags of fudge for each
youth. Some youth also volunteered to develop a theatrical presentation reenacting the
Manger Scene at the Catalina Mountain chapel.
In addition, Bill Rowe at Catalina Mountain organized the 5th annual visit by the employ-ees
of Honeywell, who come to Catalina each year during the holidays to provide
holiday activities for youth who do not receive visitors.
Encanto: Triumph youth participated in the Christmas Inside Out program in which
volunteers helped the youth complete an arts project that was gift-wrapped and deliv-ered
to their families. They also put up a holiday tree, decorated their units, and enjoyed
a holiday party, a special meal and other events, including skits and gifts, organized by
staff and volunteers.
Eagle Point/Sunrise Mountain: Youth at these facilities prepared gift items that were
donated to Phoenix Children’s Hospital. They also received gifts in the form of holiday
bags that were organized by the chaplain and delivered by a staff member dressed as
“Santa,”and their holiday meals were augmented by treats that were prepared by youth
with the help of staff. É
ADJC Staff And Volunteers Organize Events To
Brighten Holidays For Incarcerated Youth
Each ADJC institution
organized a full schedule of
holiday events for youth.
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ADJC Today is the employee newsletter of the Arizona Department of
Juvenile Corrections. Unless noted otherwise, articles are written by
Communications Division staff. For comments or input, please contact
the Communications Office at (602) 542-4497. This document is avail-able
in an alternative format upon request.
Benjamin David has won a $25,000 scholarship. The 21-year-old Apache Junction resi-dent
was awarded the scholarship by a group that includes a national organization, Phi
Theta Kappa, an international honors society for two-year colleges, along with the
publication USA Today and the American Association of Community Colleges.
The scholarship was awarded in honor of David’s straight ‘A’ performance in earning 93
credits and four separate Associate Degrees from Central Arizona College in business,
science, arts, and general studies as well as his involvement in student government.
He plans to apply to Stanford, Penn, Yale, Cornell and Northwestern universities, as well
as Arizona State University (ASU). Since the scholarship can only be used for schools
within Arizona, he can only accept the funds if he attends ASU. His hope is that his
academic performance and his ability to overcome a trouble-filled adolescence, will help
him win a scholarship from a prestigious university.
“He’s really got his heart set on an Ivy League school,” said Tom Carr, a Vocational-
Rehabilitation specialist working out of Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections’
(ADJC) Mesa Community Resource Center. “I would have to say that this young man is
probably our No. 1 student. We’re all very proud of Ben for what he’s accomplished.”
All of this is a long way from his days as a troubled youth who collected 25 separate
referrals prior to being sent to ADJC in May 1998. While the youth continued to struggle
for a while under the Department’s supervision, he eventually earned his release from
ADJC supervision.
And then, with the help of the Voc-Rehab program, a partnership between ADJC and the
Arizona Department of Economic Security, Mr. David has attended Central Arizona
College where he has excelled both as a student and as an active participant in campus
life.
His first goal was to complete his General Equivalency Diploma (GED). His scores were
high enough to qualify him for financial aid from Grand Canyon. He then became totally
immersed in campus life, which included terms as Treasurer and Student Body Repre-sentative
on the college student council, work as a tutor, and several other paying
positions that helped him pay for room, board and tuition.
He even earned special awards for his skills as a tutor in 11 separate subjects.
For Mr. Benjamin, all his awards, academic success, and student honors are nothing
more than a good start.
“I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far, but my goal is to earn a degree in
economics from a highly regarded university, and then I want to attend one of the top
law schools,” he said. “I want to be the best.”
ADJC Youth Earns Straight ‘A’s And A $25,000 Scholarship
Some would say he already is. É
With the help of a partnership
between ADJC and the
Department of Economic
Security, Mr. David has ex-celled
as a student.