 | |
| Type | Non-Profit Organization |
|---|---|
| 59-2414492 [1] | |
| Purpose | Education |
| Headquarters | Jacksonville, FL |
Region | Florida |
| Services | Education |
President, CEO | Marx, Mary |
Chairman | Snead, Mark |
| Website | pacecenter.org |
Formerly called | P.A.C.E. Center for Girls, Inc. |
Pace Center for Girls is a 6-12 education program for at-risk teenage girls, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. The nonprofit organization was created in 1985 as an intervention program.
Pace Center for Girls was created in 1985 by Vicki Burke. [2] In 2008, the Annie E. Casey Foundation called Pace "the most effective program in the United States for keeping adolescent girls out of the juvenile justice system." [2] As of 2016, PACE Center for Girls had 19 locations in Florida with a plan to open another location in Georgia. [3] As of 2020, more than 40,000 girls have been served. The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children's Defense Fund, National Mental Health Association, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention recognize the Pace Center for Girls as a "national model for reducing recidivism and improving school success, employment and self-sufficiency amongst girls." [4]
Pace Center for Girls uses a gender-specific model. According to CEO Mary Marx, whereas boys become outwardly aggressive when affected by trauma, girls tend to be self-destructive and inwardly aggressive. The organization recognizes that a girl's pathway into the justice system often includes a history of abuse, academic failure, and harmful relationships; "PACE is recognized as a national leader in preventing at-risk girls from entering the juvenile justice system". [5] Of the girls in the program in 2015: "31 percent had a history of abuse in the home, 42 percent had a parent or sibling in prison, and 44 percent had moved three or more times in the last five years." [6] Common issues among students are teen pregnancy, mental health disorders, juvenile records and self-mutilation. [6] While a pupil at PACE, students go through life skills classes, focusing on positive decision-making. Each girl is also assigned a counselor, who performs home visits monthly. [2]
Pace Center for Girls provides services including nurse case management, family planning, and women's health exams. [4]
PACE Alachua- Gainesville, Florida
PACE Broward- Wilton Manors, Florida
PACE Clay- Orange Park, Florida
PACE Collier at Immokalee- Immokalee, Florida
PACE Escambia Santa Rosa- Pensacola, Florida
PACE Hernando- Spring Hill, Florida
PACE Hillsborough- Tampa, Florida
PACE Jacksonville- Jacksonville, Florida
PACE Lee- Fort Myers, Florida
PACE Leon- Tallahassee, Florida
PACE Manatee- Bradenton, Florida
PACE Marion- Ocala, Florida
PACE Miami- Miami, Florida
PACE Orange- Winter Park, Florida
PACE Palm Beach- West Palm Beach, Florida
PACE Pasco- New Port Richey, Florida
PACE Pinellas- Pinellas Park, Florida
PACE Polk- Lakeland, Florida
PACE Treasure Coast- Fort Pierce, Florida
PACE Volusia-Flagler- Ormond Beach, Florida [4]
Pace Center for Girls' celebrates young women through their nine values and principles of honoring the female spirit, focusing on strengths, acting with integrity and positive intent, embracing growth and change, valuing the wisdom of time, exhibiting courage, seeking excellence, creating partnerships, and investing in the future. [4]
Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. The term delinquent usually refers to juvenile delinquency, and is also generalised to refer to a young person who behaves an unacceptable way.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) is a charitable foundation focused on improving the well-being of American children and youth.
Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been trained to extinguish. It is also used to refer to the percentage of former prisoners who are rearrested for a similar offense.
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Transportation in Florida includes a variety of options, including Interstate Highways, U.S. Highways, and Florida State Roads; Amtrak and commuter rail services; airports, public transportation, and sea ports, in a number of the state's counties and regions.
Juvenile delinquency in the United States refers to crimes committed by children or young people, particularly those under the age of eighteen.
The United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, which reflects the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. In 2010, approximately 70,800 juveniles were incarcerated in youth detention facilities alone. As of 2006, approximately 500,000 youth were brought to detention centers in a given year. This data does not reflect juveniles tried as adults. As of 2013, around 40% were incarcerated in privatized, for-profit facilities.
The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (FDJJ) is a state agency of Florida that operates juvenile detention centers. Its headquarters are in the Knight Building in Tallahassee.
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The Florida Network of Youth and Family Services is a non-profit statewide association and contract management entity, of 31 agencies dealing with runaway, truant, ungovernable and other troubled youth and their families.
A girl's court is a gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system that links young "at-risk" females to social service agencies, providing informal sessions on everything from body image, education and counseling with a team of adults to provide trust and support.
Gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system represents an emerging trend in communities and courts throughout the United States, Australia and Latin America, as an increasing number of girls are entering the juvenile justice system. A gender responsive approach within the juvenile justice system emphasizes considering the unique circumstances and needs of females when designing juvenile justice system structures, policies, and procedures.
Youth Intervention programs are community based services work with young people when they are first beginning to make poor decisions that can have lifelong negative repercussions. The goal of Youth Intervention programs is to encourage and build a young person's connections to the community, including developing meaningful relationships with caring adults, as a way to support academic achievement, as well as prevent juvenile delinquency.