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State Budget Cuts Affect Juvenile Assessment Center
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Published: May 2, 2008
NEW PORT RICHEY State budget cuts will impact Pasco County's Juvenile Assessment Center, law enforcement officials said today.
State lawmakers decided to trim about $392,000 from funds for assessment centers statewide, Lt. Barbara Taylor of the Sheriff's Office told the Pasco County Public Safety Coordinating Council at a meeting today.
Pasco's share of the cuts hasn't been calculated yet in the fiscal 2009 state budget, which takes effect July 1.
Young offenders are processed at the center in the San Antonio area instead of being mixed in with adult arrestees taken to county jails.
As of April, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice already had removed $90,000 from Operation PAR staff to conduct interviews of minors at the assessment center, Taylor pointed out.
"We had more of a scare," Taylor remarked, when state legislators at one point appeared to be leaning toward cutting out all funds for juvenile assessment centers.
"We believe it's mission critical," Sgt. Neal Berry of the Sheriff's Office said about the juvenile centers after the Friday meeting. Lawmakers committed money for the assessment centers only for this year, Berry said. So there's no guarantee that funds will be available next fiscal year.
Carl Orth can be reached at corth@suncoastnews.com or 727-815-1068.
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