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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-05TEEN COURT ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES MEETING OF NOVEMBER 5, 2020 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF TARRANT § CITY OF BEDFORD § The Teen Court Advisory Board of the cities of Hurst, Euless and Bedford, Texas met at 6:00 p.m. by video conference on the 5th day of November, 2020 with the following members present. HURST: Bien Camungol, Lorrie Dickerson EULESS: Robin Edwards, David Lawwill, Renu Sloan BEDFORD: Linda Moye, Sara Steves TEEN REPRESENTATIVES: Hurst Council Liaison — Bedford Council Liaison — Euless Council Liaison — HEB Teen Court Coordinator — Mindy Eichorst HEB Senior Teen Court Clerk — Also present: Hurst City Secretary — Euless Staff Liaison — Bedford Court Manager— Doug Campbell Hurst Court Manager — HEB Teen Court Teen Liaison - Bedford Administrative Services Director - MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Diana Howard, Chris Morrison, Kathleen Toms CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairperson Bien Camungol called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. with a quorum of seven Board Members present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Consider approval oft following Teen Court Advisory Board minutes: a) September 3, 2020 Regular Meeting Robin Edwards made a motion to approve the September 3, 2020 Regular Meeting minutes and Renu Sloan seconded the motion and all were in favor. 2. Introductions Introductions were done. There were two new Advisory Board Members present, Linda Moye and Sara Steves, both representing the City of Bedford. OLD BUSINESS 3. Discuss Fundraising Options. This was tabled from the October Advisory Board Meeting and Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst asked for any new ideas or thoughts and opened it up for discussion. David Lawwill mentioned several online fundraising platforms. Facebook is one option but a Teen Court Facebook page would have to be established and Mr. Lawwill mentioned he is willing to set up the page. Mr. Lawwill also mentioned there are online auctions and silent auctions and used an example of a ride -along with the Chief of Police. He also mentioned the amounts of people that could be reached by using social media could be huge. Ms. Eichorst mentioned she will have to see what can and cannot be done in regards to a Facebook page due to limitations and regulations. Renu Sloan asked how realistic is it to expect businesses to support Teen Court via alternate methods as compared to how the fundraising has been in the past. Ms. Sloan reminded the Advisory Board that Judge Murphy asked (and the Advisory Board Members approved) that there not be a Scholarship Gala in 2021. Mr. Lawwill mentioned the Advisory Board should be reaching out to community members over businesses because individuals are affected by Teen Court. He also mentioned about marketing materials for Teen Court, specific example was 'Adopt a Teen Court Scholar." Linda Moye asked for clarification as to who the scholarships were for and how much is awarded. Ms. Eichorst clarified by advising the scholarships were for HEB Teen Court volunteers, seniors in high school, and have filled out an application. Each applicant can receive up to $1500. Mr. Lawwill mentioned using bonus "gifts" to garner large donations from businesses and individuals and his examples of this would be to mention on the city website and a ride -along with the Chief of Police. NEW BUSINESS 4. Discuss HEB Teen Court Nights. Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst mentioned that there are only a few Teen Courts in the state of Texas that are having in -person Teen Court Nights. HEB Teen Court is limited as to how many teen defendants and parents, volunteers, and staff that can be present in the building and in each of the rooms. There are two rooms within the building that are hearing defendant's cases. Each teen defendant and parent is given a certain date and time and are in the building approximately twenty minutes. Due to the restrictions of how many people can be in a room and building at once, the teen volunteers have not been able to be utilized at all since February 2020. 5. Discuss teen volunteers and scholarships. Teen Court Coordinator Mindy Eichorst wanted to let all of the Advisory Board Members know that COVID-19 is not the teen volunteers fault and that several of them have reached out to her to see if there is anything they can help with. Ms. Eichorst mentioned she has been writing several recommendation letters for the teen volunteers. Ms. Eichorst advised there is potentially eight teen volunteers that can turn in scholarship applications. Robin Edwards advised the scholarships should be awarded based on their past volunteering with HEB Teen Court, Linda Moye asked about protocol/criteria to base this one and Renu Sloan mentioned there is protocol/criteria. David Lawwill clarified that the teens have criteria but Advisory Board Members do not but there is committee to decide but not a scoring process to determine the amount awarded. Renu Sloan mentioned maybe there should be a standing matrix. David Lawwill mentioned it would help to document the criteria versus an actual matrix so it is open for discussion and discretion. 6. Discuss and possibly take action on a date for the next Teen Court Advisory Board Meeting. The next Teen Court Advisory Board Meeting will be on Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. via videoconference (Zoom). REPORTS Ms. Eichorst presented the Coordinator's Report from August through October 2020. David Lawwill wanted a little more clarification about dismissals versus terminations. Ms. Eichorst explained the difference between the two and how each are achieved. Ms. Eichorst presented the Teen Court Scholarship Fund Report. The scholarship monies was reflected on this report. ADJOURNMENT David-L-awwill entered a motion for the meeting to be adjourned and Renu Sloan seconded the m/ otion and II voted igavor. The meeting was adjourned at 7;30 p.m. ore �i David'CawwilVChairperson Date