Program Description

PACE Center for Girls, Florida

Overview

The PACE Center (Practical, Academic, Cultural Education) for Girls is a state-wide nonresidential, gender-specific program for at-risk females ages 12–18 in Florida who are experiencing difficulty or conflict in school or at home. The program was created in 1985 as an alternative to incarceration or institutionalization for adolescent girls in the Jacksonville area. Over the next two decades, PACE proved so successful that the model was replicated in 18 additional cities throughout Florida under the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The mission of PACE is to provide girls an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training, and advocacy. Reasons for referral include academic underachievement, delinquency, substance abuse, truancy, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Referrals are accepted from any source, including the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Children and Families, area community agencies, public school professionals, concerned family members, and PACE students. Girls may self refer as well. Length of stay is determined by the needs of the individual girl; typically girls are enrolled from 12–15 months. Individual, group, and family counseling sessions are conducted to meet the individual needs of the student and her family with staff available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Intake interviews and assessments are conducted with each prospective girl to assess the risk factors in her life and what support she needs to possess the necessary motivation to attend the voluntary program. Each PACE Center has a cooperative agreement with the local school board to provide academic programs. These include remedial services, individual instruction, and specialized education plans. Middle and high school self-paced curricula are offered during a minimum of 300 minutes of academic instruction daily, which is designed to meet the academic level of each student. While enrolled in PACE, each girl must work toward attaining her educational goal. After leaving, PACE encourages the girls to continue their education by offering assistance in financial planning for vocational or college enrollment through transitional services case management. Girls are required to participate in monthly volunteer service projects to promote self-worth and involvement within their community. The students determine the type of volunteer service project, learn project management skills along the way and begin to see themselves as a part of something larger.

PACE conducts three years of comprehensive follow-up for all girls attending the program for more than 30 days to ensure the girls continue with their education, employment or appropriate referral services. For girls served less than 30 days, 3 months of transitional services are provided.

The expansion of PACE has been based on the overall effectiveness of gender-responsive prevention programming and advocacy efforts to help communities understand the critical importance of designing programs, approaches, and systems that incorporate the needs of adolescent girls and their families. This was accomplished by training direct care staff in the delivery of gender-specific programs for girls and maintaining a gender- responsive culture centered on continuous improvement and fiscal responsibility. Since opening in 1985, PACE has served over 15,000 at-risk girls and has helped 93 percent of the girls completing the PACE program stay out of or not re-enter the juvenile justice system.

Reference

PACE Center for Girls Website www.pacecenter.og

Program Contact

Denise Bray
Executive Director
Pace Center for Girls
One West Adams Street Suite 301
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone: 904-421-8585