F.A.I.T.H.'s Victories
Substance Abuse Treatment in County Jail
Through the persistent efforts of F.A.I.T.H., a substance abuse treatment program was started in the Volusia County Jail in May of 2001. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the program was terminated; however, at the 2009 Action Assembly, F.A.I.T.H. won commitments from the Volusia County Council to reinstate a new, improved program. In 2019 alone, this program saved Volusia County taxpayers $2 million by providing a pathway for those suffering from addiction to leave jail after successfully completing treatment. The program has a low recidivism rate of just 14%, meaning that the vast majority do not reoffend!
Night Bus Service
In 2002 F.A.I.T.H. was successful in securing a commitment from the county to run the bus service until midnight, which enabled many to work in the service industries. This service began in January, 2003 and VOTRAN reports that the ridership is up nearly 400 riders per night.
Affordable Housing Incentives
In 2005, F.A.I.T.H. won 2 out of 11 incentives for builders to develop more affordable housing in Volusia County. We are still working with the county to adopt and implement the other 9 incentives in a Workforce/Affordable Housing ordinance that would use a variety of tools to provide housing that our community can afford.
Local Hiring Ordinance
In 2009, F.A.I.T.H. won local hiring agreements in the cities of Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach, giving local workers an advantage when looking for jobs. In 2011, F.A.I.T.H. won a local hiring ordinance for all county contracts where local businesses can an up to 5% preference over other businesses.
Youth & Family
In 2010, F.A.I.T.H. won the extension of a funding process from a pilot program that could only use 10% of the budget for youth and family organizations and agencies to a full program using the full 2 million dollars allocated each year. This means that the county is going to be better stewards of the tax dollars we spend on our most valuable resource: our children.
S.A.V.E. Docket
In 2012 F.A.I.T.H. won commits to start a docket in the criminal court called the S.A.V.E. Docket in which a case manager and a judge will work with homeless people on an alternative to jail, fines, and fees saving the county an estimated $375,000 a year.
Ban the Box
In 2015 F.A.I.T..H. won commitments from Mayor Derrick Henry to draft an ordinance to remove the question that asks about criminal history from the applications for city jobs and from jobs of private contractors or vendors that contract with the city. The ordinance was passed, and the policy went into effect July 1, 2015.
First Step Shelter
After a grueling 8 year campaign, in 2017 F.A.I.T.H. secured over $8 million in funding for a homeless assistance center called the First Step Shelter. First Step Shelter currently has about 50 residents in the shelter. In 2020, First Step Shelter treated 135 people with substance abuse or mental health problems, got 75 people health insurance, helped 66 people get into permanent housing, and helped 109 people get connected to SSI/unemployment.
NARCAN
In 2017, F.A.I.T.H.’s Mental Health & Addiction committee won commitments from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department and the Daytona Beach Police Department to begin arming their officers with the lifesaving NARCAN nasal spray, which reverses the effects of opioid overdose. Since F.A.I.T.H. won those commitments, both law enforcement agencies have fulfilled their commitments. As a direct result, 71 lives in our county were
saved in 2018 alone!
Civil Citations
F.A.I.T.H. has worked since 2012 to reduce the number of children caught up in the criminal justice system for non-serious misdemeanors. Because of our research, people power, and persistence, over 2,000 fewer children have been arrested in Volusia County since 2011. As of May 2021, the Volusia County Sheriff’s department is now using civil citations 100% of the time with the exception of domestic cases! So is the city of Daytona Beach! This is a big victory for the entire community.
Restorative Practices
In 2017, F.A.I.T.H. began to tackle the issue out-of-school suspensions in public schools. Through our house meetings, F.A.I.T.H. uncovered the awful reality that Volusia’s rate of suspension was higher than almost all other counties in the state. We learned that suspensions out of school have been proven to be ineffective and harmful in correcting misbehavior and that this fact is even acknowledged by the US Department of Education. Furthermore, F.A.I.T.H.’s education committee found that, in Volusia County Schools, children with disabilities and children of color were twice as likely to be suspended than their classmates. F.A.I.T.H. identified an alternative to suspension, Restorative Practices, which addresses misbehavior without kicking children out of the classroom. At the 2019 Action Assembly, F.A.I.T.H. called for the commitment of the Volusia County School Board Members to implement Restorative Practices and to reduce out-of-school suspensions. By the very next year, Restorative Practices had been implemented in many Volusia County Schools and high school out-of-school suspensions had dropped by 76%!
Through the persistent efforts of F.A.I.T.H., a substance abuse treatment program was started in the Volusia County Jail in May of 2001. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, the program was terminated; however, at the 2009 Action Assembly, F.A.I.T.H. won commitments from the Volusia County Council to reinstate a new, improved program. In 2019 alone, this program saved Volusia County taxpayers $2 million by providing a pathway for those suffering from addiction to leave jail after successfully completing treatment. The program has a low recidivism rate of just 14%, meaning that the vast majority do not reoffend!
Night Bus Service
In 2002 F.A.I.T.H. was successful in securing a commitment from the county to run the bus service until midnight, which enabled many to work in the service industries. This service began in January, 2003 and VOTRAN reports that the ridership is up nearly 400 riders per night.
Affordable Housing Incentives
In 2005, F.A.I.T.H. won 2 out of 11 incentives for builders to develop more affordable housing in Volusia County. We are still working with the county to adopt and implement the other 9 incentives in a Workforce/Affordable Housing ordinance that would use a variety of tools to provide housing that our community can afford.
Local Hiring Ordinance
In 2009, F.A.I.T.H. won local hiring agreements in the cities of Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach, giving local workers an advantage when looking for jobs. In 2011, F.A.I.T.H. won a local hiring ordinance for all county contracts where local businesses can an up to 5% preference over other businesses.
Youth & Family
In 2010, F.A.I.T.H. won the extension of a funding process from a pilot program that could only use 10% of the budget for youth and family organizations and agencies to a full program using the full 2 million dollars allocated each year. This means that the county is going to be better stewards of the tax dollars we spend on our most valuable resource: our children.
S.A.V.E. Docket
In 2012 F.A.I.T.H. won commits to start a docket in the criminal court called the S.A.V.E. Docket in which a case manager and a judge will work with homeless people on an alternative to jail, fines, and fees saving the county an estimated $375,000 a year.
Ban the Box
In 2015 F.A.I.T..H. won commitments from Mayor Derrick Henry to draft an ordinance to remove the question that asks about criminal history from the applications for city jobs and from jobs of private contractors or vendors that contract with the city. The ordinance was passed, and the policy went into effect July 1, 2015.
First Step Shelter
After a grueling 8 year campaign, in 2017 F.A.I.T.H. secured over $8 million in funding for a homeless assistance center called the First Step Shelter. First Step Shelter currently has about 50 residents in the shelter. In 2020, First Step Shelter treated 135 people with substance abuse or mental health problems, got 75 people health insurance, helped 66 people get into permanent housing, and helped 109 people get connected to SSI/unemployment.
NARCAN
In 2017, F.A.I.T.H.’s Mental Health & Addiction committee won commitments from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Department and the Daytona Beach Police Department to begin arming their officers with the lifesaving NARCAN nasal spray, which reverses the effects of opioid overdose. Since F.A.I.T.H. won those commitments, both law enforcement agencies have fulfilled their commitments. As a direct result, 71 lives in our county were
saved in 2018 alone!
Civil Citations
F.A.I.T.H. has worked since 2012 to reduce the number of children caught up in the criminal justice system for non-serious misdemeanors. Because of our research, people power, and persistence, over 2,000 fewer children have been arrested in Volusia County since 2011. As of May 2021, the Volusia County Sheriff’s department is now using civil citations 100% of the time with the exception of domestic cases! So is the city of Daytona Beach! This is a big victory for the entire community.
Restorative Practices
In 2017, F.A.I.T.H. began to tackle the issue out-of-school suspensions in public schools. Through our house meetings, F.A.I.T.H. uncovered the awful reality that Volusia’s rate of suspension was higher than almost all other counties in the state. We learned that suspensions out of school have been proven to be ineffective and harmful in correcting misbehavior and that this fact is even acknowledged by the US Department of Education. Furthermore, F.A.I.T.H.’s education committee found that, in Volusia County Schools, children with disabilities and children of color were twice as likely to be suspended than their classmates. F.A.I.T.H. identified an alternative to suspension, Restorative Practices, which addresses misbehavior without kicking children out of the classroom. At the 2019 Action Assembly, F.A.I.T.H. called for the commitment of the Volusia County School Board Members to implement Restorative Practices and to reduce out-of-school suspensions. By the very next year, Restorative Practices had been implemented in many Volusia County Schools and high school out-of-school suspensions had dropped by 76%!