Staycation

As Oumou so aptly noted, spring break can be rough. I equate it to Valentine's day, only instead of single people being forced to dwell on painful memories of that significant other who "just wanted to be friends" every time they see a heart-shaped candy or card, on spring break it is the responsible who suffer.

"Cancun, wow, yeah that sure sounds like a lot of fun. Me? Oh, I'll probably just kick back and relax a little, you know stay local".

7 days of extended hours at the office (2 of which were entirely meetings from 9:00-5:00+), half a Capstone paper, and too many general-tasks-that-couldn't-find-their-way-into-my-normal schedule later, and the closest to any travel I experienced during my spring break was world reporting on NPR during my drives to work.

So here's to everyone who was forced to take a staycation this spring break. Look at it this way, at least you didn't decide to visit Japan.


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As for my weekly update. I taught a lesson at the hall that went very well. I actually had a potential board member who has been wanting to visit a locked facility. He is a CEO of a software company and wanted to not only meet the youth but also tell his story a little. I had some concerns about his ability to relate to the kids, but I got him cleared and went in with him to teach the lesson and have him give a talk about his own life experiences.


He was great!

Turns out he had actually had a pretty rough childhood, growing up in Watts, being bounced form group-home to group-home, and finally finding a judge who believed in him and making some major changes in his life. He was super respectful of the youth and they were completely engaged in everything he was saying. The idea that a CEO would take the time out of his day to come visit them in Juvenile Hall and speak to them about the success that they can accomplish in their lives blew them away.


In terms of interfacing with local government units, my CP does quite a bit of it. On a very local level, the San Mateo Juvenile Hall interfaces a lot with local law enforcement. They work closely with the police, sheriff's department, and probation department. They are also deeply affected by decisions made in the local courts. When judges or district attorneys decide to get tougher on youth crime, then you see that reflected in the population of the hall which then tends to start getting in youth that might normally have been diverted to other programs. In terms of specific leaders, the lead district attorney for san mateo county, the state attorney general, and the governor can have huge impacts. All three play different roles in the sentencing guidelines used to incarcerate youth (or in the D.A.'s case, the way in which whose guidelines are implemented). This can mean more money being funneled into the juvenile hall resulting in more programs or (much more likely) increased number of youth being funneled there decreasing the number of services that the hall can provide to the entire population.

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My questions this week are:


1) after the success of the Republicans in Wisconsin, there is now a large movement to recall key politicians. How does this process work?

2) What role do city councils play in local government?

3) Oumou mentioned that there is often overlap in terms of agencies of local government. What are the positive/negative consequences of this redundancy?