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Please click on the following links to learn more about Project Payback: Project Payback Contact Information Office of the State Attorney Contact Information Job Employability Skills Training Community Restitution Service Hours Other Juvenile Justice and Victim Services Contact Information |
Victim Restitution Program for Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit Project Payback was implemented in Alachua County in 1997. Prior to its creation, only about $166 per month in restitution was being paid back to victims of juvenile offenders in Alachua County. Currently, the average is over $3,000 per month. Since the inception of Project Payback, over $400,000.00 in restitution has been paid back to victims of juvenile offenders in Alachua County alone. Because of this enormous success, the program expanded in 2000 to also include the outlying counties of Florida’s Eight Judicial Circuit – Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union. Thus far, over $180,000.00 has been paid back to victims of juvenile offenders in these counties Restitution is the act of an offender giving a victim monetary compensation for a loss or injury resulting directly or indirectly from a crime. The court orders restitution after the offender has been found to be responsible for a crime that caused financial damage or loss to a victim. Crime victims see restitution as one of their basic rights. A victim's experience with the court system is more positive when restitution is recovered. Project Payback serves victims by addressing the restitution responsibilities of juvenile offenders. Project Payback assists victims by: v Monitoring monthly compliance of juveniles ordered/referred to Project Payback v Reporting the compliance status on behalf of the victims in juvenile court v Requesting enforcement actions for noncompliance v Making the victim aware when a case has been set for a compliance hearing v Informing victims about the status of the disposition and compliance dockets v Providing job skills training (application, job search, interviewing techniques, as well as résumé preparation) to juveniles to facilitate employment as a means of being able to pay back restitution v Requiring juveniles 16 and older to be employed or to be actively searching for employment v Providing juveniles who are unable to become employed (usually because of their age or commitment status) the opportunity to do “community restitution service” hours. For every hour of service that the juvenile completes, $6.67 is paid back to the victim v Coordinating employment interviews and community activity sites as a means of working off restitution Project Payback promotes juvenile employment to deter delinquency v Requires job search/employment as long as restitution is still owed v Provides job employability/skills training: résumés, job search, applications, mock-interviews, finance management, career goal setting v Provides money-earning opportunities/employment assistance |