The commission grew out of an extensive effort supported by the Eckerd Family Foundation to reform the DJJ. In 2006, the Foundation sponsored a statewide public opinion poll and five community meetings across Florida to develop a new vision statement for the department. As a result, the new statement makes a balanced emphasis on effective prevention, intervention and treatment services as well as appropriate punishment. This new vision will guide the Blueprint Commission as it recommends reforms.

In addition to the duPont Fund, JHET and the Eckerd Family Foundation, other key partners include the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, the Florida Juvenile Justice Association and the Children’s Campaign, whose president, Roy Miller, is a strategic adviser to the commission.

Florida Atlantic University President and former Lieutenant Governor Frank Borgan has been appointed to chair the commission. Vice-chair is juvenile justice expert and author LaWanda Ravoira. The 23 other panel members include law enforcement and criminal justice officials, educators, community leaders, faith and business organizations, and former youth in Florida’s juvenile justice system. The full Commission includes:

  • Frank T. Brogan (Chair) - president, Florida Atlantic University and former lieutenant governor of Florida
  • LaWanda Ravoira (Vice-Chair) – juvenile justice expert, former president and CEO of PACE Center for Girls, Inc.
  • Alex Arnold - DHL employee, youth representative
  • Marlon Brown - Gadsden County manager
  • Donna Callaway - retired principal and member of the state board of education
  • Carol H. Carlan - president of Wachovia Bank in Pensacola
  • Barbara Cheives - president of Converge and Associates Consulting, specializing in race and ethnic relations and cultural competency training
  • Sheriff Robert L. "Bob" Crowder - Martin County sheriff
  • Richard D. Danford, Jr. - president of the Jacksonville Urban League
  • Julio Fuentes - founder, president and CEO of the Florida State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
  • G. Matthew Immler – police chief in Boynton Beach
  • Barry E. Krischer - state attorney for Florida's 15th Judicial Circuit
  • Dale Landry - chair, Criminal and Juvenile Committee of the Florida Conference of the NAACP
  • Judge Lester Langer - associate administrative judge, juvenile division, 11th Judicial Circuit
  • Carlos J. Martinez - chief assistant public defender, 11th Judicial Circuit
  • Sidney W. Morgan - West Florida region market president, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
  • Danielle Morron - tax accountant, Wealth and Tax Advisory Services of West Palm Beach; youth representative
  • Mary Sue Neves - superintendent of the Calhoun County School District
  • Leon Russell - director of the Office of Human Rights for Pinellas County
  • Bill Sublette - Orlando attorney, former member of the Florida House of Representatives and key architect of the creation of the Department of Juvenile Justice in 1994
  • Judge Irene Sullivan - Unified Family Court Judge, 6th Judicial Circuit
  • Rajiv Tandon - chief of psychiatry in the mental health program, Florida Department of Children and Families
  • David L. Thomas - chair of the department of surgery, Nova Southeastern University
  • Steven Thompson - city manager of Deltona
  • Rev. John F. White - senior pastor, Mount Hermon African Methodist Episcopal Church in Fort Lauderdale

[back to topics]