2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 133
BY SENATOR DUPLESSIS
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request that the commissioners of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Services
Financing District be duly appointed by their appointing authorities and thereafter
organize themselves, pursuant to R.S. 13:5951, and prepare a juvenile wrap-around
services plan and present that plan to the New Orleans City Council, and to urge and
request that the Orleans Parish City Council take urgent action on that plan.
WHEREAS, the well-being of the state's children, and particularly those of Orleans
Parish, is paramount to the future success of the state of Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the state legislature has created within the parish of Orleans a special
district, the Orleans Parish Juvenile Services Financing District, to provide funding for
juvenile facilities and services for Orleans Parish; and
WHEREAS, the stated goal of the District is to change the status quo for juvenile
services in Orleans Parish by providing the means for a permanent, dedicated funding source
for these services; and
WHEREAS, to date, the commissioners have not fully organized themselves
pursuant to the mandates in R.S. 13:5951, to carry out their responsibilities to create the
contemplated juvenile services plan; and
WHEREAS, the New Orleans City Council is mandated, upon written request of the
District to call an election on the question of financing the juvenile services plan; and
WHEREAS, children who enter the juvenile justice system should receive
appropriate services to treat underlying problems causing their delinquency; and
WHEREAS, children who receive treatment pre-adjudication are less likely to re-
offend and are better equipped to grow and become successful members of their community;
and
WHEREAS, the City of New Orleans has many programs, but most of them are post-
adjudication and court-sponsored; and
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WHEREAS, the citizens of Jefferson Parish approved a ten-year property tax at 3.5
mills which expires in 2030 and funds ninety percent of the juvenile justice programs in
Jefferson Parish; and
WHEREAS, the City of New Orleans funds its juvenile justice program through
federal grants, and state and city appropriations, which creates potential fluctuations in
available funding and services for juveniles.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby urge and request that the board of commissioners of the Orleans Parish Juvenile
Services Financing District be duly appointed by their appointing authorities and thereafter
organize themselves and create a comprehensive juvenile services plan, specifying the
facilities, programs, and operations of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Courts, family and
juvenile counseling, and other wrap-around services proposed, and the alternative,
independent, permanent funding requirements to support the plan, as deemed advisable and
in the public interest.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana urges
and requests that the New Orleans City Council implement its responsibilities pursuant to
R.S. 13:5951, which may include placing the plan for funding on the ballot for voter decision
at the earliest possible election opportunity.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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