Community ID of the Palm Beaches
On March 30, 2019 - after fighting for 3 years to get this Program started the Community ID of the Palm Beaches was born! Coordinated by the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, the Community ID Program issues IDs to any resident of the County who is in need of an ID, to use as a valid, accepted form of identification. Thus far, close to 4,000 IDs have been issued.
Accepting Consular ID's to Cut Down on Unnecessary Arrests
In 2015, we discovered that nearly 500 undocumented members of our community were being taken to Jail yearly for the sole offense of driving without a license. In 2016, we succeeded in getting Sheriff Bradshaw to establish a policy accepting consular IDs (if those stopped for driving without a license can present a consular ID, they will be issued a citation but not taken to Jail). In just two years it saved our system $3 million.
Glades Jobs to Glades Residents!
In January of 2015, PEACE got the Board of County Commissioners to unanimously pass the Glades Employee Incentive Program, which provides a 30% salary reimbursement incentive to employers who hire Glades residents for County projects.
Getting Money Back in the Hands of Wage Theft Victims
In 2013, PEACE got the County Commission to pass a Wage Theft Resolution, allocating money to the Legal Aid Society to take on cases of wage theft and creating a special Wage Theft Docket within the court system so that these cases could be swiftly heard. To date, nearly $1.2 million has been recovered for nearly 1,200 Palm Beach County wage theft victims.
Stopping Out-of-School Suspensions
Since the 2012-2013 school year, out-of-school suspensions decreased by over 60% district-wide. This was a result of a commitment Superintendent Gent made at the Nehemiah Action 2013, to significantly cut down on these detrimental and unnecessary out-of-school suspensions.
Establishing a Neighborhood Accountability Board (NAB)
In 2013, PEACE got the city of West Palm Beach to establish and fund a Neighborhood Accountability Board program, which takes youthful offenders and puts them in a research-based program proven to turn their lives around.
