Michael Neary / The Meridian StarTammy Ridgeway Thompson participates in Tuesday night's community forum at 31st Missionary Baptist Church. Thompson is the church's ministry director.

After Tuesday evening’s community forum on youth services in Meridian moved into the question-answer session, Tammy Ridgeway Thompson asked a question that brought the issue squarely into the community’s backyard.

“I really want to know,” she asked, “what can we do as an institution, a church, a community to make this better?”

Thompson is the ministry director for 31st Missionary Baptist Church, on 3411 20th St., which hosted the forum to discuss the settlement agreement entered with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Mississippi Division of Youth Services.

A theme that continually bubbled to the surface was funding — or what many described as the small pool of dollars available for youth services in the state.

James Maccarone, director of the Division of Youth Services in the Mississippi Department of Human Services, explained some of the history behind the forums, which are held every six months. He said that in 2012 the Department of Justice looked into allegations that many young people on parole or probation in the Meridian Public School District would be sent to youth court for minor infractions, and then the children would “immediately be put in detention.”

“It was a system that people didn’t think was fair, and as a result, the Department of Justice didn’t think it ought to happen either,” Maccarone said.

In 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city of Meridian, the state of Mississippi, the Lauderdale County Youth Court and the Youth Court judges “alleging systematic violations of youths’ due process rights,” according to the DOJ website. Tuesday’s meeting dealt only with the state’s portion of the settlement.

Maccarone explained elements of that settlement.

“In 2014 we signed a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice in which we guaranteed that we would do certain things, one of which was to revise our parole and probation contracts,” he said.

Maccarone said counselors now ask children to verbally repeat terms of the contract — such as curfew times — before the child initials the contract. 

But Maccarone said, too, that some diversion programs have been eliminated. He said a lack of federal funding led, for instance, to the cancellation last October of an “Adolescent Opportunity Program” in Lauderdale County that allowed children to work toward relevant goals under supervision.

“It placed a greater burden on our counselors who had to become more creative,” he said. “What they’re trying to do is find resources within the community to help serve delinquent children to keep them out of detention.”

The focus on funding continued during the discussion, as community members noted a shortage of money for youth services. Maccarone encouraged them to write to state legislators, noting that the Division of Youth Services is powerless to decide how money is allotted.

Thomas Parker, a member of the organization Tomorrow’s Fathers, encouraged residents to support local agencies and — and he, too, underlined the need for financial resources.

“At the end of the day, we can have 100 organizations, but we’re just like the state: If we don’t have funding, then how effective are we?” he asked.

Barbara Ivy, a retired educator who taught for the Meridian Public School District for more than 27 years, also voiced disappointment with the state, noting services she said had been cut in recent years.

“I know that we’re trying to come up with innovative ways (to fund programs), grants and other things, but I think we’re being failed by the state of Mississippi,” she said.

Education was a theme that others expressed, with Angela Hudnall describing “educational frustration” among local children.

Maccarone reiterated his suggestion to bring up funding issues with elected representatives at town hall meetings, and he agreed that funding was an obstacle.

“This year our agency — to operate the entire agency, not just my division — asked for $74 million (from the state),” Maccarone said. “The budget came back at $51 million.”

But he offered signs of progress to the group, as well. He said no children from Lauderdale County were in the Oakley Youth Development Center, the state’s juvenile correctional facility. He also expressed hope that Mississippi could develop a more “holistic” approach to helping children — one that involved greater collaboration among agencies.

Maccarone said, too, that Meridian is in line to receive a Families First for Mississippi center, a facility with a wide variety of resources for families.

Lieutenant Charles Coleman, the pastor of 31st Missionary Baptist Church, said before the meeting that he was honored that the church was hosting the gathering — and he noted that the church has an active schedule of youth and family activities on the horizon.

A representative of the U.S. Department of Justice was present at the meeting, as well as the Division of Youth Services regional director and Youth Services counselors assigned to the Lauderdale County office. People with questions can call locally at 601-483-3961.