[LUAU] Seeking volunteers for public service FOSS web development

[Clifton Royston]

  Here is a very badly needed local web application, which seems tailor
made for an open-source web development project.

  I just yesterday ran into a couple of my friends from the local ACLU
board and found out that they are looking for someone to develop a web
system as part of the Juvenile Justice project.  This would provide a
real-time online "inventory" of possible placements for teenagers, so
that the Family Courts, Department of Human Services, and related
agencies, could use them to determine where they could be placed other
than in a correctional facility.  (For those who aren't aware, there
have been serious problems over the years with abuse of kids in the
Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, and yet kids are still being sent
there who don't really belong there, because the system doesn't know
where else to put them.)

  I remember some people on this list were working on setting up some
FOSS demo projects with the Judiciary.  This is IMHO even more
worthwhile, because it would be helping kids stay out of detention and
have a chance to get their lives back together.  

  Right now they have a small amount of funds to do this project, but
I'm hoping that it could be done on a volunteer basis (or perhaps with
a small honorarium to participants) so that they could save most of
that funding towards hosting fees and ongoing maintenance and
enhancements.  If that doesn't work out, I can talk to them about
getting a little more funding to pay developers, as I'm still sure it
can be done much faster and cheaper by this group than by many overtly
commercial development companies.

  I'm attaching the actual proposal explanation below.  Any takers?

  -- Clifton

----- Forwarded message from Vanessa Chong  -----
> Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 16:20:26 -1000
> Thread-Topic: ACLU Follow Up re Juvenile Justice Website
> Thread-Index: AcZEsluzmgrCILClEdq6cwAUUSFuSg==
> Subject: ACLU Follow Up re Juvenile Justice Website
...
>    =========================================
>    Proposal: The Hawaii Juvenile Justice Project was established by the
>    ACLU of Hawaii in late 2003 as a collaboration of private and public
>    sector groups and individuals who seek reform at the Hawaii Youth
>    Correctional Facility and to press for alternatives to incarceration
>    so that more youth could be successfully be reunited with their
>    families and have an opportunity to lead productive lives.
>    One of the Project's interests - and this has been supported by
>    informal discussions with family court judges, probation officers,
>    community program providers, families and other government agencies
>    that make up the juvenile justice system who told us that no such
>    resource currently exists - is to explore setting up a website that
>    would have an inventory of community resources available, in real
>    time, so that judiciary/probation/HYCF staff could see the entire
>    universe of community beds available for youth placement.
>    The Project has a some funds toward this process. What we lack is the
>    expertise to help us determine whether this could be done, what would
>    it take and what would it cost initially and to be maintained.
----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
    Clifton Royston  --  cliftonr at iandicomputing.com / cliftonr at lava.net
       President  - I and I Computing * http://www.iandicomputing.com/
 Custom programming, network design, systems and network consulting services