Pace Center for Girls, Jacksonville

Pace provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy. Pace values all girls and young women, believing each one deserves an opportunity to find her voice, achieve her potential and celebrate a life defined by responsibility, dignity, serenity and grace. Pace began in 1985 with one Center in Jacksonville, Florida serving 10 girls. Today PACE includes 21 Centers throughout Florida that serve over 3,000 girls each year and Pace has changed the life trajectory of over 40,000 girls since its inception. Pace began as a community response to the realization that girls involved with the justice system were either being placed in programs designed for boys or placed further into the system for their own protection. There were no effective alternatives. Started by Vicki Burke and guided by the research-based recommendations which called for gender responsive programming, Pace created a new alternative to institutionalization or incarceration for girls. Pace is now recognized as a national model for reducing recidivism and improving school success, employment and self-sufficiency amongst girls by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children's Defense Fund, National Mental Health Association, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Pace provides academics and other activities designed exclusively for girls! Pace will give girls a chance to re-group, catch up in school, and be ready to find the success we know girls can achieve. We'll give girls the support they need now and help them make a plan for their future. Girls get the support they deserve from caring staff, teachers, and personal counselors! Once girls are on a path to success, they can rejoin their home school. If girls are close to graduation, they can complete high school and start planning for college or a career. Pace girls improve their grades, graduate, and go on to college or begin careers.