Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Eric Hall, a new appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, enters the new year with five priorities, including goals to bolster staff pay and provide more educational opportunities to department youth.

A former teacher turned education official at the Florida Department of Education, Hall’s desire to increase learning opportunities at DJJ is an unsurprising item on his agenda. Most young people in the juvenile justice system, Hall noted in an interview with Florida Politics, read two to three grade levels below their peers.

Hall hopes to leverage his network of contacts — school superintendents statewide and leaders at the Department of Education — to provide more learning programs. Young people, he suggested, are best served when provided a pathway for upward mobility.

Those pathways will boast more avenues than just the traditional college route, Hall said. Trade schools and other job training programs are also on the radar.

Hall is the husband of a social worker and the father of two public school students. He is also the son of school teachers.

“What would any of us want for our kids?” Hall asked. “Those are the same things I want for the students that are served in our system. (I want) to make sure that we’re leveraging every single resource to drive toward those goals.”

Improving the department’s relationship with local law enforcement is also on the priority list.

Hall acknowledged that DJJ and police at times may not see eye to eye on...

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