Police and professionals get called out to the home. Family members are about to give up...

Her family life was marked by violence. Family members felt so hopeless and unsafe, they constantly rang the police and other professionals for help. Professionals felt so hopeless as she and her family continued to pull on the limited resources of the community. More calls-outs came to the police from her home than any other. Everyone reached the conclusion the only solution was to place the girl in care. 

But not so fast

This young person was lucky. Her community has Multisystemic Therapy (MST), a proven evidence-based treatment program that helps keep young people like her safely at home, in school, while it restores the balance of how community resources are used.  

The MST European Conference will be held in Malmö, Sweden in May

When they say that time flies by when you are having fun, they aren’t kidding. The older I get (and I say I am older than dirt), the quicker time seems to fly.

It is hard to believe that almost four years ago, 450 participants from the MST community came together for the 2014 MST European Conference in London. Delegates gathered from Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium and the United Kingdom to celebrate the strong implementation of MST across their communities. 

Staying the course with Multisystemic Therapy

Recently, I decided it was time to get healthy. You know when you reach that point in life when some of your behaviors (like eating sugary foods, not exercising daily, etc.) will catch up to you if you don’t make a change? So, I started my “healthy journey.” About two weeks in, my muscles were aching from my intensive workouts (OK, intensive for me), I missed my midday sugar rush, and the water, how could one person be asked to drink so much water? But something told me that even though I hadn’t seen any great gains yet, I was on the right path to better health and shouldn’t give up.

This caused me to pause and think about the people we work with in Multisystemic Therapy (MST)—the youth, their families and the key community stakeholders. 

Celebrating Father's Day by acknowledging the importance of fathers--especially her own

I am not going to lie. Growing up, I was considered a pretty unruly child. I was that youngster who drove teachers crazy. I got check marks on my report card for “constantly talking.” In elementary school, my teachers developed a behavioral contract to try and reinforce any positive behaviors. I have to admit I didn’t always earn many rewards. Not that I didn’t try. I just found it hard to sit still and behave. I wanted to have fun, be the class clown and entertain my fellow students. I wasn’t really all that interested in learning. It didn’t get much better in high school. I’d say I went to school for homeroom, recess and lunch. I liked being social. I am the youngest of 11 children. I guess that explains a lot.

To understand how MST works with a youth in trouble, you must understand how MST works with the whole system

“Why aren’t you working with my child? He’s the one who got in trouble and is causing all the problems, not me!”

“I heard MST never does individual treatment with the individual offender. Is that true?”

Because Multisystemic Therapy (MST) draws the whole family and community into the treatment, some people think the teen with the unacceptable behavior gets no individual attention. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

To answer those questions, you have to understand the treatment, its principles and processes.

The C-Rep Behavioral Health Agency makes a difference in Fayetteville, North Carolina

"When we identify our youth by what they do, and label them 'youth offenders,' instead of who they are, we limit them and ourselves to all the possibilities of what they can become. Even if those very young people have made choices to go down the wrong path, don’t they deserve someone to invest in their lives and in their future?" —Tony Haire, PhD.

This story could have turned out a lot differently. It could have ended with Tony Haire in jail. But it didn’t.

Before looking ahead, here's my thoughts on past conference

I can hardly believe it has been 17 years since I first attended the biannual MST International Conference in Savannah, Ga. At that time, I was an MST supervisor for Adelphoi Village. I loved my new job, but I wasn’t yet exactly sure what I was doing. I went to the conference enthusiastic and ready learn. The workshops I attended fit the bill. 

January is dedicated to bringing awareness to human trafficking and slavery

You’re a 14-year-old girl living in an impoverished country. You have always dreamed of getting an education. Suddenly, an opportunity of a lifetime comes your way to learn and study in America. This is just what you have hoped might happen. Your close relative has gone to America and has been very successful. She and her husband are medical professionals and show pictures of living in a beautiful home. They tell your parents if you come to live with them, you will be given all kinds of educational and economic opportunities. In return, all you have to do is help them care for their two young children. Sounds perfect, right?

Your mother was right—Who you hang out with influences what you do

I remember when I was growing up, the youngest of 11 children, my mother would tell me not to hang out with "those kids," the wrong crowd, the ones who would get me in trouble. And of course, I would protest, "No, they won’t. They are my friends." Then, inevitably, they did. Nothing too major, just enough that I knew my friends had a big influence on me. 

It turns out that research shows my mother was right. When looking at the predictors of anti-social behavior, "negative peer association" is the most powerful one, making it a high-risk factor for the teens we work with in Multisystemic Therapy (MST).

A response from an MST staffer and parent

As I read Laurie Spivey’s most recent blog post, "Charging Juvenile Offenders as Adults," I have to admit I struggled. I live in an area where a young person committed one of those horrific crimes on school property that put children I care for at risk. This young person’s behaviors put fear in the eyes of friends who grew up together and violated that sacred ground—their safe space. Community temperature ran high.

For me, as someone who is trained in Multisystemic Therapy (MST), who is trained in adolescent brain development and who in my head knows the best answer—the right answers—I struggled. For a moment, I had to really think. “If this were my child being directly victimized, what would I want?” This situation hit so close to home—our children were there—and now, this was a very real question for me and my family.