New Jersey calls for a bigger investment in community-based programs to lower disparities in the juvenile justice system

New Jersey has made progress in lowering the number of incarcerated juveniles. From 1997 to 2010, the confined youth population was cut by 53 percent. These efforts should be applauded. 

Unfortunately, there are other statistics that are far less commendable—those showing distressing racial disparities. 

There is a question that occasionally keeps me up at night

Sometimes, when I can’t fall asleep, I think about what it means to be an effective model purveyor of Multisystemic Therapy (MST). I understand that, on the surface, it’s about oversight and fidelity to this evidence-based model that we provide to youth and families. But I want to dig deeper into this idea. What does it take to not just be an effective model purveyor, but an exceptional one? What does it take to create an environment in which an evidence-based model like ours can grow?

MST therapist helps father through difficult time and nominated him for WIT award

As any parent today will tell you, it is hard enough to raise a teenager under the best of circumstances. What we know in Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is that sometimes, no matter how hard we try, help is needed to achieve the hoped-for results. In those troubled times, it can be more painful if the help you seek doesn’t make things better at all. 

But that isn’t always the case, as one New Jersey father can attest. He was in desperate need of help handling his daughter. Luckily, he was assigned MST therapist Lionel Latouche.

Above, Latouche is shown receiving his WIT award from his supervisor