Jeremy Kohomban will explain how to use EBPs to get juveniles out of placement at the MST pre-conference at Blueprints
How does a large organization that provides residential treatment to children and teens change direction to decrease residential care by using evidence-based practices (EBPs)? Not only will Jeremy Kohomban answer that question, but at the MST pre-conference kicking off this April’s Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development Conference in Denver, he will also relate how his organization accomplished this, becoming a key player in national change.
Kohomban is president and CEO of The Children’s Village, a major provider of residential and community-based family services in New York City. He will share Children’s Village strategies to not only include evidence-based practices that focus on reducing residential placements, but also the successful strategies for engaging donors, the board and trustees to challenge their historical business model in order to keep children safe and families together.
He says, “We made it very clear that residential treatment has a place, but not as a replacement for family or a sense of belonging. Kids should never grow up in government systems or any systems for that matter. And that includes The Children’s Village system.” When discussing the change in the agency culture, Kohomban points to putting “the residential work we do in the context of where is most useful and not.” The Children’s Village made a choice to break with its history and risk its bottom line by providing evidence-based practices in addition to residential care to do what was best for kids and families.
Activism for EBPs
Beyond the advances The Children’s’ Village has made with evidence-based practices like Multisystemic Therapy (MST) to reduce residential placements, Kohomban is proud of the organization’s activism. He has testified in Senate hearings advocating for a federal investment in evidence-based practices that work for at-risk youth and the reduction of residential-treatment placements. He wants to see an investment in the community-based work. “We are not just playing on the inside. We are also making sure that we are working on making significant changes in how our work is financed.” Kohomban looks forward to sharing information about his and the organization’s advocacy with the pre-conference audience. He says, “There is an opportunity for residential providers to stand up and be counted for the good work we do while acknowledging the change we need to embrace.”
Attendees can expect to have conventional thinking challenged, as well as an opportunity to challenge Kohomban. He expects to present some ideas that will be seen as controversial. “When I speak, I challenge people to accept the information for what it is...or ask the questions.” He hopes those at the MST pre-conference question his assertions. “The engagement and participation [of the audience] makes it easier for all of us to learn together.”
To hear Kohomban speak, register today for the MST pre-conference on April 11. More information here.
