For their sake and ours, we need to stop locking up kids

A talk at the recent Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development conference in Denver made me think of a show I love, “The West Wing.” In one of my favorite episodes, after hearing of the death of a secret-service agent, a politician wonders out loud, “Crime. Boy, I don’t know.”

We all want to live in safe communities, free of crime. As a parent, this feels like an increasingly urgent need as I send my children more and more out into public without me. Levels of risk I was willing to accept in the past are now too scary to tolerate. Before, I have ignored the news of local crime, and now, there are times I have to force myself to stop thinking about it. 

So, I join the public in the wish for a silver bullet. We want safety. We want something to guarantee it. Crime. Boy, I don’t know. What are we going to do?

Evidence-based intervention keeps girl at home

Everyone was afraid that the young person would have to be taken into care. Chloe was not attending school. She was using drugs and staying out all night. Recently, she had ended up in the hospital after a night of drinking and drugs. Her caregiver was at her wit's end. But as luck would have it, she and Chloe were about to be referred to a brand-new program in their community—Multisystemic Therapy (MST).

When an MST program begins, it can take some time before anybody notices just how hard everyone is working to help young people and their families. For this young MST team and this family, the opportunity came sooner than most. 

At Blueprints, Del Elliot wonders aloud what is happening to the term evidence-based

In this year’s closing plenary session of the Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development conference, keynote speaker and Blueprints founder, Delbert Elliott, asked us whether we can we rescue the concept of evidence based. While more and more systems across the nation and world have embraced the use of evidence-based programs for the treatment of antisocial behaviors, the term itself has undergone a transformation. 

Using MST and tech-savvy to stop a 14-year-old’s criminal enterprise

Danny was referred to Multisystemic Therapy (MST) for stealing, truancy and verbal aggression at home. The treatment addressed all these problems. One, in particular, took some creative thinking.

At 14, Danny was quite the entrepreneur. Very clever at buying low and selling high, he had a business going where he sold electronics, clothes and high-end sneakers to his friends, to friends of friends and to people out of town who were nobody’s friends. He used online platforms to pay his customers and to get paid.

With the right amount of supports, family thrives

It’s said it takes a village to raise a child. In the case of Chelsea, it also took a “Dream Team.”

As we started working with 14-year-old Chelsea and her family, we knew mom had a lot on her plate. Her oldest son had been acting out and was involved with MST. Now, she was having problems with her daughter, Chelsea. We learned early in treatment the girl was running away, hanging out with men as old as 21, being argumentative daily and recently was physically aggressive. She was not only struggling at home, Chelsea had five school suspensions that eventually led to her expulsion. Her only educational option was to attend virtual school, an off-site school provision. Initially, because her behavior was so disruptive, she couldn’t stay there. She had to work at home.

As her MST therapist, I knew that it was going to be a lot of hard work for mom, who already had a lot to handle. This wasn’t going to be easy, but I could see with the right support, mom was up for the challenge. I also knew I was going to use the support of my MST teamto help this family succeed.

Jury duty prompts questions about disproportionate minority contact within system

About 32 million Americans will get called for jury duty this year. Just recently, I was one of the lucky few. The case I was presented with involved a young Hispanic man who allegedly possessed cocaine and a dangerous weapon with the intent to distribute.

The right to an impartial jury is an unalienable right in the United States, written into law by our Founding Fathers. Choosing this jury, however, was especially interesting and relevant to me.

It's not enough to do no harm, we must also do some good

Leaders in evidence-based practices and their advocates are gathered this week in Denver at the biennial Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development Conference. As part of that, Multisystemic Therapy (MST) held a one-day pre-conference specifically for people looking to learn more about how and why MST is a successful treatment program. Chief Judge Steven Teske of Clayton County, Ga., kicked off the day, joined by other thought leaders such as President and CEO of The Children’s Village Jeremy C. Kohomban and Manager of Administrative Services of the CT Judicial Branch Court Support Services Division Julie Revaz. Our special keynote speaker was Nell Bernstein, author of Burning Down the House.

Bernstein, a passionate advocate for juvenile-justice reform, opened the world’s eyes to the often brutal and deadly world behind bars when she came out with her book in late 2014. The stories she told can be difficult to digest at times and beggar belief at others. It is, in short, a compelling argument in favor of completely shutting down juvenile prisons.

For those of you unable to join us at Blueprints, the brief video below sums up Bernstein’s viewpoint on juvenile incarceration.

How one community successfully established MST

Adopting an evidence-based practice such as Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is not for the faint of heart, as Maria Picone, Family and Community Services Department director at Catholic Charities of Buffalo, discovered. But she also discovered, it is well worth the effort. 

MST-CAN and MST-BSF are helping families with exceptionally complex and difficult problems

"More and more we have recognized the complexity of the context—cultural, social and individual—in which child maltreatment occurs¹." There is no one factor that causes child abuse and neglect, and there are no simple solutions to fixing the problem. That is especially true when it comes to families who come under the guidance of Child Protective Services due to a report of abuse or neglect. The safety of the children and family is at risk and the parents may be challenged with difficulties such as drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems (i.e., depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.), low social support or social isolation, domestic violence, marital dissatisfaction, poor knowledge of child development and/or low community resources.

Interventions need to be tailored to meet the unique circumstances that each family is experiencing. Two Multisystemic Therapy (MST) offshoots accomplish that for such families.

It took Multisystemic Therapy for this young man to realize where his passion lies

Ben was very young when trouble started. While hanging with some much older boys in the neighborhood, he took part in a serious crime. The smallest in the group, Ben crawled into a doggy door and unlocked an empty house for the older kids. Once inside, the boys caused significant damage and even set a series of small fires. After the police were called by neighbors, Ben admitted to his involvement and ultimately assisted the fire inspectors with their investigation. He was, however, charged with arson and placed on probation. For many young people who find themselves in legal trouble, negative peer association is a contributing factor. This can often lead to pulling away from positive peers and activities, trouble in school and at home. Luckily, Ben and his family found the support they needed from Multisystemic Therapy (MST).