Lobbying continues for passage of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act

The message is clear. More than 1,100 law-enforcement officials from police chiefs to prosecutors are pushing to keep juvenile offenders out of lockups and into family interventions with proven track records of helping troubled youths. One program they cite is Multisystemic Therapy, MST.

The officials were represented yesterday in front of Congress by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, which is lobbying to get the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) reauthorized. A Fight Crime report, “Never is Better, But Once is Enough,” calls the JJDPA a juvenile-justice "game-changer.” The report provides evidence that repeats offending could be reduced by 50 percent, with a saving of $9,000 and $27,000 per youth. Compare that to the average $88,000 a year for keeping a delinquent locked up.

What stops high-risk juveniles from further crime?

A report from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention based on the “Pathways to Desistance” project offered up a serious look at what deters high-risk kids from committing future crimes.

More than 1,300 delinquents from Philadelphia and Phoenix were interviewed seven years after they were convicted. They were asked about the factors—becoming more mature, life changes, and whether they were involved again with the criminal-justice system—that led youth who have committed serious offenses to continue or stop offending.

Quick-thinking MST therapist diffuses domestic-violence situation

Multisystemic Therapy (MST) sessions are held in the client’s home. It makes sense since that’s often where a youth acts out.  The therapy focuses on addressing all parts of young person’s life that contribute to chronic and violent behavior—the home and family, schools and teachers, neighborhoods, and friends. MST recognizes that each aspect plays a critical role in a youth's world and each system requires attention when effective change is needed to improve the quality of life for youth and their families.

I visited the home once and reviewed my notes from the initial session before taking the short drive to my new client’s home. A truancy officer, citing low school attendance, had referred the youth to MST. The plan was to meet with Mom to begin assessing the strengths and needs of the child’s ecology. Then, I could tailor the treatment approach to best capitalize on their strong points.

10-year MST veteran shares thoughts on what makes the evidence-based model work

Marta Lear has been a Multisystemic Therapy (MST) supervisor for 10 years. In that time, she witnessed up close the elements that contribute to MST being such a powerful tool in helping chronic juvenile offenders get on the right track to becoming successful, productive adults.

One extremely important factor Lear found was the high level of support and guidance provided to therapists and supervisors by MST, which included the quality of booster trainings. In other programs, she says, therapists may get adequate training and even follow-up booster sessions. However, they often lack a focus on the sustainability of the program, as well as fidelity to the model. MST requires both.

MST: Backed Up by Research, Results Proven to Be Reproducible

An article in Science magazine stated that less than a third of psychology studies could be replicated. 

This finding produced a bit of negative coverage in the media, as well as some useful analysis.     

For me, however, it was a reminder of just how impressive the body of research behind MST is. Consider that since 1986, MST has undergone 15 separate randomized controlled trials using either juvenile offenders or youth with serious conduct problems. Of those, seven were conducted by independent researchers in five separate countries.

New Mexico finds MST cost-effective, saves the state $135 million

In December 2014, a report was published showing very positive results for troubled youth receiving Multisystemic Therapy (MST) treatment over a nine-year period in New Mexico. The state decided to take a closer look at the data from its Juvenile Justice Services System (JJS) focusing on whether using MST for delinquent youths at risk of out-of-home placements was paying off.

The study analyzed information gathered on 4,016 delinquent young people receiving MST from July 2005 to June 30, 2014, covering admission to six and 12 months after discharge. These were youths with very high rates of severity at admission to MST and showed great improvement in all areas examined, including improved functioning, decreased mental health and substance-abuse problems, and cost savings to the state through reductions in using Medicaid-funded behavioral health services.

Will Multisystemic Therapy work across the pond? 

When I was first introduced to MST about two years ago, I approached it with a healthy dose of caution. Among my questions were will what works in the U.S. translate to the U.K.? Do the positive outcomes reflect actual impact or clever evaluation? Does this service cherry-pick and therefore is guaranteed to get good outcomes? And as a licensed provider, will we be micro-managed by MST-UK? The program sounded very prescriptive, and I had the sense that it was “painting by numbers.”

My organization, Action for Children, is driven to ensure that all our services have a positive impact on children, young people, and their families. In addition, we have a growing interest in specific programs that are underpinned by a strong evidence base. Naturally, one of our primary charitable objectives is that our fundraised and contracted incomes are spent efficiently and effectively. 

Chance encounter brings joy and meaning to MST therapist

“Is he throwing rocks down the slide? He is. He’s throwing rocks down the slide. Maybe Bill will correct him...” My internal dialogue on whether to scold my 5-year-old nephew or wait for my husband didn’t last long. 

Whenever we babysit our nephews, Bill takes care of life-and-death situations. He makes sure to address those strongly and swiftly. Everything else? My domain. I spoke reluctantly, “Dylan, don’t throw rocks down the slide.” Typically, I’d give him a rationale. I’d explain that he could scratch or dent the slide, and he was holding up the children behind him. But I wanted to speak quickly, hoping that the moment wouldn’t be broken.

For juvenile offenders, it pays to think long-term

Communities invest in a portfolio of services. Each service has a cost and is used to meet a certain need. Think of it as any financial investment. Communities must make sure that the current service portfolio continues to meet the ever-changing requirements in their fluctuating financial environment. In recent years, with tax revenues declining, many places have had to make hard choices about where to invest money. When looking at the need to help juvenile offenders and their families, the short-term costs of prevention must be weighed against the long-term expenditure for foster care, juvenile, and adult incarceration.

Police in our schools—There is a better way

Watching the news this week, I came across an unsettling story.  

An 8-year-old, third-grade student diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD was handcuffed above the elbow by a sheriff’s deputy for not following directions at school. It is a disturbing image, yet one that may become increasingly more common.