Runaway behavior is too often dismissed as willful defiance. In reality, each runaway episode is more like a warning light. It's a symptom of deeper trauma, unmet needs, and systemic cracks that have gone unaddressed.
Runaway behavior is too often dismissed as willful defiance. In reality, each runaway episode is more like a warning light. It's a symptom of deeper trauma, unmet needs, and systemic cracks that have gone unaddressed.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Troubled Youth, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Behavior Management, Families, Agencies & Admin, education, Juvenile Justice
Not every act of youth aggression comes from a place of cruelty. More often, it grows out of unaddressed pain: trauma at home, instability at school, or the weight of environments where violence feels unavoidable.
Yet traditional responses to bullying and youth violence usually stop at punishment. Suspensions, expulsions, and zero-tolerance policies may temporarily silence the behavior, but they rarely address the underlying issues and wounds that drive it.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Troubled Youth, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Aggressive Behavior, Behavior Management, Agencies & Admin, School, education, Juvenile Justice
According to the most recent data, chronic absenteeism reached a staggering 31% in the 2021–22 school year. This historic peak signaled a national crisis in student engagement and learning loss. While the following year brought a modest decline, nearly one in three students still missed 10% or more of the academic year. These attendance issues point to deeper challenges that impact student engagement and attendance.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Troubled Youth, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Agencies & Admin, School, education, Juvenile Justice
The financial burden of traditional juvenile justice responses like incarceration and residential placements is staggering, with costs often exceeding $100,000 per young person annually. Yet despite this investment, youth recidivism remains a persistent challenge.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Troubled Youth, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Agencies & Admin, Juvenile Justice, Funding, Juvenile Probabtion
For decades, the U.S. child welfare system has primarily operated in reactive mode, intervening only after harm occurs, often through out-of-home placements. The Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), enacted in 2018, marked a turning point in this reactive approach. It redirected federal priorities toward prevention, empowering states to invest in services that strengthen families before a crisis demands removal.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Implementation, Agencies & Admin, Funding
The demands placed on child welfare system professionals are unlike those in most other fields. Day after day, they step into complex family dynamics, respond to crises, and carry heavy emotional weights.
As expectations rise and caseloads grow, too many child welfare social workers find themselves stretched past capacity. Morale drops. Staff mental health suffers, and they leave the profession or look for other opportunities.
Topics: Multisystemic Therapy, Evidence-Based Practices, evidence-based, Implementation, Fidelity, Agencies & Admin
