Twenty-year-old Amber Graves was just five when her parents abandoned her and her one-year-old brother in the Bronx, New York. Graves and her brother spent years bouncing between homelessness and foster homes, with Graves also at times incarcerated for crimes she committed to help them get by. “My main priority wasn’t a dollhouse,” says Graves of the experience. “It wasn’t the race cars. No type of kid toys. It was making sure that me and my brother was safe and getting us out of this predicament.”

Childhood trauma can cause youth to develop coping mechanisms and behavior that stops social-emotional development and can dramatically impair their academic success. Gang activity, drug use, delinquent behavior, and aggressive attitudes become survival tools to get teens and youth through their traumas.

A 2014 article based in Cleveland, Ohio gives harrowing stories about the violence in their youth detention centers – staff to juveniles and juveniles to others. Is this article typical of juvenile detention centers across the nation?

On the last day of March, 2017, Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood saw seven people murdered in just twelve hours. Six of those occurred at the hands of gangs.

Although juvenile arrest rates nationwide are on the decline, that fact can be deceiving: in many communities, violent offenses are on the rise.

Where can I send my troubled child? Why parents should be asking a different question to help their teens and adolescents

"Where can I send my troubled child?"

Joining Forces to Tackle Delinquency 

There are troubled youth everywhere. Big cities. Little towns. Halmstad, Sweden.

Halmstad is a port city on the country’s west coast with a population of more than 90,000. And as is the case in so many places worldwide, there is a drug problem among adolescents. How is the city dealing with it? One way is through collaboration between police Officer Thomas Turesson and the Halmstad Multisystemic Therapy (MST) team.

She didn't think MST would work, but now this Scottish mum is grateful she gave MST a chance so her son could remain at home

Sean* was referred to Multisystemic Therapy (MST) Edinburgh by his social worker in July 2017. He was being reported missing to police as frequently as every day. He was using drugs, offending in the community and would often smash up property within the home. Sean’s mother, Ms. Spencer*, described the family as being in a “desperate situation.” She believed that having her son taken into Local Authority care was her only option. She said, “I couldn’t cope. My whole family was stressed, and it all became unbearable. I had to resign from my job as I was calling in sick continuously due to Sean’s behaviour. It was impossible to manage.” 

School season can be stressful. Here are 9 strategies for families to help their children succeed in school.

It’s back to school season—from shopping for supplies to the sounds of early morning buses. For many young people, this can be a happy time of year, a time when they will start fresh or rejoin old classmates or re-connect with teachers. For some, the sights and sounds of crowded hallways bring a sense of excitement. But many youth—and families—do not have the same joyful anticipation. Many students and parents have lumps in their throats or experience anxiety when they think about returning to school and the concerns it brings—bullying, truancy, suspensions or exclusions, the dreaded phone call from school when a problem arises and the potential that things may escalate to involvement with child-protective services or the juvenile-justice system.

MST moves beyond the labels that stigmatize troubled youth

Labels. Labels we are given, and ones we take on and allow to define us. For young people who are involved in juvenile justice, and for many who become MST clients, labels can get in the way of success. Maybe they are marked as “bad kids” because they are on probation or parole. Maybe it’s a mental health diagnosis or a learning disability that is allowed to become their label. Some kids are remembered for a crime they committed or by the reputation their families have in the community. Thankfully, we don’t live in the 17th century and have to literally wear a scarlet letter stitched across our clothing. Being put into a category can still be incredibly damaging and difficult to overcome. In particular, when we internalize it.