a reclaiming futures national fellowship ......section 1: introduction… 1an untreated problem… 1...

A RECLAIMING FUTURES

NATIONAL FELLOWSHIP REPORT

Reclaiming Futures is a National Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation®

by

Reclaiming Futures Project Director Fellowship

TOM BEGICH

BENJAMIN CHAMBERS

ROSE GOLDEN

RAY GOODMAN III

MICHELLE KILGORE

CHARLOTTE MCGUIRE

YOLANDA PEREZ-LOGAN

LIZ SMITH

MARGARET TUMULTY

MARLIES WHITE HAT

and

STEPHEN CARMICHAEL

Leadership Faculty

How to Implement a Model toGet Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime

This publication was prepared under the leadership

of an editorial group made up of the following:

Kristin SchubertROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION

John RomanURBAN INSTITUTE

Dan Merrigan RECLAIMING FUTURES LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT

Steve Carmichael, EditorRECLAIMING FUTURES LEADERSHIP FACULTY

RECLAIMING FUTURES

NATIONAL PROGRAM OFFICE

Laura Burney Nissen, Ph.D., M.S.W. DIRECTOR

Jim Carlton DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Mac Prichard COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Dan Merrigan, Ed.D., M.P.H. LEADERSHIP CONSULTANT

Portland State University

527 SW Hall, Suite 486

Portland, OR 97201

(503) 725-8911

www.reclaimingfutures.org

Copyright © 2007 by Reclaiming Futures. All rights reserved.

Except for short quotes, no part of this report may be reproduced

or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by information storage

or retrieval system, without written permission from the

Reclaiming Futures National Program Office or the Robert

Wood Johnson Foundation.

Reclaiming Futures: How To Implement a Model

to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime

ISSN 1930-2223 (print)

ISSN 1930-2231 (online)

This report was prepared using funds from grants 050682 and

051452, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey.

Points of view or opinions expressed in this document are those

of the authors alone and do not necessarily represent the official

position or policies of Portland State University, the Urban

Institute, the University of Chicago, or the Robert Wood

Johnson Foundation.

RECOMMENDED CITATION:

Begich,T., Chambers, B., Golden, R., Goodman III, R., Kilgore, M.,

McGuire, C., et al. (2007). How to implement a model to get youth

off drugs and out of crime. A Reclaiming Futures National Fellowship

Report. Portland, OR: Reclaiming Futures National Program

Office, Portland State University.

by

Reclaiming Futures Project Director Fellowship

TOM BEGICHAnchorage, Alaska

BENJAMIN CHAMBERSPor tland, Multnomah County, Oregon

ROSE GOLDENChicago, Cook County, Illinois

RAY GOODMAN IIIState of New Hampshire

MICHELLE KILGORESoutheastern Kentucky

CHARLOTTE MCGUIREDayton, Montgomer y County, Ohio

YOLANDA PEREZ-LOGANSanta Cruz County, California

LIZ SMITHMarquette, Michigan

MARGARET TUMULTYSeattle, King County, Washington

MARLIES WHITE HATRosebud, South Dakota

and

STEPHEN CARMICHAELLeadership Faculty

How to Implement a Model toGet Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION… 1

An untreated problem… 1

The Reclaiming Futures Model… 2

SECTION 2: THE PLANNING PHASE… 5

1. Identify the lead organization… 5

2. Develop a common vision, mission, and approach… 5

3. Include partners, the community, and youth… 6

4. Identify a lead champion and select a project director… 7

5. Determine how the project will be governed… 8

6. Communicate, communicate, communicate!… 8

7. Begin to work on sustaining your changes from the beginning… 10

8. Measure your results and utilize the data for decisions… 10

SECTION 3: THE ACTION PHASE: MAKING THE SYSTEM CHANGE… 12

SECTION 4: IMPLEMENTING THE RECLAIMING FUTURES MODEL… 13

1. Initial Substance Abuse Screening … 13

2. Initial Substance Abuse Assessment … 13

3. Service Coordination… 14

4. Initiation… 16

5. Engagement… 16

6. Completion… 18

APPENDIX… 20

Project Director Fellowship, Contact Information… 20

Additional Information… 21

Reclaiming Futures Screening and Assessment Tools… 22

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?PROSOCIAL ACTIVITIES… 23

Contents

SECTION ONE:

Introduction

RECLAIMING FUTURES: How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime 1

One of the most pervasive problems facing youthwho enter the juvenile justice system is drug andalcohol abuse. More than two million youth arecharged with delinquency offenses each year.Drug treatment is scarce for adolescents in thiscountry.The National Survey on Drug Use andHealth reports that 1.1 million youths ages 12 to17 needed treatment for an illicit drug problemin 2003, but only one in 10 actually receivedhelp.Treatment is even less available for adoles-cents in the juvenile justice system.A 2004 study by the National Center on Addiction andSubstance Abuse estimated that fewer than threepercent of juveniles arrested who have substanceabuse problems receive treatment.

In 1996 the Center for Substance AbuseTreatment (CSAT) funded three five-yeardemonstration projects focused on providing substance abuse services for juvenile offenders in Eugene, Oregon,Austin,Texas, and Denver,Colorado.These projects developed new treat-ment resources for youth in the juvenile justicesystem, created data systems to manage the sys-tem changes, and began special court processessuch as drug courts, problem-solving courts,mental health courts, and wellness courts.

Based on this work, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) launched, in 2002,Reclaiming Futures, a five-year initiative thatbrings problem-solving courts and systems ofcare together on behalf of substance-abusingyouth in the juvenile justice system.The projectis being conducted at 10 demonstration sites inAlaska, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan,New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington,and in the tribal nation of Sicangu Lakota on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

After five years of operation, these sites havemuch to share about what they learned and how they implemented a system-wide change toimprove how youth with alcohol and drug prob-lems are handled in their juvenile justice systems.

The purpose of this report is to provide a road map for communities that wish to help local juvenile justice systems tackle substanceabuse and illegal behavior.The report is anattempt to provide a “how to do it” guide forsystem transformation that includes changes in all the organizations and agencies that seek toprovide opportunities for success for our youthand their caretakers and at the same time reducethe rate of juvenile crime.

AN UNTREATED PROBLEMImagine that you are not feeling well and youmake an appointment with a doctor.The doctortells you that there is a very serious disease goingaround that begins with general discomfort, butit can be detected by a painless five-minutescreening procedure. If necessary, the risk for thisdisease can be confirmed by a two-hour assess-ment, and if diagnosed early, it can be treatedsuccessfully in most cases.

Without treatment, the problem can become life crippling and sometimes fatal. It can alsoseverely damage other people’s health.

The doctor decides not to proceed with thescreening procedure and instead tells you to stopeating unhealthy foods and get more exercise,and wishes you good luck.

What would be your response? Demand thescreening? Go to another doctor? Sue the doctorfor malpractice if you have the disease and werenot screened and treated? Eat better and exerciseand hope for the best?

1


Introduction1Unfortunately, this describes exactly how too

many of our juvenile justice systems in Americarespond to teens with drug and alcohol problemsand their families.Teens with substance abuse anddelinquency problems face serious consequencesfor their lives, their family’s lives, their communi-ties, and the lives of their victims.Without treat-ment their lives and others are often crippled andsometimes end prematurely.

We know that practical, inexpensive screeningtools exist to identify substance abuse.There arealso proven assessment methods that can confirmdrug and alcohol involvement, and treatmentprograms for adolescents that have been provento work.

Nevertheless, in countless communities acrossthe United States, our juvenile justice system doesnot screen, does not assess, and does not providesubstance abuse treatment for teens in troublewith the law. Like the doctor in the story above,we ignore proven health care tools and instead tell our teens to go to school, stay out of trouble,and hope that everything will just work out.

THE RECLAIMING FUTURES MODELAn illustrative model has been developed thatidentifies the critical stages to implementing successful treatment for teens with substanceabuse problems in the juvenile justice system.It consists of six stages that direct how the juve-nile justice system, substance abuse treatmentproviders, and the community (including thefamilies of juvenile justice youth) work together.

Research confirms that the ReclaimingFutures model works.A recent independent evaluation by the Urban Institute and theUniversity of Chicago’s Chapin Hall Center for Children found that Reclaiming Futures has improved the coordination and quality ofsubstance abuse interventions for teens involvedwith the justice system.

The Reclaiming Futures model consists of six elements.The process begins when a youth is referred to the juvenile justice system for a law violation.

1. Screening. The first stage of the ReclaimingFutures model is a screening for possiblesubstance abuse problems using a validatedtool. Screening occurs as soon as possibleafter a youth’s referral to the juvenile justicesystem.The purpose of the screening is toidentify a young person with potential sub-stance abuse problems for whom a moredetailed assessment would be appropriate.This is the logical beginning for a systematicchange in the juvenile justice system. Goodscreening tools are available that can quicklyand reliably identify those youth who needassessment. (A list of screening and assessmenttools is included at the end of this report.)

2. Assessment. Youth with possible substanceabuse problems are assessed using a validatedtool to measure their use of alcohol andother drugs (AOD) and individual and family risks, needs, and strengths.The initialassessment serves two purposes: First, itmeasures the severity of AOD problems and reveals the strengths and resources theteen and their caregivers can utilize to over-come their problem. Second, it allows you to design the best plan of services for eachyoung person and their caregivers.

3. Service Coordination. Services for teens with AOD problems are coordinated acrossagency boundaries, involve family members,and mobilize community resources to matchthe needs and strengths of youth and theirfamilies. Beyond clinical treatment, servicecoordination focuses on engaging the young person in positive prosocial activitieswith support from natural helpers.Thiscoordination sometimes requires the use of care teams, particularly in the beginningwhen the service plan is created and respon-sibilities for implementation are identified.

4. Initiation. Assuring service initiation is a critical element.The standards of theWashington Circle Group define service initiation as at least one service contactwithin 14 days of an assessment.Teams monitor service initiation, either for eachservice or all service taken together.

5. Engagement. Once treatment and prosocialactivities have been initiated for youth andfamilies, they must be effectively engaged.The Washington Circle Group definesengagement as at least three successful service contacts within 30 days of the assess-ment. Engagement is defined and tracked for each of the individual components of the service plan.

6. Completion. The provision of services andactivities is tracked to ensure that all thecomponents are completed. Services aregradually withdrawn as the teen achievesgreater success and becomes more integratedinto positive community life. Completion of juvenile court jurisdiction and treatmentagency involvement is determined on anindividual basis.

Implementing this model has taught many lessons to the staff, community members, andtreatment professionals in each of the ReclaimingFutures sites.The next two sections of this reportpresent those lessons, organized here into theplanning phase and the implementation phase.They are applicable to any major system change.We present them in the hope that other commu-nities can benefit from these earlier experiences.


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RECLAIMING FUTURES: How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime

The Planning PhaseSECTION TWO:

1. IDENTIFY THE LEAD ORGANIZATION.The 10 Reclaiming Futures sites have a varietyof lead agencies including courts, probation, sub-stance abuse treatment agencies, and other non-profit agencies. Since the major system change iswithin the juvenile justice system, it is criticalthat the courts or probation either lead thechange or commit major support and agree toshared decisionmaking processes with whateverother organization takes the lead.The lead organ-ization also needs to involve the community(including families) in building assets for theyouth that will support them after they leavetreatment and juvenile justice supervision.

Dayton, Ohio In Dayton we learned the importance of identify-ing the right lead organization from the beginningwith a system change process such as ReclaimingFutures.We started with a local university, whichserved us well in the proposal and planning years.The university staff was very instrumental in compiling data on the needs, existing resources,effective assessment tools, and treatment modelsfor juvenile justice youth with substance abusechallenges.This helped us discover the service gapsand opportunities for systems reform, treatmentimprovement, and community engagement.

When it was time to pilot our plan, we raninto governance and implementation challengessince the lead agency did not have primaryresponsibility for custody and services to the

targeted youth.A decision was made by community stakeholders to designate the juvenile court as the lead agency.The court was the right alternative for institutionalizing strengths practices, natural helping, and other elements of our Reclaiming Futures project.

2. DEVELOP A COMMON VISION, MISSION,AND APPROACH.It is vital to understand the need for innovationand to plan for the change. Juvenile justice professionals, judges, substance abuse treatmentproviders, families of juvenile justice youth, andthe community should all be engaged in thisprocess. Each must be willing to adapt to work in concert with people who may have differentperspectives, values, and priorities.This takes sincere effort. It is natural for people in the initiative to have different beliefs about how to plan, implement, and evaluate change.Communities need to create an atmosphere that accepts that setbacks will occur, are to be expected, and are opportunities to learn.Collaboration takes time and requires the skills of different people with different backgrounds.

Santa Cruz, CaliforniaIn Santa Cruz, Reclaiming Futures was fullycommitted to engaging alcohol and drug treat-ment services into the juvenile justice system foryouth who were deep into the system and had a serious offense history.We were able to invite

Each of the original 10 sites had one year to plan their localReclaiming Futures projects. A full year may not always be necessary, but it is important to incorporate the following eightitems in a coherent plan before beginning services.


2


them in, in large part due to the steering com-mittee’s and management team’s willingness tolisten and learn from our alcohol and drug treat-ment professionals.They helped us learn thatrelapse is a component of treatment and recovery,and that youth will make mistakes along thispath. If our system reform effort was to becomesuccessful, we needed to incorporate learningfrom our mistakes in the same manner that wehave come to expect of our youth.

Anchorage, AlaskaIn Anchorage the original vision for ReclaimingFutures was to focus on youth at the front end ofthe system.We initially set unrealistic expectationsof how many youth we would serve, and howquickly.As we developed our vision, we narrowedour focus to those within the juvenile justice system, and then realized that a great deal of system change would be necessary to put thepieces in place to serve youth with our newapproach.Working together—juvenile justice professionals, judges, substance abuse treatmentproviders, and other community participants—we came to understand each others’ values andworked to find a common language to accomplishthe goal we all knew united us: helping Anchorageteens escape the cycle of drugs and crime.

Dayton, OhioInvolving our stakeholders in the development of our vision, mission, and approach proved to bevery valuable in Dayton.We convened our com-munity stakeholders—including youth, parents,natural helpers, elected officials, juvenile justice,treatment, youth serving agency professionals,along with our judges—in a one-day brainstorm-ing advance.We called it an “advance” rather than a “retreat” because we consider ourselvesadvancing strengths-based community solutionsfor juvenile justice youth who have substanceabuse problems. Members of our ReclaimingFutures executive committee and communityvolunteers facilitated it.

OUR VISION: Successful youth contributing to the positive well-being of their community.OUR MISSION: Creating positive futures withcourt-involved youth and their families bybuilding community solutions.

This mission statement was written on a large flip chart.At the end of the day everyonesigned the flip chart to indicate their agreementand pledged support.The approach we allagreed to was a seamless, integrated, collabora-tive effort involving the youth, parent, naturalhelper, and the juvenile justice and treatmentprofessionals in a Circle of Caring as equalpartners in service coordination.

3. INCLUDE PARTNERS, THE COMMUNITY,AND YOUTH.Start with organizations that directly affect the young people you serve and add others asneeded and identified.When building these collaborations, include diverse representationfrom within each organization and culturereflected in your community. In addition to thosewith decision-making authority in their agencies,line staff also needs to be represented. Buy-infrom line staff can make or break a system reformeffort. Inviting line staff input will strengthencommitments to change. Necessary people are:

• Probation officers—Chief of probation and probation line staff.

• Judges—In a system reform that involvesjuvenile justice or probation, it is essential that the judge be involved from the start and support the reform.

• Substance abuse treatment agencies—Include all that provide treatment to adolescentsor might be interested in doing so, because arange of alternatives is helpful. Specificallyinclude those individuals with the authority to affect community plans and funding.

• Community advocates—People who canbring resources together to provide jobs, intern-ships, recreational activities, and other nonsystemsupport and prosocial connections to the com-munity. (A list of prosocial activities from SantaCruz is included at the end of this report.)

• Youth and their families—They can providegreat insight. Some sites have had success withincorporating teens and parents in their teams.If you do involve youth and parents, make surethey are kept informed and receive assistancein understanding the system and its language.They may also need stipends or other financialhelp in order to attend meetings, especiallyduring work hours.

The Planning Phase2


Dayton, OhioIt is good to have youth, parents, communityadvocates, and faith leaders play a prominent role from the very beginning.They must beacknowledged and heard throughout the process.On-going efforts should be made to assure thatthey understand their roles, responsibilities, andsystems jargon as well as the system itself. Usingincentives such a gas allowance, meals, or child-care helped remove barriers to their participation.

Plus, there must be opportunities for the front-line justice and treatment professionals toparticipate in system change.We found that whenwe asked line staff opinions about system reform,they were delighted to be asked and had a lot of great ideas.

Chicago, IllinoisUnfortunately, there are areas without adequatetreatment services to meet the needs of youth andfamilies.To ensure that there is sufficient availabil-ity of adolescent-specific treatment, realignmentof funding may need to occur. System-wide collaboration is necessary to avoid duplication ofservices, influence funding, and develop creativesolutions (such as co-locating treatment servicesat existing community service agencies).

Marquette, MichiganPartners may come from a variety of sectorsincluding law enforcement, prosecuting anddefense attorneys, education, local and state gov-ernment, faith-based organizations and churches,media, and business. It is important to locate theagencies and coalitions that drive the local andstate funding streams, and form a relationship withthese potential partners by participating in theircoalitions and engaging them in your initiative.

Anchorage, AlaskaInternal communication is key to our success.Allowing line staff to contribute and lead theprocess, valuing their expertise and passion forthe youth we all serve is vital. Relationships cultivate the conversation.The trust that resultslays the foundation for true system change tooccur.We haven’t been as successful in growingour youth and parent voice, but as that voicestrengthens, it will be stronger because of whatwe have learned through developing our internalcollaborative relationships.

4. IDENTIFY A LEAD CHAMPION ANDSELECT A PROJECT DIRECTOR.Someone must be in charge if a systems changeinitiative is to succeed.This can be anyone fromthe above four groups. Judges often make power-ful champions.Also hire or identify a projectdirector. Instituting the changes required toimplement the Reclaiming Futures model will bea full-time job for several years.Without the full-time attention of a project director, the initiativewill lose focus and direction.Trying to imple-ment this initiative by adding the responsibilitiesto an existing staff position is not recommended.Some of the key roles and responsibilities of theproject director include:

• Lead the effort to create a seamless integratedcare system from a formerly fragmented andgap-ridden assortment of services.

• Create readiness and momentum to introduceevidence-based treatment approaches and othertreatment improvements in cross-organizationalsettings, in partnership with a diverse coalitionof community stakeholders.

• Monitor, identify, and act upon agency-basedor cross-agency communication challenges orconflicts that may impede the desired integra-tion of care.

• Convene, construct, and coordinate input toand activation of cross-agency and community-anchored strategic plans.

Both the lead champion and the project directorshould have a positive personality, always see theglass as half full, and should enjoy the respect oftheir peers.

Anchorage, AlaskaSystem change is a process.The judicial, justice,and treatment representatives remained constant,and this solid team and stability allowed our proj-ect to include three different community repre-sentatives and project directors at different phasesof the Reclaiming Futures process. Each broughtskills and abilities at the time they were engagedin the project.Anchorage has enjoyed the benefitof a strong executive committee that has beencommitted to the long-term process throughtheir work with the Juvenile Justice WorkingGroup, the group that originally gathered to

The Planning Phase2


submit the proposal to the Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation. However, we have also learned thatdifferent phases in project development requiredifferent skill sets. In the end full-time staff werenecessary to accomplish the binding together ofdifferent agency-driven visions.

New HampshireMany champions are necessary for an initiative tosucceed. Ideally, leaders and staff from across sys-tems and sectors must understand, advocate for,and support the project.Among these champions,and perhaps the most essential, is a committed,passionate, and goal-oriented project director.The skill set needed for this position may vary, butit should be founded on several key characteristicsand abilities.These include a mission-drivenvisionary, an effective manager of people andprocess, a skilled communicator, a motivator andrelationship builder, a respected and crediblespokesperson.The identification and selection ofsuch a person is a critical task early in the project’slife cycle. Seek the advice of other respected andknowledgeable leaders about who candidatesmight be, and from where (private, public, non-profit sectors?) they might come. Be selective! Of your advisors, solicit involvement in the inter-viewing and hiring process.As a result, their stakein the project’s successes and challenges may bestrengthened, as will the likelihood of a good hire.

5. DETERMINE HOW THE PROJECT WILL BE GOVERNED.Determine how decisions will be made and how the initiative will be governed.The impor-tance of shared leadership cannot be overstated.Develop and support a culture of shared decision-making so that when leadership changes occur,such as a judge’s rotation or a chief probationofficer’s replacement, the culture survives.If new leaders emerge, they must be tutoredquickly about how business is conducted.

Dayton, OhioChange is inevitable in a major systems reformproject like Reclaiming Futures. Either you manage change or it will manage you. In Dayton,we had many changes to respond to.The leadagency, the judicial and justice leadership, as well

as the project director all changed within one year. Everyone had to be orientated andmotivated quickly. Key to managing thesechanges for governance was having a set of community-developed and community-adoptedby-laws.They became the guidepost for newpeople.When you have change, you can’t wait for it to impact you—you must make it work for you.The project director, who is the changemanager, must be bold and passionate.

Santa Cruz, CaliforniaIn Santa Cruz, Reclaiming Futures was designedto address the need for community input, policydecision making, system change management,and focused committee work.Appropriate groups were formed. For example, besides themanagement team, the community partnersgroup provided input, a steering committee madepolicy decisions, and five to seven work groupsoperated at any given time, depending on theproject needs and goals. It was important to populate these groups appropriately and providea certain amount of overlap in their membershipto ensure continuity.

Anchorage, AlaskaFinding the right governance structure is a balance of personality and function.Anchoragehas tried many different governance structures—from a rather hands-off executive committee tothe direct management of key elements of thework by the project members.The most effectivegovernance has been in effect since February2006 and combines oversight by the memberswith clear direction provided to the projectdirector.This group reviews activities, highlightsareas of promise or concern, and generally pre-pares for the executive committee meetings byidentifying key actions to be accomplished by theexecutive committee and the project director.

6. COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE!Internal: Once the initiative begins, it can beeasy to overlook the need for frequent and unencumbered flow of information. Establishingquarterly training or information-sharing sessionslocated at a neutral site will bring everyone

The Planning Phase2


together on a regular basis and help keep subcommittees informed about one another’sactions. Feeding everyone helps. Be sure to celebrate successes! Cross-systems training isoften needed simply to share language and terminology from each system. Note also that,if you will be engaging youth and family at yourmeetings, you may need to develop a glossary of systems terminology. Interested program sitescan go to the Chestnut Website Research toolsand choose from the 24-page list of “AcronymsFound in Substance Abuse Treatment Research”to tailor a list for their own site. (Go towww.chestnut.org/LI/ and select Research Tools.)

External: Communicate the accomplishments of the initiative to the local community.This isessential to sustaining reforms. Stories about howthe reforms positively affected someone’s life go a long way toward building public and internalsupport. Keep the description of what you aretrying to accomplish as simple and consistent aspossible. Create an “elevator speech”—a minuteor less, 100 to 150 words of simply stated high-lights—that the general public can understandand employees and supporters can easily deliver.Use local professional public relations peoplewhenever possible to tell the story and elicitcommunity support. Identify the need in a com-passionate way and watch the community supportgrow.The current support for faith-based pro-grams can be utilized for work with these youth.

Santa Cruz, CaliforniaSanta Cruz used a steering committee as a venue for the Youth Involvement Work Group to present its findings on issues or to premiere audio documentaries.An audio documentary on intergenerational drug use told teens’ personalstories using a background of contemporarymusic. Another youth group reported on theircommunity scan of local substance abuse treatment providers.They conducted a survey of clients and staff about what an adolescentmight want to know about a treatment facility.Empowering youth to use multimedia enhancedtheir ability to communicate their insights andrecommendations creatively.

Anchorage, AlaskaAnchorage has learned to spend time on internal communications. Having a professionalcommunications consultant is an invaluable wayto communicate the need for system change andgarner support from people within the system.We are using our communications consultant toestablish and train a speaker’s bureau to take theReclaiming Future message to both internal andexternal audiences. It is important to note thatAnchorage feels strongly that youth in recoveryare vulnerable, and we all agree that relapse iscommon. Federal and state laws governing confi-dentiality hamper our efforts at communication.News media are reluctant to talk about our suc-cess unless they can talk with specific individuals.This made it difficult to engage media interestand resulted in few stories about our efforts.Toaddress this,Anchorage is developing a voluntaryassociation of parents and youth who have beenthrough the Reclaiming Futures process with thehope that these people will become leaders inour work and our community and, consequently,will feel more comfortable volunteering to sharetheir stories with the press.

Dayton, OhioThe way you communicate and to whom youcommunicate is just as important as how oftenyou communicate.The worst thing that can hap-pen in a system change effort is to have someonesay they didn’t understand or they didn’t knowwhat was going on.You have to keep people onthe same page and with the same understanding.That means various methods must be employedfor communications because of the diversity of the people involved in systems change and thecommunity in which the change must occur.Theproject director is key to unified communication.And by that, we mean communication that unifieseveryone’s awareness and support for the project’smission, approach, goals, objectives, and ultimatelyfor the services and opportunities that substance-using, juvenile justice youth need to be successful.

In Dayton, we used regular telephone contacts,emails, and monthly meetings of the ReclaimingFutures executive committee and subcommitteesto keep the leadership of the project informedand engaged.We distributed a monthly newslet-

The Planning Phase2


ter and held biannual coalitions meetings forcommunity stakeholders.We took advantage of print and electronic media opportunities byregular submission of newsworthy stories ornames for volunteer recognition.We also com-missioned a community survey of Dayton areacitizens’ attitudes concerning the treatment ofjuvenile offenders with chemical dependency.The local newspaper published a major newsarticle about the results.

Marquette, MichiganWhen it comes to meetings, we have plenty, butsome are more memorable and productive thanothers. Recently, Robert Brown, Michigan StateUniversity Office of Outreach and Engagement,spent an entire morning with a packed room ofleaders, practitioners, and administrators to helpus explore a framework for building a capablecommunity.A 10' x 6' sticky wall helped to dis-play our many community assets. Each table hadseveral placemats labeled “Idea Espresso DialogueCafé” and featuring graphics of coffee mugs andcoffee beans. During 15- to 20-minute brain-storming sessions, participants drank fresh-brewedcoffee topped with their choice of whippedcream or syrups and wrote their ideas on theirplacemats.We have found that the meeting loca-tion, table arrangement, snacks, and other incen-tives are important details to consider whenplanning meetings for large and small groups.

7. BEGIN TO WORK ON SUSTAINING YOURCHANGES FROM THE BEGINNING.Don’t wait until several years have gone by tobegin thinking and planning for sustainability.Keep in mind that sustainability includes morethan sustained funding. Mechanisms to ensurethat the adopted innovations stick must also be in place.They include but are not limited torevised job descriptions, indicators of perform-ance evaluation, and appropriate memoranda of understanding that make explicit the terms of agreement. Each site has to define its own performance goals, but they should relate tomeasuring progress in the core components of themodel. Data will be critical both for assuring thatappropriate work is occurring with each youthand for assessing the success of the overall project.

Anchorage, AlaskaA key to sustainability in Anchorage is theAnchorage Youth Development Coalition(AYDC) and the relationships that have beenestablished through the AYDC and our otheractivities. Because we have cultivated an attitudethat emphasizes sharing resources in our commu-nity through AYDC, we are able to identify thoseelements of our Reclaiming Futures efforts thatare essential to sustain. Further, we are able tointegrate these elements with the broader city-wide vision of the AYDC, and to seek fundingwith the support of a much greater number of entities than normally serve as our partners.The best part is that our efforts began part of a greater community value summed up as,“Youth are more important than roads.”

8. MEASURE YOUR RESULTS AND UTILIZEDATA FOR DECISIONSMeasure what now exists before implementingthe change so that you can observe and docu-ment a before-and-after picture.This will requirea data collection system that tracks what happenswith each teen and amasses aggregate data forevaluation. It is critical to identify the timeframes that occur between events. For example,How long does it take for a youth to move fromscreening to assessment? By identifying time frames for each step of the process, it is possibleto see how well the system works and whereyouth are falling through the cracks.

In the current 10 sites, this has been a consistent challenge to achieve. Most existingdata systems are not set up to identify gaps ordelays. Sometimes dates can be added to existingdata systems (this is the best solution), but usuallythat requires creating a separate system with new requirements for data entry (which is neverpopular). Evaluating the system and managing for results absolutely requires good data about the process, and work on the data collection system should begin as soon as possible.Thejuvenile justice systems in Lane County, Oregon,and Austin,Texas, have created data collectionsystems that work to manage the system change.Some sites—Marquette, Michigan, and NewHampshire—have worked to develop report cards that identify outcomes.

The Planning Phase2


The most important evaluation questionshould ask whether changes in the service delivery system create improvements in ways thatboth can be measured and will have a positiveimpact on people’s lives.

The following list of data elements provides a starting place to evaluate both system changeand behavioral change in youth.

1. Name (or some other identifier) 2. Age 3. Sex 4. Date of screening for substance abuse 5. Result of screening 6. Date of assessment for substance abuse 7. Result of assessment 8. Date of service coordination meeting

(which is defined by each site)9. List of services recommended 10. Date services were started 11. Dates services are provided 12. Date services are completed 13. Number of offenses prior to screening 14. Most serious offense prior to screening 15. Number of offenses at completion

of services (and at least a 3- and 6-month check)

16. Most serious offense at completion of services (and at least a 3- and 6-month check)

New HampshireAs demands for outcomes increase, our prepared-ness and foresight to collect, share, and utilizedata in decision-making are crucial.The goals,design, and key partners of your project willaffect how data can be maintained and dissemi-nated. Know what you need to measure, andthen consider what you want to measure.TheReclaiming Futures model clearly defines thestages through which a youth, family, treatmentteam, and others must collaborate.You will needto collect basic statistical information on eachstage from screening to completion. Having aspecific definition of what each stage of themodel means in your jurisdiction will help todirect what data should, and can, be collected.

Decide: Do you need or want to show demographic and collective data (e.g., average

age, how many enter and exit, how manyscreened and assessed, what services referred or provided to each, number of communityservice hours, etc.)? Do you need or want toshow key behavioral outcomes (e.g., number of days clean, number of treatment sessionsattended, improvements at school, prosocialengagement and duration, number of dayssober, changes in attitudes and perceptions).All of these data are both important and interesting.

Just as important are the capacities to collect,compile, analyze, share, and disseminate thisinformation. Managing this will require inputand planning from top-level administrators inthe courts, juvenile justice, treatment agenciesand providers, schools, and community pro-grams and organizations. Selecting an identifiedperson within the project (ideally paid staffand, therefore, accountable), and securing acompetent independent evaluator, are criticalto success. Ensure that course corrections and adaptations in processes or policies aredata-driven.A data management system should improve efficiency, be user-friendly,be appropriately accessible, provide valuablereports easily, and be coupled with ongoingtraining and technical assistance for its users.

The Planning Phase2

SECTION THREE:

The Action PhaseMaking the System Change

The Reclaiming Futures model can be imple-mented in two ways: Implement all six elementsat once, or adopt the model in smaller, moremanageable segments.

Although the second option may at first appear more practical, in practice the 10Reclaiming Futures sites found that it makesmore sense to adopt the more comprehensiveapproach.This is because it can be confusing to treat some teens as Reclaiming Futures youth,while others follow another path. Sites also found it more logical and desirable to make the Reclaiming Futures model apply to all theyouth in the juvenile justice system.

If a jurisdiction feels it is more reasonable to start small, here are three approaches to incremental implementation:

1. Implement the entire Reclaiming Futuresmodel, but on a limited, targeted population.This group might be made up of first offenders, or second offenders, or youth at high risk of re-offending, or youth at high risk of institutionalization.

2. Implement one or two elements of the model on the entire population.Those couldinclude using a screening tool, confirmingthat youth referred to treatment do indeedstart services, or finding jobs, internships, orother prosocial opportunities.

3. Limit full model implementation to a select geographical region to demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach. Choose an area in which both treatment resources and community support are available.

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1. INITIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE SCREENING—Screen for possible substance abuse problemsusing a reliable tool. (A list of screening andassessment tools is included at the end ofthis report.)• The first issue to decide is which teen receives

the screening. Most sites have moved to a processin which every young person is asked questionsabout their use of illegal substances. Many alsoask questions about mental health issues, sincedepression and other mental health issues areoften co-occurring with substance abuse.

• Some jurisdictions use specific substance abusescreening tools such as CRAFFT, GAINQuick (Global Appraisal of Individual Needs),and MAYSI-2 (Massachusetts Youth ScreeningInstrument,Version 2). Other jurisdictionsinclude substance abuse questions as part of an instrument that evaluates risk to re-offend.

• Screening must be done early in the process.Sometimes juvenile justice intake staff doesthis; often substance abuse treatment providersare given space at the juvenile justice center to conduct the screening.

• Juvenile court staff need to use the screeningresults to assess the severity of the problem andto make appropriate referrals to communityresources.

• A jurisdiction instituting the ReclaimingFutures model should evaluate available toolsand select one that has been tested for reliability and validity.

• Defense attorneys may object to any question-ing of their clients before a court plea. Manystate laws allow juvenile justice personnel toprovide an assessment to the court to help withdecisions regarding detention or sentencing.

• Some jurisdictions use the screening tool withminor offenders as a way to notify parents that

their child may need assessment and treatment,but are careful to do so in a way that will not increase the youth’s involvement in thejuvenile justice system.

2. INITIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSEASSESSMENT—Measure the severity of the problem, and identify the strengths andresources the teen and families have to overcome their problem.• Assessments may be done either within the

juvenile justice system by juvenile justice staffor by contracted specialists, or at a communitytreatment agency. Regardless of where theassessment takes place, it is critical that the staff performing the assessment have therequired training and background to conductthe assessment.

• Getting youth to the assessment can be a problem. It is generally more effective to havethe assessment conducted at the juvenile justiceagency as soon as possible after the screening,and ideally, this should occur within a fewminutes after the screening.

• Having a data management system to confirmthat screenings and assessments are occurring is an important part of evaluating the systemand of case management.

• The GAIN is the most comprehensive toolavailable, effective for both screening andassessment of both mental health and substanceabuse problems in adolescents. It is very wellresearched and extensively tested, and it is the instrument required for obtaining federalfunds from the Center for Substance Abuseand Treatment. Other valid and reliable assess-ment tools exist as well.The instruments usedby each Reclaiming Futures site are listed atthe end of this report.


SECTION FOUR:

Implementing the Reclaiming Futures Model

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• Site project directors should understand theimportance of the GAIN and the requirementsfor its successful use. Implementing a compre-hensive instrument like the GAIN takes significant staff training, funding, and qualityassurance. It is not a simple task. Many of the10 RF sites attempted to use the GAIN, andmany experienced difficulties in its universaland complete implementation.

• Most instruments focus on the deficits of a youth and family. It is important to also assess strengths that can be utilized to help the youth and family succeed.The YouthCompetency Assessment (YCA) is one tooldeveloped for youth in the juvenile justice system. (The YCA Trainers’ Guide is available at www.npcresearch.com, select Publications &Resources, then Materials.)

Seattle, WashingtonThe GAIN is a complicated assessment instru-ment, and its implementation was a difficult andlong process. It began with a very collaborativesubcommittee made up primarily of treatmentprofessionals.We staffed this subcommittee with a vice president from a youth-serving agency,who served as the chair.When we began no onewanted a standardized assessment.The first personwe sent to training was a probation officer; thiswas the loudest person and the most skeptical,but she also had the most influence on others.When she came back from the training and was sold on GAIN, others came on board.Thistook 12 to 18 months. It was determined thatthe GAIN needed to be placed in the KingCounty treatment programs, so then others hadto get training, which cost a lot of money. In the end, we had to pay for a full-time person to support the GAIN and provide money for a full-time information systems person to be able to respond to providers’ software needs.The technology fears were one of the hardestbarriers to overcome with many of the providers,so the administration and training support alongwith technical support was critical to the successof its implementation.The providers can now be supported and learn as they go.The GAIN has now been implemented countywide.

Portland, OregonWhat helped us implement the GAIN was thatwe had a clinician who was also a manager tochampion the effort.The manager had an interestand belief in the tool and could talk to cliniciansabout it in a way that made sense to them.Thetool was developed by researchers, so someoneneeded to be able to translate its value for clini-cians. He also had the administrative authority to make it happen.Another fortunate coinci-dence was the timing, which allowed us to hirenew clinicians who had no prior experiencewith assessments, and so had no investment in the old way of doing them.

3. SERVICE COORDINATION—Develop a plan,assign responsibility, assure implementation.• The Reclaiming Futures model has several

elements of service coordination and case management:- Substance abuse treatment for adolescents

that is based on researched evidence of effectiveness.

- Mobilizing community resources to matchthe needs and strengths of youth and theirfamilies.This includes using assessment datain a timely way.

- Positive prosocial activities and support fromnatural helpers or mentors.

• The use of coordinating teams is time intensiveand is not required for every teen so long as someone is identified to coordinate the services and assure accountability to the plan.

• Make sure one person is responsible for eachcase plan. Often this is the probation officer.

• It is helpful to establish and have someonemonitor minimum standards for all elements of the service plans developed in the servicecoordination stage.

Anchorage, AlaskaAs part of our initial assessment process, we iden-tified through a long process those six elementsthat really appear to be the core elements of ayouth served through Reclaiming Futures.Theseelements are: (1) an individualized service plan;(2) formalized case management; (3) increasedcourt review; (4) periodic treatment team meet-ings; (5) prosocial opportunities and natural

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helpers; and (6) youth participating in specificevidence-based practices or programs.We havedeveloped a way to incorporate these data pointsinto a broader web-based tracking, communica-tion, and data system, which will further enhanceour ability to track our successes, modify ourassessment and other processes, and ensure thatwe are actually seeing meaningful change inReclaiming Futures youth.

Santa Cruz, CaliforniaWraparound is a process that involves youth andfamilies in the design and delivery of services thatbest meet the needs identified by the family.Ahigh degree of care is taken to ensure that theseservices are: inclusive, family driven, culturallycompetent, delivered (whether in the communityor in the family home), offer nontraditionalmethods (such as natural helping), and respectfulof the family’s values and level of functioning.Two important tenants of Wraparound are:(1) We stick with a family through time andtrouble. (2) From the family’s perspective,“No meetings are held about us, without us.”

Portland, OregonOur youth of color who are at high risk to re-offend are provided with a multidisciplinaryteam process called Communities of Color.A lead community-based agency, SelfEnhancement Inc. (SEI) or Latino Network,oversees the process, bringing the right people to the table; the juvenile probation officer, theyouth, and (usually) a family member attend an initial case planning meeting. Other systempartners can include representatives from alcoholand other drug treatment, mental health, OregonYouth Authority, Department of Human Services(foster care), youth employment services, schools,the case manager, and mentors. Most of the partners provide access to needed resources (such as connection to assessments, advocacy with a school, and so forth).The case managerwill meet with the family throughout the youth’s probation, develop connections to posi-tive activities, and troubleshoot as needed (takethe teen to lunch, get groceries for a destitutefamily, among other activities) The probationofficer executes the plan in concert with the

youth’s Communities of Color case manager andother professionals as needed; progress reviews areheld at intervals of several months and as needed.

Marquette, MichiganThe supports on a care and coordinating teamare ideally those people who are naturallyinvolved in the youth’s life—a teacher, coach,priest or minister, employer, neighbor, friend,relative—people who will continue to remaininvolved and provide support once a youth com-pletes his or her probation and treatment goals.

Southeastern KentuckyThe State Interagency Council (SIAC) hasapproved a one-page, multiple-agency release of information form for the Kentucky IMPACTprogram (serving youth with severe emotionaldisabilities).This release was adopted byReclaiming Futures and is used to allow intragency involvement in the referral processand service team planning.When it comes tosharing data, the necessary policy or proceduralchanges need to be described, defined, and supported by agencies at the state level. Localparticipants, by and large, understand and desirethe kind of changes described by the model.Because of HIPAA, other regulatory interpreta-tions, and changes in the leadership positions,the local staff are reluctant to go out on a limb without written procedures.

Portland, OregonOur juvenile department didn’t have the authori-ty to require treatment providers to share infor-mation because they contracted with a differentcounty department.We had to convince themthat it was a good thing to do, but we couldn’trequire them to participate.The model helpedshow them how little we knew about how kidswere doing in the system. But it will be necessaryto go back to them and share the data we’ve collected, so they remain invested.

The Sovereign Tribal Nation of SicanguLakota, Rosebud, South DakotaThis is our crowning jewel.We have a wonderfulteam that gathers weekly before they see theyouth. Sixteen people from treatment, court,juvenile detention, transitional living, tribal


Implementing the Reclaiming Futures Model4



education, and other areas come together toreview the progress of the child.We share clientissues and progress and can hold each otheraccountable.About six months ago, one personsuggested that we invite an adolescent to tell uswhat might work.That person came with hiscounselor and gave his thoughts on the process.We listened and then together crafted an individ-ual contract for him. He successfully completed it and graduated. Since then at least one caregiveror youth comes to the meeting and providestheir feedback on this process. Sometimes wehave to explain the severity of the situation theirchildren are in, but other times parents and youthshed light on the issues they are facing in termsof housing, gangs, and so on. In addition, whenwe work as a team, we can see gaps in the systemand work to close them.This weekly team meet-ing is sustainable after grant funding terminates.

Dayton, OhioService plan coordination for juvenile justiceyouth in Dayton is achieved through an integrat-ed collaborative group called the Circle ofCaring. Led by the probation officer, the circleincludes the youth and the parent as true partnerswith the probation officer, treatment counselors,and the volunteer natural helper in developing,coordinating, and monitoring an individualizedsuccess plan. Executing a release of informationfacilitates information sharing among parties.

4. INITIATION—Begin the service plan.• Many young people are lost in the system at

this point. Services are identified, but the teenand family never initiate the contacts.

• Special assistance is often needed to assure thatinitiation actually occurs.This may includeassistance in transportation, reminder phonecalls, and the provision of incentives.

Portland, OregonThe family advocacy coordinator associated withour Felony Drug Diversion Program assists thejuvenile probation officer in making sure youthand families do initiate service.The family advo-cate solves whatever logistical problems arise,such as transportation barriers and insurance.

Our treatment expediter does similar kindsof troubleshooting, primarily around identifyingyouth and family insurance and expediting theyouth’s initiation of treatment. One differencebetween her position and the family advocate is that she is available for all youth on probation,rather than just the Felony Drug DiversionProgram. She also has quality assurance dutiesthat track youth initiation, engagement, and completion, which is one way to address ourservice coordination.

Marquette, MichiganOften times, youth are involved in multiple systems including child welfare, community mental health, or special education.Typically eachof these systems has agency-specific service plans.Care coordinators should do their best to makecertain that goals, objectives and community-based referrals and supports resonate similarlyacross these systems.

5. ENGAGEMENT—Actively utilize services.• Engagement should be defined and tracked for

each individual component of the service plan.• No-shows need to be communicated to

juvenile justice promptly. Use of email may be the most effective method for quick communication.

• Both treatment engagement and other caseplan elements need to be tracked (prosocialactivities, mentoring, school attendance, etc).

• Be sure to support the positive behaviors andactivities the youth had in their life beforeentering this initiative.

• The encouragement of the judge can con-tribute greatly to the youth being engaged inprosocial activities.

Anchorage, AlaskaAnchorage has been facilitating the AnchorageMentoring Alliance, a group of mentoring agencies and programs that provide mentoringresources to Anchorage youth. Developing the capacity of the existing mentoring agenciesand programs is a long-term and sustainable goal for the Anchorage community and serves as a model for resource sharing. Further, byactively working through regular solicitation

4

of community support, public outreach and presentations, and through other activities,Anchorage has begun to receive support in the form of in-kind services, places of employ-ment willing to open their doors to youth andcoordination of youth job opportunities.Theseelements are tracked as one of our essential components of Reclaiming Futures.

The Sovereign Tribal Nation of SicanguLakota, Rosebud, South DakotaUtilizing mentors and natural helpers is difficulthere.Transportation and the cost of federal back-ground checks are major barriers.To get aroundthis and make the mentor effort sustainable,we have identified community elders and rolemodels of all ages who are willing to come on a Thursday during Wellness Court and sharesomething with our youth. Generally they workin a tribal program, own a business, are knowl-edgeable about Lakota culture, or have a particu-lar skill to share.The youth also learn about the life challenges they face and how they cope.It’s not individual mentoring, but it expands their social network and gives youth positiveexamples from their community.

Portland, OregonFor prosocial activities in particular, we’ve builtnew partnerships for our youth: for example,Big Brothers/Big Sisters, community organiza-tions like Friendly House, music organizationslike Ethos, and fitness organizations like StreetYoga.Another partner,Write Around Portland,encourages self-expression through writing in10-week workshops held at a local alternativehigh school and at treatment programs like thesecure Residential Alcohol and Drug (RAD)unit. Participation in the workshops is highly valued by youth.

Chicago, IllinoisIn response to preliminary evaluation dataregarding engagement success, our core treatmentpartner in our pilot area implemented home vis-its to ensure the completion of assessments andimprove treatment engagement and attendance.The home visits were done in combination withprobation visits to maintain service continuity.

Marquette, MichiganMany jurisdictions use graduated responsesincluding incentives, rewards, sanctions, and logical natural consequences to encourage positive behavior and choices as part of the caseplan. Positive changes in the adolescent’s func-tioning, however small, need to be recognized by the care team as quickly as possible andrewarded tangibly or intangibly or both.

Seattle, WashingtonWe had to learn how to engage the community.This was helped through the mentor program,which also allows mentors to affect the way business is done in the court.When the requestfor proposals for a mentor coordinator went out(a $50,000 annual investment), it went to bothtreatment agencies and faith-based organizations.Only one group applied, a faith-based coalition.The original mentor coordinator, MichaelJackson, is a local football star and helped develop a base of men to serve as mentors.Wehave 30 mentors, which is really all that a single coordinator can manage.This partnership hasbeen an essential avenue into the community.

Portland, OregonIt is difficult to distinguish between court-ordered community service and general positiveconnections to the community.We’ve had troubleexplaining to the probation officers our desire to provide these kids with some fun and withconnections to the community that aren’t court-ordered.We’ve also had issues identifying options,dealing with liability concerns, and getting thekids actually to show up.Transportation, clothes,and general lack of motivation the day of theevent are also factors.This takes more energy for a probation officer than can be sustained over time. It requires reminder calls and literallyshowing up at the youth’s doorstep the day ofthe activity. Nonetheless, we’ve managed to do a couple of things:

1. Wrap this around a treatment program,so this responsibility doesn’t have to fall on the probation officer.

2. Bring services to the youth, as with our 10-week Write Around Portland classes in





a secure residential treatment program and in a local alternative high school, or with yoga classes in a treatment program.

Dayton, OhioMobilizing community volunteers to enable juvenile justice youth to be engaged in positiveactivities was a key element of Dayton’sReclaiming Futures program.We developed anatural helpers program. Natural helpers are car-ing individuals who provide support and encour-agement to youth and families and who mayconnect them with opportunities and services tobring about positive life changes.Volunteers arerecruited, screened, trained, and supported in amatch with a youth and their family.

Volunteers are recruited through professional,civic, and faith organizations as well as from thecommunity at large through speaking engage-ments and written appeals.They are also recruit-ed by the word-of-mouth of individuals whohave enjoyed and seen the fruit of their naturalhelping experience.

The judges and the Reclaiming Futures execu-tive committee decided the faith communitywould and should be a best source for naturalhelpers.The Reclaiming Futures leadershipthought, and it turned out to be true, that a faithleader reaching out to people of faith was thebest method to recruit natural helpers.A faith-based outreach champion was recruited to spear-head the effort.The champion set up acommittee that developed a faith-based outreachplan.The plan included targeting faith-basedorganizations geographically based on the sourceof youth referrals coming into the court system.This approach is in keeping with our value thateveryone shares responsibility for youth successand strong families. In addition, it dispelled themyth that juvenile crime is an inner-city prob-lem. Many of the suburban faith and communityleaders responded positively to get involved.

6. COMPLETION—The end of formal services.• Services can be gradually withdrawn as the

youth achieves greater success and becomesmore integrated into positive community life.

• Completion of juvenile court jurisdiction and treatment agency involvement may occurat different times with different adolescents.

• Some community support and certainly prosocial activities will be ongoing and never “completed.”

The Sovereign Tribal Nation of SicanguLakota, Rosebud, South DakotaWhen youth complete their Wellness Court plan or individual plan, they write a letter topetition to graduate.The Wellness Court meetsevery Thursday and starts with a prayer and aLakota honoring song, and then someone willgive a talk of encouragement. Each graduate isthen wrapped in a star quilt or Pendleton blan-ket, which is theirs to keep. Everyone congratu-lates the graduates with a handshake and a hug,and all share a group meal. It is not only a celebration for the youth and families but also for the community.After the youth completes aftercare and court jurisdiction, they are giventhe opportunity physically to burn their records.

Portland, OregonJuvenile and court staff will sometimes disagreewith treatment providers about what constitutescompletion in treatment. It’s inherently confus-ing, because the process of overcoming addictionis not absolute, but characterized by stops andstarts.We do have and use guidelines—probationexpects payment of 100 percent restitution (bystate law) and a percentage of case plan goals;treatment providers (also by statute) expect two-thirds completion of case plan goals and cleanurine analysis for 30 days.

However, probation and treatment are foundedon different philosophies, and the implications ofthis can lead to frustration among system partners.For this reason, it’s critical for both partners toacknowledge (and remind staff in subsequent train-ings) that their philosophies are different, and toemphasize common ground and regular communi-cation in the handling of cases. In general, proba-tion and court staff, charged with enforcing thelaw and keeping the community safe, will want a clear-cut result—either the youth is clean andsober, or he isn’t.Treatment staff, more familiarwith the vagaries of addiction, often subscribe to a harm-reduction model, in which documenting a youth’s substantial progress (cutting back on use,or switching to less harmful substances) towardsobriety is sufficient in some circumstances.

4

Chicago, IllinoisWe use the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’sPaths to Recovery definition for engagement:youth who have completed two appointmentsbeyond assessment are considered to be engagedin treatment.Treatment completion is deter-mined on a case-by-case basis. Factors consideredin determining successful completion includereduction in usage and improvement in lifedomains as measured through reassessment. Someyouth may remain on probation after treatment is completed with the goal of strengthening connections to existing community supports.Based on requests from youth, treatment alumnigroups have also been offered to further ensuregoal maintenance.


MARQUETTE, MICHIGAN—An adolescent’s description of completion

Reclaiming Futures’ Project WEAVE has had

a huge impact on my life over the past five

years. From the beginning, I was always inter-

ested in participating in the youth advisory

committee, but where I stood in my life at

the time and where I am now, a youth advisor,

I had no idea how much of an impact it would

have on me, let alone what we have done

for the community. When I first star ted the

Youth Advocacy Committee (YAC) as a youth

member, I was still going through substance

abuse and mental health treatment, still

on probation, and still living in foster care.

Just being involved with Project WEAVE has

brought me so far in my life.

The YAC is comprised of teenagers with

juvenile justice and substance rehabilitation

experience. Learning how to help others

like myself, and wanting to be sure our

voices were being heard, pulled me fur ther

and fur ther down the road in life to where

I stand today. I feel that if we keep joining

together as a community and caring about

our family and friends, we will accomplish

our goal of increasing public awareness of

the effects of substance abuse and promoting

healthy prosocial activities for positive

youth development.

The YAC was successful in securing over

$15,000 in grant funding over five years.

Projects focused on creating awareness

about teen substance use and abuse through

billboards, cinema advertising, public service

announcements, a traveling banner, and

teen-oriented activities.

—Amber Dollar served as a member of the

Youth Advisory Committee for four years.

She completed her terms of probation and

substance abuse treatment. She now

serves as the youth advisor.



Appendix

Anchorage, Alaska

Tom Begich

Phone: 907.440.8523

Email: [email protected]

Chicago, Illinois

Rose Golden

Phone: 312.433.6527


Dayton, Ohio

Charlotte D. McGuire

Phone: 937.496.6737


Marquette, Michigan

Liz Smith

Phone: 906.225.0224


Portland, Oregon

Benjamin S. Chambers

Phone: 503.725.8955


The Sovereign Tribal Nation of SicanguLakota, Rosebud, South DakotaMarlies White Hat

Phone: 605.856.8203


Santa Cruz, California

Yolanda Perez-Logan

Phone: 831.454.3845


Seattle, Washington

Margaret Soukup

Phone: 206.263.8958


Southeastern Kentucky

Michelle Kilgore

Phone: 606.436.5761


New Hampshire

Ray Goodman

Phone: 603.658.2770


PROJECT DIRECTOR FELLOWSHIP, CONTACT INFORMATIONOur project directors have experience in all aspects of this document and beyond.

Feel free to use the information provided to contact them and learn more about their experience.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONThe judges from the 10 Reclaiming Futures sites

have written a National Fellowship Repor t, A Model

for Judicial Leadership: Community Responses to

Juvenile Substance Abuse, describing the impor-

tance of the initiative and the role of the judges

in beginning and implementing the program.

It is available at www.reclaimingfutures.org, select

Resources, then Our Publications.

Other Reclaiming Futures fellowship repor ts

available on the web site include:

• Improved Care for Teens in Trouble with Drugs,

Alcohol, and Crime: Reclaiming Futures Treatment

Providers Advocate for Change is a step-by-step

guide to developing collaborative strategies for

individual treatment providers and agencies.

• Juvenile Probation Officers Call for a New

Response to Teen Drug and Alcohol Use and

Dependency shares lessons and recommendations

from the process of changing systems to address

more effectively teen alcohol and drug use and

related crime.

• Moving Toward Equal Ground: Engaging the

Capacity of Youth, Families, and Communities

to Improve Treatment Services and Outcomes in

the Juvenile Justice System makes the case for

involving families and community members as

essential in the juvenile justice system through

the Reclaiming Futures model.

Additional material about the elements of Reclaiming

Futures, including the National Program Repor t,

The Reclaiming Futures Initiative: Improving

Substance Abuse Interventions for Justice-Involved

Youth, is also available.

Appendix


Appendix

RECLAIMING FUTURES SCREENING AND ASSESSMENT TOOLS

SITE

ANCHORAGE, AK

CHICAGO, IL

DAYTON, OH

SOUTHEAST

KENTUCKY

MARQUETTE, MI

NEW HAMPSHIRE

PORTLAND, OR

ROSEBUD, SD

SANTA CRUZ, CA

SEATTLE, WA

SCREENING TOOLS

• CRAFFT

• Alaska Screening Tool

• GAIN Q

• MAYSI-2

• CRAFFT

• Behavioral HealthScreen

• CRAFFT

• GAIN Q

• MAYSI-2

• CAFAS

• GAIN SS

• Oregon Juvenile Crime Prevention

• GAIN Q

• CRAFFT

• GAIN SS

• Washington State Risk Assessment Pre-Screen

• CRAFFT

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

• Personal ExperienceInventory

• Bio-psycho-social

• GAIN I

• YASI

• Solutions for OhioQuality Improvementand Compliance (state requirement)

• YCA

• Bio-psycho-social

• T-ASI

• Anishnabek CulturalAssessment

• GAIN I

• GAIN I

• ASI-Accucare• SASSI

• Beck Depression Scale

• GAIN I

• Washington State Risk Assessment (long form)

• Drug Grid• Clinical Psycho Social

Assessment

ADMINISTERED BY

• CRAFFT Screening: Juvenile justice staff• Alaska Screening Tool: Treatment

providers• Assessment: Treatment providers

• Screening: Juvenile justice staff• Assessment: Treatment providers• Risk Assessment: Juvenile justice staff

• Screening: Juvenile justice staff• Assessment: Treatment providers

• Screening: Courts and treatment providers• Assessment: Juvenile justice staff,

treatment providers

• MAYSI-2: Juvenile justice staff• CAFAS, T-ASI: Treatment providers

• Screening: Juvenile justice staff• Assessment: Treatment providers

• Screening: Juvenile justice staff• Assessment: Juvenile justice clinicians,

treatment providers

• Screening: Court staff• Assessment: Treatment providers

• Screening (all): Juvenile justice staff• GAIN I: Treatment providers• Washington (long form): Probation

• Screening: Juvenile justice staff, mental health staff

• Assessment: Mental health staff


skateboard

ride a hot air balloon

star t a journal

go to the Boardwalk

go out to eat

attend a car show

go to an air show

sunbathe

go to the movies

box

watch airplanes

play ping pong

rent a movie

play pool

visit caves

make or decorate pottery

walk around the mall

go bungee jumping

write a story

go to car races

watch TV

take flying lessons

ride the bus around

go to the driving range

watch the news

talk on the phone

learn about computers

lift weights

go to a zoo

sing

scuba dive

go to a coffee house

do aerobics

go to a museum

play soccer

ride go car ts

ride a motorcycle

play a board game

do gymnastics

play baseball

make a pizza

play a musical instrument

make stained glass

jog

go to a concer t

collect baseball cards

try karate classes

go to Great America

learn to cook

write a song

try paintball

ride a bike

go kayaking

go sur fing

go rock climbing

join a youth group

write a letter

get a makeover

get ice cream

play roller hockey

read a book

do your nails

go roller-blading

barbeque

find a hobby

look at the stars

play racquetball

go on a picnic

go skiing

play tennis

go horseback riding

play volleyball

visit grandparents

swing on the swingset

go to Raging Waters

play miniature golf

go to the library

pick flowers

take a nap

walk

mow the lawn

put up new posters

star t a collection

listen to music

learn something new

help clean the house

get a haircut

go to a spor ting event

draw

learn to take pictures

go boating

paint a picture

make a scrapbook

try jet skiing

play football

read a newspaper

organize your closet

exercise

skydive

rearrange your room

make candles

run an errand for someone

play softball

get a job

try new foods

play cards

help a neighbor

go dancing

write rap music

attend a play

bathe a pet

tr y a new dance

take a class

be in a play

learn archery

go fishing

play basketball

travel

play golf

take an ar t class

join a spor ts team

go camping

plant flowers

go to batting cages

play laser tag

bowl

paint your room

go to a carnival

study for your driving test

work at a craft

go to the aquarium

swim

walk the dog

play a video game

use a computer

go to a teen center

go to the park

wash the car

do yoga

skim board

walk on the beach

go crab fishing

play fuz ball

make smoothies

volunteer for a beach

clean-up

make popcorn

hike in the redwoods

play frisbee

learn to make jewelry

visit the tide pools

make a sandcastle

take a video class

make a video

write a poem

learn to meditate

give yourself a facial

take a hot bath

do crossword puzzles

learn kick boxing

download music

visit water falls

get a library card

do homework

go to AA/NA meeting

go to Mystery Spot

What else can I do?

PROSOCIAL ACTIVITIES FROM RECLAIMING FUTURES, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 2006.

RECLAIMING FUTURES: How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime i i

Portland State University serves

as a center of opportunity for

over 25,000 undergraduate and

graduate students. Located in

Portland, Oregon, one of the

nation’s most livable cities, the

University’s innovative approach

to education combines academic

rigor in the classroom with

field-based experiences through

internships and classroom proj-

ects with community partners.

PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

P.O. Box 751

Portland, OR 97207-0751

www.pdx.edu

Reclaiming Futures is a new approach to helping teenagers caught

in the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime. A national program of

the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Reclaiming Futures is

housed in the Regional Research Institute for Human Services

of the School of Social Work at Portland State University.

RECLAIMING FUTURES

School of Social Work

Portland State University

P.O. Box 751

Portland, OR 97207-0751

tel: (503)725.8911

www.reclaimingfutures.org

The Robert Wood Johnson

Foundation is devoted exclusively

to improving the health and

health care of all Americans.

Helping people lead healthier

lives and get the care they

need—we expect to make a

difference in your lifetime.

ROBERT WOOD

JOHNSON FOUNDATION

Route 1 and College Road East

P.O. Box 2316

Princeton, NJ 08543-2316

tel: (877)843.RWJF (7953)

www.rwjf.org

The Urban Institute is a non-

partisan, nonprofit economic

and social policy research

organization. To promote sound

social policy and public debate

on national priorities, the Urban

Institute gathers and analyzes

data, conducts policy research,

evaluates programs and ser-

vices, and educates Americans

on critical issues and trends.

THE URBAN INSTITUTE

2100 M Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20037

tel: (202)833.7200

www.urban.org

Chapin Hall Center for Children

at the University of Chicago is

a nonpartisan policy research

center dedicated to bringing

rigorous research and innova-

tive ideas to policymakers,

service providers, and funders

working to improve the

well-being of children.

CHAPIN HALL CENTER

FOR CHILDREN

University of Chicago

1313 East 60th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

tel: (773)753.5900

www.chapinhall.org

a reclaiming futures national fellowship ......section 1: introduction… 1an untreated problem… 1...

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