Changing the Status Quo for Status Offenders: New York State’s Efforts to Help Troubled Teens

Michael Lens, Vera Institute of Justice

Annie Salsich, Vera Institute of Justice

Mary Winter, Onondaga County Probation

June 10, 2007

NYS Status Offenders Defined

Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS):• Truancy• Running away• Ungovernability

History of PINS Assistance Project: Vera State-wide PINS Report

Changing the PINS System in New York: A Study of the Implications of Raising the Age

Limit for Persons in Need of Supervision

By Jesse Souweine and Ajay KhashuVera Institute of Justice

September, 2001

Findings of Vera’s PINS Report

• New York State expected to experience up to a 100% increase in new PINS intakes under current system;

• Projected costs of $29 million for increased use of detention and placement.

New York State PINS Assistance

• Prompted by:-New PINS Legislation-Vera State-wide PINS Report

• OCFS contracted with Vera to help the state and its counties prepare for the influx of youth entering the system under the new law.

New York State PINS Assistance

New York State PINS Reforms

Two Central Trends:

• Front end – Strategies to improve intake and diversion;

• Back end – Development of community-based alternatives to detention and placement.

Front End Reforms: Intake and Diversion

Issues:

• Lack of immediate crisis response (delay in services)

• High number of court referrals- Immediately- Upon termination of diversion services

• High use of non-secure detention and placement

Front End Reforms: Orange County

POINT OF

ENTRYFAMILY KEYS

FOLLOW-UPSERVICES

NETWORK INTERVENTION

INTENSIVE SERVICES

FAMILY COURT

HOSPITALEVALUATION

ACCESS TO CLINICAL APPOINTMENT WITHIN

5

DAYS

REFERRALTO PROBATION

DEPARTMENT

MENTAL HEALTH

Back End Reforms:Alternatives to Detention & Placement

Issues:

• Cost

• Overcrowding

• Poor outcomes

• Focus on keeping youth and families together – at home and in the community

Back End Reforms:Albany County

Juvenile Release Under Supervision:

• DSS funded

• Daily contact with youth

• Service referrals

• PINS and JDs

• Reduction in non-secure detention costs

New York City Reforms and Vera Research

New York City’s Family Assessment Program (FAP)

• December 2002 in Manhattan, rolled out in other boroughs over 2 years

• Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) point of entry- Used to be Department of Probation

• Immediate response- Diversion from court

- Families must exhaust all services to PINS petition court access

Vera’s Research on FAP

• 2002: Study on the PINS system in New York City- Helps lead to development of FAP

• 2005: Implementation study of the FAP program

• 2005: PINS remand study

• 2007: FAP tracking study

2005: PINS Remand Study

• Goals:- Identify the PINS cases that resulted in

remands- Identify the demographic and systemic

factors associated with being remanded as a PINS case

• Pathways of a PINS case:- Intake to FAP office

Subset go on to Probation department Subset go on to Court

• Subset are remanded by Court

Total Remands per Year

518

713

709

607

468*

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

*2005 is a projection based on first 8 months.

Remands per Day Pre- and Post-FAP

0.08

0.25

0.13

0.45

0.45

0.15

0.29

0.1

0.66

0.61

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Staten Island*

Queens

Manhattan

Bronx***

Brooklyn***

Pre-FAPPost-FAP

***Difference is statistically significant at the p<.01 level.*Difference is statistically significant at the p<.10 level.

Monthly Indicators Pre- and Post-FAP

• First six months of 2002 (last pre-FAP period):- Probation Intakes = 587/month- Court Referrals = 187/month- Remands = 56/month

• First six months of 2005 (first post-FAP period):- Probation Intakes = 112/month (81% decline)- Court referrals = 93/month (50% decline)- Remands = 41/month (27% decline)

• Probation intake, court referral and remand decreases statistically significant

Post-FAP Remands by Race

According to the 2000 Census, New York City’s population under 18 was 31% White, 29% Black, and 28% Hispanic.

White1%

Black63%

Other4%

Hispanic32%

N=497Missing=16

Pre- and Post-FAP Remands by Gender

Post-FAP

Female69%

Male31%

Pre-FAP

Female59%

Male41%

Pre- and Post-FAP Remands by Runaway Allegation

Post-FAP

No20%

Yes80%

Pre-FAP

No58%

Yes42%

Additional Research

• 2007: FAP Tracking Study: Tracked 100 families and followed up at 3 months after FAP intake- Findings: Improvement on mental health indicators and

family functioning

• 2007: PINS/JD study- Quantitative inquiry to the pathways and characteristics of

court-involved PINS and JDs; and overlap of the PINS and JD populations

- Qualitative inquiry on services provided and organizational structure of ACS interventions for court-involved PINS and JDs

• Randomized control trial of Adolescent Portable Therapy’s (APT) work with PINS- APT - Vera demonstration project providing mental health

and substance use treatment to JDs and now PINS

Onondaga County Reforms

Onondaga County Reforms:Overview and History

Why

• Fiscal problems

• Research

Who

• Interagency collaborative

What

• Aim to reduce costs and provide better outcomes for PINS youth

How

• Keep kids in their communities

Onondaga County Reforms Placement Outcomes

New PINS Placements, 1995 - 2006

4395

13151714

2931

43

67

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Year

Num

ber P

lace

d

Onondaga County Reforms:Components

• Social Service placement staff moved to Probation

• Creation of Placement Review Board

• Cost Re-Allocation

• New major Alternative to Placement Program (PRISM)

Onondaga County Reforms:PRISM

• Partnership among Probation, Social Services, and the Salvation Army

• Comprehensive treatment planning

• Approximately 50% of PRISM cases staffed by FFT therapist

Probation Rehabilitation Intensive Services Management (PRISM)

NYS Legislative Reforms:Family Court Act 2005

• Mandated diversion services

• Emphasized immediate crisis response

• Changed detention eligibility criteria

Working Beyond New York State

• Massachusetts

• Louisiana