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Demonstrating Effectiveness of theWraparound Model with Juvenile JusticeYouth through Measuring and AchievingLower Recidivism

Background for Wraparound Milwaukee and Working with theJuvenile Justice System

Wraparound Milwaukee is recognized as a national model and exemptary systemof care for chitdren and youth with serious emotiona[ and mental health needsand their famities. Wraparound Milwaukee seryes over 1,600 families annuattyin Mitwaukee County and has an average daity enrotlment of 1,050 youth andtheir families. Created in 1995, Wraparound Milwaukee has particutarlyfocused on serving youth invotved in the juvenite justice and chitd wetfaresystems who present with:

. A DSM-V diagnosis;

. A psychiatric condition or functiona[ impairment at home, schoo[, or inthe community;

r lnvotvement in at [east two child serving systems inctuding: mentalheatth, chitd welfare, special education, or juvenite justice; and

o Risk of psychiatric hospitatization, residential treatment, or juvenitecorrectionaI ptacement.

ln 2014, the singte [argest group of youth served was from juvenite justice,with the program serving over 750 chitdren who were adjudicated detinquentand present with serious emotional and mental heatth needs. WraparoundMitwaukee currentty seryes an average of 425 detinquent youth each dayaccounting for nearty 40Yo of atl Milwaukee county youth on probation.Wraparound Mitwaukee embraces the Wraparound phitosophy and values,incorporating a highty individualized, strength-based, family and youth-directed, and community-based focus to its service delivery model.

Wraparound Mitwaukee has worked with the Mitwaukee County DetinquencyDivision since 1997. Youth are identified for participation in WraparoundMitwaukee through a screening process conducted initialty by the DetinquencyDivision's Human Service Workers and then referred to Wraparound Mitwaukeefor determination of program etigibitity. This review inctudes an assessment ofher/his behavioral heatth treatment, a psychological evatuation if needed, andinterviews with the youth and her or his famity. The Wraparound MilwaukeeAssessment Worker and the Human Service Worker (probation) present theirwritten recommendations in court and, if appropriate, the chitdren's courtjudge witt issue a unique "ftex order" ptacing the youth under the supervisionof the Probation Department and further providing that care and treatmentservices in the community including ptacement in a residential treatmentcenter (if necessary) witt be determined by Wraparound Mitwaukee.

2lDemonstrating Ef f ectiveness of the Wraparound Mode:t

Once enrotted in Wraparound Mitwaukee, a Care Coordinator is assigned to facilitate and begin the

Chitd and Famity Team ptanning process. The probation worker joins as a member of the ptanning

team to ensure cross-system coltaboration. The strengths, needs, and supports required for that youth

are jdentified and put into ptace by the Chitd and Famity Team. Famities have access to family

advocates and families have a choice of the services they need and which providers, formal and

informat, wi[[ provide those services.

Strong Values and Operatiqrn Belief Systern as a Basis for Reciclivisnr Research

Wraparound Milwaukee has a record of success in designing a system of care for youth with serious

mental heatth needs that is recognized throughout the Mitwaukee community, Wisconsin, and thenation. The outcome goats of Wraparound Mitwaukee are measured through specific success indjcators.

Outcome measures estabtished by the program stakehotders (family, chitd wetfare, mentaI heatth,juvenite justice, and education) inctude increases in famity satisfaction, chitd permanency, betterschool attendance, improved ctinicat functioning, and decreased recidivism. The outcome for thejuvenile justice population that has the greatest impact for the community at large is the low

recidivism rate that has been consistently achieved from year to year. Wraparound Milwaukee's

achievement of a low recidivism rate, first and foremost, emanates from a strong operational betiefsystem. Success is contingent upon:

. lncorporating Wraparound vatues and principtes into the foundation and cutture of theprogram;

o Atigning Wraparound values with the structure and processes from which the program is

designed and operates;o Maintaining a scientific mindfutness inctuding use of data to evatuate and make programmatic

changes as needed;o Maintaining a high tevet of fidetity to the values of Wraparound through training, coaching, and

supervision of staff and creating retevant poticies and procedures; and

o Performing on-going evatuations to continuatly fine-tune the program, as success and

sustainabitity depend on the abitity to measure and pubticize real data.

Elements of Wraparound Milwaukee's Approach to Re*idivism Research

Recidivism data are considered a fundamental concept to measuring the success of any interventionretated to juvenite justice. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Detinquency Prevention(OJJDP),itisdifficutt,however,toestabtishanationatrecidivismrateforjuveniles.l 2 Everystate,county, and [oca[ system defines the parameters of recidivism in different ways besetting this research

with design and methodotogicat chattenges. ln a 2009 white paper, the CounciI of Juvenite CorrectionaI

Administration (CJCA) reported that when using the average of a sample of state juvenite recidivism

rates as a window to the nationaljuvenite recidivism rate, the rate varies between 25% and55%

depending on what measure of recidivism is used.3 Thus, there is no clear comparative national

benchmark. CJCA is taking a tead in standardizing definitions and measures to address this issue.

It is vitat to carefulty define atl aspects of the research design in order to estabtish an understanding ofwhat and how recidivism is measured at a particutar institution. Wraparound Milwaukee designed theirlocal recidivism research to meet the needs for internal program assessment to assure fidetity toevidence-based practice and support continuous quatity improvement of the program, as we[[ as reportto externaI stakehotders, poticy-makers, funders, and the community-at-targe.

The Nationat Technicat Assistance Network for Chitdren's Behavioral Health

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Wraparound Milwaukee has chosen to use arrest data (i.e., fiting charges) rather than adjudication dataas it captures a greater number of re-offenses. The decision was atso made to inctude only the arrestdata associated with criminal charges (assautt, property, weapons, drugs, disorderty conduct, and

sexua[ offenses), not those considered status offenses. The data includes arrests for bothmisdemeanors and fetonies.

Wraparound Mitwaukee tracks recidivism data using its total delinquency poputation over a two-yeartime increment. This way recidivism levels can be tracked with changes in program and shifts in

characteristics of the poputation. Wraparound Mitwaukee coltects data on an ongoing basis throughSynthesis, a management information system which the Juvenite Court updates with weekty arrest dataon youth enrotted in Wraparound.

The Outcomesr llVhat Flas Been Learned About Youth Enrolled in lfilraparoundMilwaukee

The recidivism rate for youth enrolled in Wraparound Milwaukee remains relativety constant and low.The overal[ recidivism rate for the current two-year time period between June 1 ,2012 and June 30,

2014 is 14.11% (n='155/1091 ). The range of recidivism since Wraparound Mitwaukee began thismethodotogical approach in October 2009 is from 1 1.9% to 21%. The mean recidivism rate over thissame period is 16.6%.

The data reveal recidivism rates for fematesproportionatly are not significantty lower thanfor mates. Atthough not statisticaIty significant(p,.2), the tiketihood of re-offending muttiptetimes is greater for mates (27%v. 40%).

The data atso reveal that youth are mostvutnerabte for re-offending during the firstthree months in the program. Within a periodof twenty-four months, a generat trend ofdecreased recidivism is actuatized between thefirst and fifteenth month of participation in

Wraparound. This data suggests that youthengagement with the program earty on is important, as is immediately ameliorating risk factors retatedto re-offending. This re-offending pattern has been consistent in atI five studies of recidivismconducted in the last five years.

Re-offending Pattern of All Youth inWraparound in First 24 lrlonths of Program

.3 1-6 7-9 10-12 .13-15 16-18 19-21 72-24

Time to Re-Offense in Months

lntake Offense vs Re-Offense Type Comparison

4otu

JJt

30i

2otu

15.1

1ffi

\

Property Disordedy Assult weaponsConduct

rr

Drugs Sexual

-".'r-lntake 42.60S 25.80ii 1 2.90, I 2.90% 0ft 5.80%

.--Reoffense 37.,10s 29.80{ 1 5.50ft 9.7ffi 4.51% 3.22%

45.{

.-,,,,r-lntake

Considering thearray ofoffenses(assault,property,weapons, drugs,disorderlyconduct, andsexualoffenses), thedata show thatwithin thispoputation, thehighest

The National Technical Assistance Network for Chitdren's Behavioral Heatth

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percentages of offenses are for property crimes and disorderly conduct (combined 67.2%) and thelowest occurring are sexua[ and drug retated offenses. Those offenses that are intended to physicatty

harm others (assautt and weapons) represent 25.2% of the Wraparound poputation. Although there aresome percentage shifts 'in categories of crime, there are no statisticatty significant differences in any ofthe categories between the percentage of intake offenses and corresponding re-offenses.

Of att the Wraparound youth who re-offend (155 or 14.11yo of the total Wraparound poputation of1,091),23% (3.3y, of the total Wraparound poputation) or 36 youth have been identified as high risk.The high risk offender group includes: juvenite sex offenders, fire-setters, and certain youthcommitting other serious fetonies. The youth in the high risk group are targeted for special review by

Wraparound Mitwaukee's CtinicaI Psychotogist and the devetopment of very structured Crisis/SafetyPlans. Juvenite sex offenders make up 44% of the high risk group (15 out of 36) and 15o/o of the totaIWraparound poputation.

Comparison of Non High Risk Re-offenders, Non JSOHigh Risk and JSO Re-offenders (n= 1 55)

c PercentagF of Non-J50High Rid( Re-offenden

ir Percentag€ of HighRisk J50 Re-offenders

Percentage of Non HighRisk Re-ofenders

The data over the past five recidivismreports reveats the high risk groups,particularty juvenite sex offenders,recidivate significantty less than thenon-high risk youth (p=.0.0001 ). Areasonabte explanation appearsretated to the added interventionprogramming apptied to the high riskgroup. Atthough the essentialprinciptes of Wraparound are deliveredto atl groups, the high risk groupreceives more speciatized ctinicaI andadministrative oversight aimed at

ensuring consistent apptication of best practices and clinical risk management. lt atso may speak tothis group of youth, particutarty the juvenile sex offenders, being more amenabte to community-basedtreatment approaches.

Other Studies of Recidivism in Milwaukee County

ln Juty 2012, the Pubtic Poticy Forum of Mitwaukee reteased its own study of recidivism also based on

arrest data and tooked at a cohort of youth that had turned 17 years of age and aged out of the systembetween 2006 and 2010. This sampte did not inctude Wraparound Mitwaukee enrotled youth. For this"look back" study the overatl recidivism rate was roughly 417o. This report reinforces that in using

simitar arrest data, Wraparound Milwaukee youth are re-offending at a lower rate than other juveniteoffenders.a The Pubtic Policy Forum has acknowtedged the evaluation work done by WraparoundMitwaukee in tracking recidivism as wetl as the outcomes achieved from a more comprehensive servicearray.

Recidivism; What Have We Learned

Recidivism is an important measure of the effectiveness of wraparound approaches and programs withjuvenite justice populations. Along with improvement in school attendance, it is an outcome importantto the judiciat system, probation, and policy-makers.

After conducting five recidivism studies since 2009, the overall rates of recidivism for Wraparoundenrotted youth appear low and stable. White nationa[ norms for recidivism are lacking, tocal studiessuch as that done by the Pubtic Policy Forum demonstrate that youth in the Wraparound Milwaukeeprogram are not re-offending at as high a rate as the general detinquency poputation as a whole.

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General perceptions that youth with higher risk behaviors, such as juvenite sex offenders, have a highpropensity to re-offend are simpty not supported by recidivism data. They re-offend at much lowerrates.

Wraparound Mitwaukee's future recidivism studies wi[[ focus on the smatter group of youth that havemuttipte offenses to look at their patterns of offenses. Analysis of these patterns witt hetp WraparoundMitwaukee refine and refocus the program to better address this subpoputation. Using datameaningfutty attows for an ongoing, dynamic program that is continuatly responsive to the ever-changing characteristics of juvenile justice poputations and the externaI environmental conditions thatreverberate across time.

References

1 Juvenile Offenders and Victims; 2006 National Report Research Brief, OJJDP. Votume 1 00, Number 3.

' Watsh, N. & Weber, J. (2014) lvleasuring and using Juvenile Recidivism DataTo lnform Policy, Practice, and Resource

Allocation., Office of Juvenite Justice and Delinquency Prevention, CounciI of State Governments Justice Center.

3 Harris, P. W. , Lockwood, B. , & Mengers, L. (2009). A CJCA white paper: Def ining ond measuring recidivism lwhite paper].

Retrieved from

o Pubtic Poticy Forum, Research Brief, Volume 100, Number 3; Juty 2012

Suggested Gitation:

Kamradt, B. & Gotdfarb, P. (2015). Demonstrating effectiveness of thewraparound modetwith juvenitejustice youth through measuring and achieving lower recidivism. Baltimore, MD: The TechnicalAssistance Network for Chitdren's Behavioral Heatth.

The National Technicat Assistance Network for Chitdren's Behavioral Heatth

Wraparound Modet

ABOUT THE NATIONAL T:CHNICAL ASSISTANCE NETWORX. TOR CHILDREN'S BEHAVIORAL HEALTH

The Nationat Technicat Assistance Network for Chitdren's Behavioral Heatth (TA Network) operates the Nationat Training and TechnicatAssistance Center for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Heattlt {NTIAC), fun:ded by the Substance Abuse and r\,tenta1 Health SeMcesAdministration, Chitd, Adolescent and Famity Branch. The fA Network partners with states, tribes, territories, and communitiet to develop themost effective and sustainable systems of cire possible witt and for thebenefit of children and youth with behaviorat heatth needs and theirfamilies. fhe TA Network provides technicat assistance and slrpport acro$ the country to state and tocat agencies, inctuding Y9!th and familyteadershi p organizations.

ABOUT WRAPAROUND IAILWAUKEE

Thi! resource was produced by Wraparound Mitwaukee in its rote as a partner in the nationatBehaviorat Heal.th. Wraparound Mitwaukee is one of the largest Systems of Care in the United States annualty seMng over 1,700comDtex emotr'onat and mental health needs and their famities. At the core of this proqram, now in its 20th year, is its fundamer

urittcomptex emotl'onal and'mental health needs and their familles. it thu co." of this program, now in its 20th year, is i-ts fundamentat approach toprovide care and support to famities in the community that is famity driven, culturaltyiompetent, highty iniividualized, strengths-based, andoutcome driven.