Summary: This proposal utilizes trauma-informed principles to design an inter-professional pilot program that seeks to improve outcomes for children who have experienced at least one ACE (adverse childhood experience and have experienced a youth arrest). The social ecological levels that this proposal targets are the individual, interpersonal, organizational, and community levels and the determinants on these levels that contribute to youth arrests.
Abstract:
The proposed program is a trauma-informed approach in Alachua County targeting children from the ages of 10-17 enrolled in Alachua County public schools who have had one or more adverse childhood experiences and a youth arrest. A multi-disciplinary team, trained in trauma-informed approaches and juvenile delinquency as well as school and law enforcement professionals will administer this program to the target population. Representation of ACE survivors and individuals who have overcome the barriers posed in post-incarceration life is an important aspect of this program. The program seeks to prevent youth arrests and utilizes a public health framework including prevention on primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Determinants on the levels of the McLeroy’s Social Ecological Model that contribute to youth arrests and delinquent offenses will be addressed. Utilizing and improving community resources and relationships between organizations is a fundamental aspect to the sustainability of this program.
Statement of Need:
There are 2.1 million youth arrests in the United States in a year (Youth Involved with the Juvenile Justice System). Adolescents that enter the juvenile justice system are linked with having more problems in school, more mental health issues, and greater likely for substance use disorder (Youths Arrested). By the time a child has been introduced to this system it is highly likely they are already victims of an ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience). “90% of the young people in the juvenile justice system have at least one extreme stressor (Jamieson, 2019)”. In Florida, there are especially high rates of juvenile offenders having experienced an ACE (Baglivio et al., 2014). Incarcerations during adolescence and early childhood are independently associated with worse physical and mental health later in adulthood (Barnert et al., 2017). Incarcerated children have high rates of unmet medical needs, and the stigma faced by post-incarcerated individuals is linked to higher rates of fatal drug overdose, suicide, and post-traumatic stress (Barnert et al., 2017). If ACEs in children can be identified early and interventions are enacted it could reduce the likelihood of a youth arrest. Poor academic performance, missing school, poor parental supervision, conduct problems, aggressive behavior, large family size, and history of family violence are common warning signs for children who are at risk of juvenile delinquency (McCord, 2000). It is extremely important that programs that help decrease arrests and violent crimes in this age group focus on prevention and early intervention. In the early childhood years, it is often easiest to implement these types of interventions in the school setting where children spend most of their time. Schools where more children come from low-income households are especially in need of prevention and early intervention programs as these children disproportionately experience ACEs (Sariaslan et al., 2014).
Target Population:
The target audience is school-aged children from the ages of 10-17 who reside in Alachua County, Florida that have been arrested and have experienced at least one ACE. The count for all youth arrest offenses in children from age 10-17 in Alachua County in 2019 was 802 (Youths Arrested). The program aims to reach all those children who have experienced a youth arrest at Alachua County schools. There will be two adult members on the development team who were arrested as youths and experienced an ACE. They will contribute insight on how early intervention can prevent youth arrests. These members will help guide team leadership to design and ensure these activities are appropriate and will benefit the children involved. There are approximately 41 schools in this public school district. Each school also has a nurse on campus full-time who will sit on the intervention leadership board.
Project Activities:
The intervention project activities will begin assessments of each student’s academic performance, attendance, and conduct. These assessments will be done by the teachers in each classroom in order to identify students exhibiting behaviors associated with potential youth arrest. Additionally, there will be weekly activities, projects, and games designed by the intervention team to get children communicating about their experiences in a healthy way. These activities will be facilitated by a program staff member trained in trauma-informed approaches and educated in juvenile delinquency who will attend weekly classroom visits to meet with the children who have experienced one or more ACEs or had a youth arrest. For example, a game where the children go outside and toss a ball around and the person who catches the ball shares a moment from their week. There will also be take-home assignments for children to complete an activity like reading a children’s book related to mental health with their family. Annually, presentations will be given by a law enforcement officer assigned to a school to introduce the children to police officers in their community, talk about avoiding juvenile crimes, racial disparities in policing, and give guidance safety and how to get help if they feel they are in an unsafe environment. Family or guardians of children who are in the program will be contacted about an opportunity for children to participate in an after school recreational program where they work closely the intervention team on their conduct and addressing causes of their behaviors.
Capacity:
This project will operate out of a partnership between the Alachua county health department, school board, and police department. By time of implementation, all staff will have undergone trauma-informed approach training. The health department and police station will design a training for board members who will then train other staff members and volunteers. This training workshop will include education on youth arrest statistics, warning, signs and prevention, as well as training on how to run the activities and provide support for young children. There will be law enforcement officers designated to present at the school so the children can gain trust and become familiar with them after seeing their presentations. The health department will provide the school with resources so they can guide these students. The school board will be involved in the oversight of this intervention. The school nurse will be trained and sit on the board as well.
Project Goals:
This project aims to create an environment in schools that encourages early intervention and reduces incidence in the Alachua county area. The project uses a trauma-informed approach to provide support for children who have had a youth arrest and at least one ACE as well as identifying high-risk children. Healing past traumas experienced by participants and preventing the occurrence of more ACEs is a main objective. These goals will be assessed through analysis of reported youth arrests, conduct, and follow up activities for children participating to assess their progress from a baseline taken at the beginning of the project.
Public Health Framework:
Using a public health framework for this project will broaden its reach and impact. The absence of youth arrests is a complex goal that takes working on many different levels and issues. Using a framework that is different from the traditional disease-centric approach is beneficial for addressing public health issues like this one. This project will provide both primary and secondary prevention. For primary prevention universal precautions will be taken by presenting all of the school children with information about youth arrests at the annual law enforcement presentation (Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention). Secondary prevention will take place by using these activities to identify students who are at risk for youth arrests and understanding how trauma may play a role in their behavior or impact their risk for a certain outcome (Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention). This level will focus not only on identifying but also placing them into a special afterschool program in order to provide support and prevent more ACEs from occurring in their lives or preventing a youth arrest. If any children in the school or involved in the afterschool program who are arrested during this time then the leadership team will employ a personalized tertiary level response to prevent the child from experiencing more trauma because of their youth arrest. Using public health frameworks like the different prevention techniques and addressing the different determinants that contribute to youth arrests will maximize the benefit of this program.
Levels of the Social Ecological Model:
This project will address multiple levels of McLeroy’s social ecological model (Simons-Morton, McLeroy & Wendel, 2012). The first social ecological level this model targets is the individual level concerned with the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs of an individual (Simons-Morton, McLeroy & Wendel, 2012). This level also includes personal history factors that increase the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of behavior that results in a youth arrest (The Social Ecological Model). Project activities targeting this level focus on promoting behaviors and attitudes that will prevent youth arrests. The interpersonal level of the social ecological model focuses on relationships and their influence on an individual’s behaviors (Simons-Morton, McLeroy & Wendel, 2012). The project activities that target this level are built to improve relationships with teachers, law enforcement, and peers. There are also take-home activities that target the parental relationship. This is an important relationship that largely influences a child’s behaviors. Parenting factors such as ongoing support are associated with lower offending in young adulthood (Johnson et al., 2012). Schools are an important organizational determinant. One study showed that higher degrees of behavioral and emotional school engagement predicted a significantly lower risk of involvement in delinquency (Li et al., 2011). The law enforcement involvement in this project design is an example of a community determinant that can shape behavior. This project includes this level because of the importance of police-community relationships in preventing youth arrests. Creating strong relationships with mutual trust is crucial to maintaining community safety and preventing youth arrests.
Trauma-Informed Principles Utilized:
This project aims to improve the trauma informed-principle of safety for children and the community where this intervention takes place. The behaviors that lead to youth arrests are often extremely dangerous. Keeping participants and those in their surrounding environment safe from harm is a main priority of this project. This projects seeks to identify members of a vulnerable population so they can be provided with support at their school and they are closely supervised to be kept more safe. Another principle that is included in this project is trustworthiness and transparency. Maintaining the trust of the children in the program by recognizing and addressing their traumas, as well as building meaningful mentor relationships between them and staff members will result in more successful completion of the program and prevention of youth arrests. This will also help with gathering feedback and determining ways to improve the efficacy of the program (SAMHSA’s Trauma-Informed Approach, 2018). Project activities will address the principles of peer support and mutual self-help. These principles are key vehicles for building trust, establishing safety, and empowerment (SAMHSA’s Trauma-Informed Approach, 2018). Empowerment, voice and choice is also a major aspect of the project goal. Empowering children to participate risk-reducing behaviors and giving them the resources to build their autonomy and avoid youth arrests on their own is a major part of this project. Lastly, addressing the cultural, historical, and gender issues that coincide with populations who have higher rates of incarcerations and are more vulnerable is an important part of the education aspect of this program. Educating these young children on the biases that exist when it comes to youth arrests is of the utmost importance if there is hope to change the climate around youth arrests and address the inequalities in marginalized group members experiencing youth arrests.
Project Outcomes:
The goal of this project is to impact school children so that they are educated on the behavior can lead to youth arrests and to identify children that are high-risk so they can be given individualized support and resources to prevent youth arrests. The project aims to reduce the number of youth arrests in the target population. The project also also pursues changing coping skills, and behaviors through the classroom activities. Building positive relationships that are supportive and better relations between children and their local law enforcement is a preventative effort of this project to prevent these arrests from happening. This project sets up schools for having the means to target the children who are most likely to be involved in youth delinquency early on so that multi-level interventions can be delivered to hopefully stop the occurrence of youth arrests. This project will gauge its progress by the reduction of youth arrests for students of each school. Another important outcome goal for this project is that it brings in more information about the student population and how this project can be more strategically tailored to best serve its target audience.
Evaluation Plan:
Effectiveness of this program/partnership will be measured by looking at youth arrests that occur amongst the students at a school in one school year. Each year the schools will work with the law enforcement officers involved in the program to receive numbers of youth arrests in their school zone or any citations or behavior that has been reported to the juvenile delinquency system. The children who have already experienced youth arrests will be evaluated by program staff using a self-report survey, and their conduct and academics throughout the year will be reviewed by program staff. Children who are identified as high-risk for a youth arrest or have experienced an ACE will also be evaluated this way although a different survey will be used. There will also be an opportunity for school students to give feedback on the program and share what they learned from the presentations and classroom activities. This will help gauge school student’s knowledge of ACEs and preventing youth arrests. Each school zone and school participating in this program will be evaluated at the beginning of the program to see what their baseline of ACEs and youth arrests looks like. Progress will be tracked at the end of each school year and completion of program activities for that year.
Staff Qualifications:
The staff on this multi-disciplinary program board all have experience working with school-aged children. The teachers in each classroom will work with program staff, the school nurse, and law enforcement. There will also be two adults who have experience with youth arrests that can provide representation, feedback, and insight into what the program can address. All staff will participate in this training before they begin working for this program. In their training they will learn about the program’s trauma informed approach to ACEs and youth arrests, and how to deliver all of the program activities.
Sustainability:
This program aims to create a lasting partnership and sharing of resources between schools, students, and law enforcement. Participants will build relationships with officers and staff members involved gain guidance on who they can turn to if they need help. The use of transition materials is important for the sustainability of this program. New staff will get resources from current staff to make transitions smooth and sustain the program. Children will receive a program graduation packets with information on the resources they have learned about. Social media will keep information up-to-date, post about opportunities, and connect followers to program staff.
Communication/ Social Media:
Social media platforms will be utilized. Parent classroom pages on platforms such as Facebook create awareness and inform parents of the program rollout, updates, and resources. A main program page will have graphics and tool-kits for anyone interested in implementing this program at their school, volunteering, or donating. For those who do not have any access to social media platforms, physical copies of information will be sent in take-home folders every time there are important updates about the program. The program will also be discussed at parent-teacher meetings and during school for the children to be aware as well.
Use of Funds:
The funds for this project will be used on trainings, salaries, and supplies required for project activities. Printed materials to disperse program information as well as social media promoted posts and partnerships will be included in the program as well. Teachers will receive incentives for their participation and all other personnel who are not volunteers will be paid salaries using the funds allocated. The grant requests these funds in order to be able to support the program and pay for trainings for staff members and provide these services to schools at a low cost.
Timeline:
Key project activities would be rolled out the academic year after the grant proposal is accepted. First on the schedule will be recruiting staff and training staff utilizing a trauma-informed approach. One staff members are trained there will be meetings prior to program rollout at the schools between the school faculty involved, law enforcement, and the program staff and board. The program will begin with weekly activities for the target group facilitated by a staff member during times allocated by classroom teachers that don’t interrupt lessons. The after school program will be offered bi-monthly. The law enforcement officer presentation will occur in the last three months of the academic year after the majority of project activities have been completed. Students who are identified as needing more attention from program staff will have individual meetings with a staff member throughout the year. There will be a parent-teacher conference at the beginning of the year and again at the midpoint between fall and spring semesters where teachers and program staff will introduce the program and share information about the activities involved.
References
Baglivio, M. T., Epps, N., Swartz, K., Sayedul Huq, M., Sheer, A., & Hardt, N. (2014, Spring). The Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) in the Lives of Juvenile Offenders. Retrieved February 19, 2021, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/s...revalence_of_ACE.pdf
Barnert, E. S., Dudovitz, R., Nelson, B. B., Coker, T. R., Biely, C., Li, N., & Chung, P. J. (2017). How Does Incarcerating Young People Affect Their Adult Health Outcomes?. Pediatrics, 139(2), e20162624. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2624
Jamieson, K. (2019, December 04). Aces and juvenile justice. Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://www.centerforchildcoun...nd-juvenile-justice/
Johnson, W. L., Giordano, P. C., Manning, W. D., & Longmore, M. A. (2011). Parent--child relations and offending during young adulthood. Journal of youth and adolescence, 40(7), 786–799. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9591-9
Li, Y., Zhang, W., Liu, J., Arbeit, M. R., Schwartz, S. J., Bowers, E. P., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). The role of school engagement in preventing adolescent delinquency and substance use: a survival analysis. Journal of adolescence, 34(6), 1181–1192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.07.003
McCord, J. (2000). Education and delinquency summary of a workshop. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. doi:https://www.nap.edu/read/9972/chapter/5
Simons-Morton, B. G., McLeroy, K. R., & Wendel, M. L. (2012). Behavior theory in health promotion practice and research. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2021, from https://www.iwh.on.ca/what-res...d%20exposure%20occur.
SAMHSA’s Trauma-Informed Approach (2018): Key Assumptions and Principles. Retrieved from, https://www.nasmhpd.org/sites/...Manual_9-10-18_0.pdf
Sariaslan, A., Larsson, H., D'Onofrio, B., Långström, N., & Lichtenstein, P. (2014). Childhood family income, adolescent violent criminality and substance misuse: quasi-experimental total population study. The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science, 205(4), 286–290. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.113.136200
The social-ecological model: A framework for PREVENTION |violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC. (2021, January 28). Retrieved March 23, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/violencepr...ecologicalmodel.html
Youths Arrested. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2021, from http://www.flhealthcharts.com/...Viewer.aspx?cid=0546
Youth involved with the juvenile justice system. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2021, from https://youth.gov/youth-topics...enile-justice-system
Comments (0)