Summer 1997

Scroll down or choose an article from our Summer 1997 newsletter:

From the Director
FSP Effectiveness
Does the FSP Work Over Time?
There's a Seahawk in the FSP

From the Director '97

The Family Solutions Program continues as an important resource for first time juvenile offenders and their families. This issue highlights efforts in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.

During 1996, 37 youth and families participated actively to complete the program successfully and remove any further obligation to the juvenile court. Two more groups graduated in March, 1997. Another two groups are currently in operation with 12 youth and families targeted to graduate in June. We scheduled a 'reunion' for all youth and families who graduated last year. This casual meeting with refreshments helped keep families in touch with each other and bolster their commitment to well being for all family members.

Recidivism rates reported on pages 7-8 ("FSP Effectiveness") in the newsletter reflect the continued success of the program. In addition, families continue to quickly adapt to the program. I have included a brief description in this newsletter of how this seems to happen.

In October, 1996, Keith Bell (one of our program leaders) and I made a presentation on the FSP at the Annual Conference of the National Youth Advocacy Association in Savannah. In November we teamed up again to describe the 'nuts and bolts' of our program at the Semiannual Meeting of the Georgia Juvenile Court Judges in Augusta, GA. In May, I made a keynote presentation at the St. Simons, GA, Conference for this same group of judges, and at the APA Biennial conference on Community Research and Action at the University of South Caroline, Columbia. This summer I will conduct a workshop at the University of Colorado, Denver, for mental health and you service workers. In September, the FSP staff will conduct a workshop at the Annual Conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy in Atlanta. The Dept. of Juvenile Justice in the State of Maryland is considering the feasibility of implementing the FSP in the coming year.

Truly exciting is the increased interest in this program expressed from the Georgia Department of Children and Youth Services personnel, and juvenile court staff who want to implement the FSP in their counties or regions. We are currently completing the development of a curriculum to help interested professionals implement the model. I am often asked, 'What do you have to do to get the FSP started?' I have included in this newsletter a brief statement of what is needed to start an FSP in your community. I have chosen to discuss in some detail one dimension that is a crucial element, the role of parents in the FSP. Please let us know of your interested or activities so that our networking to reach as many youth involved in the juvenile court can grow.

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FSP Effectiveness

In our evaluation of the effectiveness of the FSP we have included 161 youth and families who have graduated from the FSP as far back as April 1992 up through December of 1996. Of these 161, 107 (66%) youth have not presented in the juvenile court again with a new offense, while 54 (34%) have re-offended. Compare these numbers to the 128 first time offenders and their families who were processed in the juvenile court during the same time but did not complete the program or have any other treatment or intervention. In this group 58 (45%) have not presented in the juvenile court again with a new offense, while 70 (55%) have re-offended.

These comparisons not only show obvious differences in the rates of re-offending between graduates and non-graduates of FSO, this difference is statistically significant. It was also found that among re-offenders in both groups, FSP graduates had half as many repeat offenses (avg. of 1) as youth who had no intervention (avg. of 2). Comparisons were made to examine any differences between groups at the time of the offense. We found no difference between the graduate and non-graduate groups on age, sex, race, family structure, income, self -report family functioning, seriousness of offense, school grades, absences, or suspensions, or level of school, church, and community activities.

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Do Youth Stay out of the Juvenile Court Over Time?

A new statistic is reported here to answer the question of whether FSP graduates do better over time in staying out of the juvenile court. Or, does the program simply delay youth from offending again since they are in 'treatment' and thereby postpone their return to the court to face a re-offense case review?

We categorized youth by year (1992-1996) to see if FSP graduates are more likely to 'stay out of trouble' throughout their years as a minor than other offenders who don't participate in the FSP.

These results suggest that FSP graduates are more likely to remain free of repeat offenses and a return to the juvenile court. Repeat offending rates for both groups are high for the 1992 offenders (although lower for FSP graduates, many first year glitches needed to be worked out). For offenders in the years 1993-96, the FSP graduates did significantly better over time at avoiding repeat offending behavior. For instance, of youth who completed the FSP in 1993, 36% of them have re-offended. For 1994 and 1995, the rate is 43% and 33%, respectively. As of June, 1997, the rate for FSP graduates is 3%. This compares to a much higher rate each year for non-graduates of the FSP.

The question could be asked, "Aren't some of the youth 'out of the system' by now because they are no longer considered minors?" Thus, if crimes were committed, the youth would be tried as adults and would not be known in juvenile court. This is true. However, this is true for both groups. We examined the mean age of both groups when they entered juvenile court as a first offender. No significant difference was found between the two groups. Therefore, a similar number of youth are no longer minors, making comparisons appropriate.

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There's a Seahawk in the FSP

Former Georgia football player Phillip Daniels returned to Athens for a spell after a successful first season with the Seattle Seahawks. Phillip is a Social work major who is back in school and helping us at the FSP. At 6' 6", Phillip has mysteriously gotten the attention of all the youth in the FSP. With his big frame pacing back and forth in the circle of families, Philip shared with the group the importance of staying focused on education. You could have heard a pin drop. With a father who had died, and a mother who had to work three jobs, he said he was on his own to keep education a focus in his life. He told the youth and families that he had no idea he could play football in the NFL when he was in high school. So he knew education was going to be important. What could be a better example that Phillip's return to school?

According to Phillip, the Seattle Seahawks always post a list of places their players can go to heet with at-risk youth. And Phillip has gone to many of these places. But he says Seattle doesn't have an FSP. He says that he'll talk to his agent about that.

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