Family-Focused Programming

• NCJ Number: 173700
• Journal: Pennsylvania Progress Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: November 1995 Pages: -
• Author(s): M Clouser
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 6 pages
• Grant Number(s): 92/93-J-01-4608
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper discusses the background of family-focused juvenile delinquency prevention programming in Pennsylvania and describes two of the State's model programs in this area.

Abstract

According to Pennsylvania's Juvenile Advisory Committee, the need for family-focused programming was first identified in Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. At this time, information recorded on youths entering the State's juvenile justice system revealed a significant proportion of youthful offenders characterized by family histories of disorganization, conflict, and abuse. In response, the Juvenile Advisory Committee recommended the funding of pilot programs to begin the expansion of services to the families of delinquent youths. According to State funding guidelines for this program category, program objectives should be to strengthen the family unit as a means of preventing delinquency through the use of family counseling/family therapy delinquency treatment strategies, as well as increase the involvement of parents/family in addressing delinquency-related problems of juveniles. Two model programs developed under these guidelines are the Bethesda Day Treatment Center and Manito, Inc. The Bethesda Day Treatment Center, which opened in 1983, provides individualized alternative schooling, day treatment, drug and alcohol counseling, family therapy, and short-term foster care. The family-therapy component is of primary importance in identifying and addressing the root causes of delinquency and violence and effecting positive change in the external environmental factors that fuel delinquency. Manito, Inc., has developed a comprehensive network of services that include alternative education, alternative high school, correctional education, day treatment, drug and alcohol outpatient counseling, and family therapy. This paper also discusses funding of such programs for the future and the future directions of such programming.