FWSN-advisorybd-repo.. - The Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance

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Bethany, Woodbridge, Orange, Milford, Branford, North Branford, Guilford, Madison, Bridgeport, Monroe, Easton, Shelton, Trumbull, Stratford, and Fairfield. Funding for six additional FSCs has been requested but not yet granted by the General Assembly. Appropriation of funds for six additional Family Support Centers will allow high risk/needs children and their families in the rest of the state to receive crucial diversionary services in or close to their local community. RECOMMENDATION TWO FUND AND ESTABLISH PILOT TRUANCY REDUCTION INITIATIVES. Currently, there is a small amount of grant money available through the Office of Policy and Management to fund programs that promote school attendance. Some examples of recently funded program initiatives include enrichment activities such as study skills and time management exercises; a virtual alternative learning for students who are not succeeding in the traditional classroom setting as measured by their attendance, state test scores, and academic grades; a new Re-entry Transitional Classroom for students who are absent for 10 consecutive days or more in any one semester; an effort to improve attendance through the purchase of new organizational resources, incentives and behavior plans for students, and parent workshops and professional development of staff. Unfortunately, distribution of these monies does not benefit most cities and towns and does not promote the development of a uniform approach to promoting school attendance. Instead, it only promotes experimental or small scale programs with varying degrees of effectiveness, when and if program outcomes are measured. The local districts who currently participate in the Connecticut Consortium on School Attendance are few: Ansonia, Killingly, Stonington, Danbury, New Britain, Winchester, Hartford, Norwich and Windham. The Pilot Truancy Reduction Initiatives specifically recommended in this report will allow the State Department of Education (SDE) to identify and establish truancy prevention initiatives in partnership with three to five local school districts with the highest number of accepted FWSN referrals. Additionally, SDE, if funded, can provide a Dropout and Truancy Prevention Consultant to assist the selected district with technical assistance, monitoring and evaluation of the prevention strategies implemented in the three to five identified school districts. These initiatives will include district wide and child specific interventions. Funding also is proposed to provide evidence-based truancy reduction programs targeting middle school and ninth grade high school students. 7
RECOMMENDATION THREE PROVIDE FUNDS TO ENHANCE YOUTH SERVICE BUREAUS (YSB). AS A PILOT, IN EACH OF FOUR JUDICIAL DISTRICTS, INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF AT LEAST ONE YSB THAT HAS A JUVENILE REVIEW BOARD SO THAT THE YSB CAN INCREASE ITS CASELOAD AND HANDLE REFERRALS OF THOSE YOUTH WHO ARE AT RISK OF HAVING FWSN REFERRALS SUBMITTED TO THE COURT. The Connecticut General Assembly established and outlined the services provided by Youth Service Bureaus (YSB) in CT. General Statutes §10-19m.The statute directs that municipalities may establish multipurpose youth service bureaus. According to law, the YSBs “shall be the coordinating unit of community-based services to provide comprehensive delivery of prevention, intervention, treatment and follow-up services.” Examples of services YSBs may provide include individual and group counseling, family therapy, parenting education, vocational placement and counseling, recreational and youth enrichment programs; prevention programs, including youth pregnancy, youth suicide, violence, alcohol and drug prevention and positive youth development. The law further states “Such services shall be designed to meet the needs of youth by the diversion of troubled youth from the justice system as well as by the provision of opportunities for all youth to function as responsible members of their communities”. Youth Service Bureaus currently serve 132 communities statewide. YSBs receive a small percentage of their funding through the State Department of Education (SDE), with a majority of the funding from municipalities, private and public grants and fundraising donations. Where YSBs exist, the nature of services offered and staffing levels vary widely. A Juvenile Review Board (JRB) is a group of local professionals, including police, social workers, school officials, juvenile court officials and community members that meet regularly to offer juveniles, usually those accused of a delinquent act, and their families a positive alternative to referral to juvenile court. The JRB offers a community-based alternative to address school, family and minor criminal problems, and provides community-based solutions to deal with these issues. Since the JRB is community organized and community driven, there is an increased likelihood that there will be a quicker response to the child and family’s needs and that the child will avoid the negative implications of the court process. Currently, there are three different models for JRBs that have evolved around the state. DCF and CSSD are funding some in large urban areas. DCF funds JRBs in New Haven and Bridgeport, CSSD funds JRBs in Hartford and Waterbury. In other towns, they are operated by the local police and in others, the YSB runs them, often in conjunction with local law enforcement. 8
Page 1 and 2: Families with Service Needs Advisor
Page 3 and 4: VI. Other Key Recommendations Relat
Page 5 and 6: Report to the General Assembly from
Page 7: In addition, minor changes to the r
Page 11 and 12: RECOMMENDATION FIVE MAKE NEEDED CHA
Page 13 and 14: The Advisory Board is recommending
Page 15 and 16: ased preventive programs 4. Flex fu
Page 17 and 18: B. Recommendations related to Truan
Page 19 and 20: D. System-wide Prevention Strategie
Page 21 and 22: Intervention for DCF youth residing
Page 23 and 24: gender responsive programming to as
Page 25 and 26: and organizations represented inclu
Page 27 and 28: and to added referral to community
Page 29 and 30: C. Young FWSN Children In 2006 ther
Page 31 and 32: • Juvenile Review Boards (JRB) A
Page 33 and 34: are truant. The focus is to provide
Page 35 and 36: Presently, there is no data collect
Page 37 and 38: Juvenile probation officers provide
Page 39 and 40: The Family Support Center provides
Page 41 and 42: achievement and reentry. The progra
Page 43 and 44: Once the child is adjudicated as a
Page 45 and 46: DCF may petition the court for an e
Page 47 and 48: ‣ Current Services for Court Invo
Page 49 and 50: hearing held every fifteen days. At
Page 51 and 52: IV. Lessons Learned from National L
Page 53 and 54: continuum of effective strength-bas
Page 55 and 56: E. Other programs include: Mediatio
Page 57 and 58: CORE RECOMMENDATION # 2: FUND AND E
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2. Grades 6-8 3. Grade 9 a. In addi
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FWSN referrals submitted to court.
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CORE RECOMMENDATION # 5: MAKE NEEDE
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4. Systemic, longitudinal evaluatio
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3. Crisis/risk determination traini
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SDE’s Secondary School Redesign D
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truant students who attend school r
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Handling of FWSN cases. Confidentia
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In response to Special Act 04-5, DC
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for all DCF Social Workers and CSSD
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IX. APPENDICES Table of Contents Ap
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Appendix II FAMILIES WITH SERVICE N
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FWSN ADVISORY BOARD - TRUANCY SUBCO
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LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING SUBCOMMITTEE M
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States continue to struggle with th
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Appendix IV Detailed Population Dem
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Chart 1 shows a detailed analysis o
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Most of the assessed children score
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Appendix V Highlights of Other Prog
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The programs also provide preventio
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Appendix VII Evaluation of FWSN sys
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Table of Contents Introduction Page
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considered “gender-specific” or
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filed during the months of April, M
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or guardian, the child, parent or g
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general statutes, as amended by thi
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X. GLOSSARY OF TERMS ADP - Alternat
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