aecf-NoPlaceForKidsFullReport-2011

FIGURE 6SAVINGS GENERATED BY FLORIDA’S REDIRECTION PROGRAMSavingsCosts of Residential Placements Averted (2,033 youth)Savings from Reduced RecidivismSavings SubtotalCostsYouth Referred to Treatment 2,867Youth Completing Treatment 2,033Cost of Redirection TreatmentNet Savings (Savings Subtotal–Costs)$50.8 million$ 5.2 million$56.0 million$14.4 million$41.6 millionSource: Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability, Redirection Saves $36.4 million and Avoids $5.2 million in Recommitment and Prison Costs,Report No. 09-27, May 2009.Despite these successes, however, no state has“scaled up” any of these evidence-based modelsto serve all or nearly all youth who could benefit.In a recent essay, MST designer Scott Henggelerand a colleague estimated that 15,000 juvenileoffenders per year participate in MST, FFT, orMTFC currently. “If 160,000 juvenile justiceyouth are placed annually and we assume thatan equal number are at high risk of placement,”Henggeler noted, “then fewer than 5% ofeligible high-risk juvenile offenders in the U.S.are treated with an evidence-based treatmentannually.” 63Other Promising Approaches. Though they lackthe powerful scientific evidence of MST, FFT,and MTFC, a number of other alternatives havealso demonstrated promising results in reducingdelinquency and obviating the need for correctionalconfinement. These include:Wraparound services. Such as those offered bythe Wraparound Milwaukee program—poolresources from a variety of funding streams (juvenilejustice, community mental health, Medicaid,others) to pay for coordinators who help developcare plans and access an array of services tailoredto the needs of youth with behavioral disordersor other mental health conditions. 64Rigorous career preparation and vocational training—suchas those provided by YouthBuild. Aprogram for high-risk youth and young adultsnow operating in more than 250 sites nationwide,YouthBuild serves many court-involvedyouth and combines remedial academic educationwith hands-on construction skills training. 65Mental health and substance abuse treatmentprograms. Several promising programs, some withstrong evidence of effectiveness, provide targetedtreatment services to address mental health andsubstance abuse problems. These include:n Mental health diversion projects—such as theEnhanced Mental Health Services Initiativein Texas 66 and the Behavioral Health/JuvenileJustice program in Ohio 67 —that steer youth tomental health treatment;n Specialty court programs—such as the nearly500 juvenile drug courts operating nationwide,68 and mental health treatment courts.While debate over their efficacy continues, thesemodels work with delinquent youth with serioussubstance abuse or emotional disturbances andsupervise their participation in court-orderedtreatment plans, rather than assigning them toroutine probation; 69 and18