F a m i l y I n t e r v e n t i o n R e s t o r a t i v e S e r v i c e s o f

Te x a s ( F I R S T )

Presenters:

John Jordan, Juvenile Division Chief with Harris County District Attorney’s Office

Sarah Strang, Mobile Crisis Outreach Team Program Director with The Harris Center

Lizette Capuchina, FIRST Coordinator with Harris County Juvenile Probation Department

Family Dispute Before Diversion

Taken to Jail & Stay There

Reality of Court

• Dismissed • Lengthy Conditions of Probation

Resolution

Juvenile Stats 2018 – Before Diversion Program

• Total Number of Offenses for Mischief and Assault in 2018: 949

• 285 of the 949 (30.0%) offenses had at least one admission on the respective referral • Average length of stay for the 285 juveniles admitted to the detention

center was about 35.3 days

F.I.R.S.T. Overview

The F.I.R.S.T. program is a collaboration between:

FIRST Overview

• When did the program start: • February 18, 2019

• Who does it serve: • Youth 10-16 years old • Live in Harris County • Charged with a misdemeanor offense of:

• Family Violence • Terroristic Threat • Deadly Conduct • Criminal Mischief

• Length of program • On average 4 to 6 months of participation

FIRST Data Points

Data collected February 2019 - October 2019

• MCOT Referrals Received: 297 • Parents rejected program: 18 • DA filed Charges: 8 • Established Harris Center client: 28 • Successfully completed MCOT treatment

goals: 95 • Currently still receiving services with MCOT:

37 • Average stay in juvenile detention center: 4

days

MCOT receives an average of 2-3 new referrals a day.

Juvenile Stats 2019 – Implementation of F.I.R.S.T.

·  Total number of qualifying offenses 193

·   157 of 193 (81.3%) had at least one admission into detention on the FIRST referral

·   Of the 157 with admissions, the average length of stay in detention has been 4.4 days compared to the 35.3 days in 2018

FIRST Data Points

Youth #1 J.R.

▪Not allowed to use Wi-Fi ▪Ripped mom’s shirt and scratched mom’s chest

▪Treatment Recommendation: Anger management and family counseling.

▪Outcome: Youth and family attend family counseling and youth attends anger management. Youth and family now have a positive relationship and youth learned coping skills to work through conflicts.

Youth #2 A.M.

▪Runaway daughter refuses to stay. ▪Mother feared daughter was taken for sex trafficking.

▪Treatment Recommendation: Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization for help with depression. Stabilized with medication and counseling.

▪Outcome: Youth discharged from hospital, attending counseling, family states the program saved their daughters life. Family has positive relationship with youth.

Youth #3 K.H.

▪ Disrespecting Mom ▪ Grandma intervenes, gets punched in face.

▪ Treatment Recommendation: Intensive counseling, psychiatrist, stabilize on medication, family therapy.

▪ Outcome: Family linked to YES Waiver for intensive case management and therapy. Mother enrolled in Nurturing Parenting program. Youth attends church group weekly. Parent and youth spend quality time playing basketball together weekly. School reports improvement in behavior and grades.

Youth #4 J.M.

▪Youere

▪ Fight over a Snapple bottle, vase was thrown and cut mom’s hand.

▪ Treatment Recommendation: Anger management, psychiatric evalutation, medication to stabilize symptoms, and long term therapy.

▪ Outcome: Youth continues to work with MCOT psychiatrist every two weeks and her therapist comes to her home 3 times a week. Mother is being educated about daughter’s diagnosis of MDD with psychotic features and how to help her manage her symptoms. Youth linked to YES Waiver program. Mother and daughter have a positive relationship and spend quality time together.

&

Youth #5 A.R.

▪“Get the F away from me” ▪Dad struck in chest ▪Son grabbed a knife ▪Angry since mom passed away in 2016 ▪Treatment Recommendation: Diagnosed w/ Disruptive Mood

Dysregulation Disorder and ADHD. Medication recommended. Individual and family therapy recommended. ▪Outcome: Youth linked to Harris Center clinic for therapy and

family counseling. Seeing a psychiatrist and stabilized on medication. Getting along better with father, no more incidents in the home.

Total graduates to date: 55

• Graduates have fully completed the six month program which includes: • Follow through on treatment

goals established with the family and MCOT clinician

• Meets all requirements established by the F.I.R.S.T. Program

• Youth has not been rearrested within the six months

Graduations

Graduates upon completion receive:

• A graduation ceremony • A certificate of completion • Begin process to seal arrest record • Are able to continue treatment with their current provider

Graduations