Families and the Juvenile Justice System: Considerations for Family-Based Interventions

A mixed methods evaluation of family-driven care implementation in juvenile justice agencies in Georgia

BACKGROUND

Improving family engagement in juvenile justice (JJ) system behavioral health services is a high priority for JJ systems, reform organizations, and family advocacy groups across the United States. Family-driven care (FDC) is a family engagement framework used by youth-serving systems to elevate family voice and decision-making power at all levels of the organization. Key domains of a family-driven system of care include: 1) identifying and involving families in all processes, 2) informing families with accurate, understandable, and transparent information, 3) collaborating with families to make decisions and plan treatments, 4) responding to family diversity and inclusion, 5) partnering with families to make organizational decisions and policy changes, 6) providing opportunities for family peer support, 7) providing logistical support to help families overcome barriers to participation, and 8) addressing family health and functioning. FDC enhances family participation, empowerment, and decision-making power in youth services; ultimately, improving youth and family behavioral health outcomes, enhancing family-child connectedness, and reducing youth recidivism in the JJ setting.

METHODS

We evaluated staff-perceived adoption of the eight domains of FDC across detention and community services agencies in the state of Georgia. We collected mixed methods data involving surveys and in-depth qualitative interviews with JJ system administrators, staff, and practitioners between November 2021- July 2022. In total, 140 individuals from 61 unique JJ agencies participated in surveys; and 16 JJ key informants participated in qualitative interviews.

RESULTS

FDC domains with the highest perceived adoption across agencies included identifying and involving families, informing families, collaborative decision-making and treatment planning, and family diversity and inclusion. Other domains that had mixed or lower perceived adoption included involving families in organizational feedback and policy making, family peer support, logistical support, and family health and functioning. Adoption of FDC domains differed across staff and organizational characteristics.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this mixed methods assessment will inform strategic planning for the scale-up of FDC strategies across JJ agencies in the state, and serve as a template for assessing strengths and weaknesses in the application of family engagement practices in systems nationally.

Caregiver and Juvenile Justice Personnel Perspectives on challenges and importance of caregiver engagement and the potential utility of a peer navigator program in the Juvenile Justice System

BACKGROUND

For youth involved in the juvenile justice (JJ) system, caregiver involvement and engagement in the system is crucial for youth development and outcomes of JJ cases; however, there are challenges to establishing positive/productive partnerships between caregivers and JJ representatives. The current project examines perspectives of caregivers and JJ personnel regarding facilitators and barriers to establishing JJ-caregiver partnerships, as well as their perceptions of the use of a caregiver navigator program to support caregivers of system-involved youth. Results are used to inform development of a caregiver navigator program to support caregivers and help them navigate the JJ system.

RESULTS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers of youth involved in JJ (n = 15, 53% White, 93% female), JJ personnel (n = 7, 100% White, 50% female), and JJ family advisory board members (n = 5, 100% Black, 100% female). Caregivers reported varying experiences across intake/arrest, court, and probation processes. Positive experiences were characterized by effective communication and feeling supported by JJ. Negative experiences related to feeling blamed and punished for their child's system involvement and feeling unsupported. JJ interviews corroborated caregiver sentiments and also illustrated facilitators and barriers to JJ-caregiver partnerships. Both JJ personnel and caregivers endorsed potential benefits of a peer-based caregiver navigator program to provide social, informational, and emotional support.

CONCLUSION

Continued work is needed to improve JJ-caregiver partnerships and use of a peer-based navigator program has the potential to address barriers to caregiver engagement in the JJ system.

Vaccination for Justice-Involved Youth

Justice-involved youth are at increased risk for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, and structural barriers may limit their access to vaccination. We implemented a COVID-19 vaccination initiative for justice-involved youth residing at the county juvenile detention center and enrolled in local community-based monitoring programs. Our overarching goal was to increase COVID-19 vaccine access and uptake for justice-involved youth in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Our efforts incorporated: a virtual forum with youth, guardians, and community partners; one-on-one outreach to guardians; motivational interviewing with youth; and coordination with organizational leaders. We collaborated with a multidisciplinary medical team to offer individualized education and counseling to parents and youth expressing vaccine hesitancy. We developed a logistical framework to ensure complete COVID-19 vaccination series for all youth, including centralized tracking and implementation of multiple community-based vaccine clinics. Through our initiative, 31 justice-involved youth have received at least 1 dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 50 doses have been administered as a result of this initiative. This work has reaffirmed hypothesized barriers to vaccine access among justice-involved youth, including limited parental involvement, inadequate transportation, vaccine misinformation, and distrust rooted in histories of medical mistreatment of communities of color. Best practices for promoting equitable vaccination efforts among vulnerable subgroups include partnering closely with diverse community members; offering individualized, strengths-based counseling on vaccine safety, efficacy, and importance; and demonstrating provider trustworthiness by recognizing histories of oppression.

Factors associated with family involvement in a family-centered care program among incarcerated French adolescents with conduct disorder

PURPOSE

This study aims to identify the patient characteristics that may influence family involvement in a family-centered care program during detention.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH

Little is known about the needs of incarcerated adolescents and their families. This exploratory study used a cross-sectional design to collect data from incarcerated adolescents with conduct disorder followed in a French outpatient psychiatric department. Logistic regression models were used to identify the sociodemographic, clinical and family characteristics of these incarcerated adolescents that could predict family involvement in their care.

FINDINGS

Among 44 adolescents with conduct disorder, the probability of family involvement during the adolescent's detention was 9.6 times greater (95% CI 1.2-14.4, p = 0.03) for adolescents with no than for those with cannabis substance use disorder, and family involvement decreased with the age of the adolescent (OR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.1-0.9, p = 0.04).

RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS

Increased knowledge of the characteristics of these adolescents and their families is needed to develop programs that will increase family interventions by specialty treatment services during detention.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE

No study has yet been published on French incarcerated adolescents with conduct disorder. As conduct disorder is one of the most important mental health disorders among delinquent adolescents, this study provides knowledge about these adolescents and the need to involve their parents in their care to prevent the further escalation of problem behaviors.

Mapping Juvenile Justice: Identifying Existing Structural Barriers to Accessing Probation Services

The majority of justice-involved youth are placed on probation; however, many of those same youth struggle to comply with probation requirements and are subsequently confined. In Baltimore, 20% of newly committed youth were detained for violations of probation. While there are various reasons youth fail to comply with probation requirements, there have been recent calls to consider the impact of structural and spatial barriers to accessing probation programs and services. Centering the goals of community psychology, we aim to identify how existing structural barriers in Baltimore City may be contributing to social injustice through inequitable access to probation services for youth and their families. In this study, we take a novel, interdisciplinary approach to identify structural or spatial barriers facing justice-involved youth in Baltimore, MD. Specifically, we explore transportation barriers (i.e., vehicle access) and spatial disparities between youth residences and probation office locations. Our findings suggest that there are several barriers facing Baltimore's justice-involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with juvenile probation. Specifically, we found that 1 in 3 youths reside in areas with extremely low levels of vehicle access and where the median household income is 25% below the city median. We also find that the majority of youth live beyond walking distances; many would require lengthy transit commutes. These findings highlight the structural and spatial barriers facing justice-involved youth that may impact access to and engagement with probation services.

A Phenomenological Study of Immigrant Parents of Adolescents with Delinquent Behavior in Israel

Scarce qualitative literature has focused on understanding the perspective of parents of adolescents involved in crime, and no prior literature has examined how the status of being a parent of an adolescent who is involved in delinquency intersects with being an immigrant parent. The current phenomenological study examined, through the eyes of immigrant parents, how they comprehend their children's involvement in delinquent behavior. This study examined in-depth semistructured interviews conducted with fourteen immigrant parents (10 mothers and 4 fathers) from the former Soviet Union in Israel of children treated in rehabilitation facilities for delinquent youth. Data analysis revealed a gradual decline in children's behavior ascribed to the developmental stage of adolescence, the pressures of immigration, and cultural conflict. These three factors are interwoven together to create a fabric within which they see their children turning to crime. Parents' gradual loss of control is balanced by attempts to idealize the parent-child relationship and to minimize the severity of the offenses committed. They describe various differing and even contradictory experiences of themselves as parents and their struggles to piece together incohesive, alternating experiences of themselves as parents. Despite the critical role they can play in their children's rehabilitation, as well as the distress that they themselves experience, parents of children involved in delinquent behavior have often been ignored in research. Acknowledging parents' perspectives and experiences can allow development of appropriate therapeutic strategies to support them and maximize their abilities to support their children.