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OP-ED: YES Closing Follow-up

3/11/2010

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Family Youth Interventions Program Created After Youth Emergency Services Closing—Is It Enough?

By Shanna Malott

Youth Emergency Services (YES) closed on December 31, 2009. YES provided what previous YES Program Director John Kennedy called, “pre-system, in person, crisis care, 24/7, without an appointment, adjudication or diagnosis!” These services were available to provide comfort and safety to children and families during crisis or to intervene before the situation became a crisis. YES provided programming for the Marion County Department of Child Services (DCS) and the Marion County Juvenile Probation Department. DCS Director James Payne decided to close YES in an effort to save an estimated $1 million by having DCS provide services directly to those families formerly served through YES.

What impact has YES closing had on the children and families in Marion County, or is it still too early to tell? How have the gaps been filled? Family Youth Interventions (FYI) is the Juvenile Probation Department’s response to YES closing. FYI takes the place of YES’ Back2Home program and Reception Center. FYI serves runaways and juvenile offenders who commit status offenses (e.g. truancy, curfew violations). Probation opened FYI on January 11, 2010 and has already served 357 youths (ages 8 – 17) through the end of February. Staff at FYI report that things are going well and thus far there has been a smooth transition. FYI is staffed 24/7 with three probation officers per shift and one supervisor.

Early statistics demonstrate FYI’s success in providing services and returning children home. Of the 357 served by FYI, 81.5% were returned home, almost 54% were referred for voluntary services and nearly 16% received follow-up case management services. None received a formal diversion contract and only one was referred to court.

FYI has an operating budget of $850,000 annually. This is $700,000 more than what they were paying for YES. Deputy Chief Probation Officer Christina Ball was able to secure funding for FYI services through a DCS Region 10 (Marion County) prevention grant program, a federal Justice Assistance Grant, and unencumbered court monies. However, Ball is unsure whether additional funding will be secured to sustain FYI. A number of options include FYI becoming a line item in the Juvenile Court’s operating budget, grant funding, or contracting with another agency already providing 24/7 programming. Ball indicates that contracting with another agency, as they did with YES, would be the most cost effective, saving approximately $700,000 annually.

FYI serves all of Marion County, an advantage over YES’ Back2Home and Reception Center pilot programs that served specific police districts. Ball also wants to localize the FYI program to provide the services at neighborhood venues to cover the north, south, east and west sides of town. This localized model would be very similar to NACS (Neighborhood Alliance for Children’s Safety), a Children’s Bureau program that has been quite successful in preventing children from entering the child welfare system.

Unlike the YES programs, FYI does not serve walk-ins. A child or family in need of services to prevent a crisis or involvement in the system could walk into YES and receive crisis intervention and referral to necessary services. FYI only provides services to youths brought in by a law enforcement officer. Thus, FYI functions more as a provider of early intervention services with the hopes of reducing the likelihood of repeat or more severe offenses, while YES was in a position to intervene and prevent any system level involvement.

Where can these children and families who are not eligible for FYI services now go when they’ve reached a crisis point and need help? Who should step-in? Who should provide the funding for those early intervention and prevention services? The Early Intervention and Prevention (EIP) initiative at MCCOY, under the direction of the Early Intervention Planning Council, is making efforts to address and answer these questions. EIP has the ultimate goal of reducing the number of children, youth and families entering the children welfare and/or juvenile justice system. To rise to the call of action to fill in the gaps or to assist in building a more coordinated early intervention and prevention system in Marion County, please contact Shanna Malott, Early Intervention Community Coordinator, at 317-921-1233 or shanna.malott@mccoyouth.org.

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Shanna Malott is the Early Intervention Community Coordinator at Marion County Commission on Youth (MCCOY). MCCOY is the youth services intermediary for Central Indiana whose mission is to champion the positive development of youth through leadership on key issues and support of the youth worker community. MCCOY’s vision is that every young person in central Indiana has opportunities to thrive, learn, engage and contribute.



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