Functional Family Therapy for At-Risk Youth

The OJJDP FY 10 Earmarks Program furthers the Department's mission by providing grants, cooperative agreements, and other assistance authorized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, as amended, to organizations identified in the Conference Report to accompany the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (P.L. 111-117), H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 111-366 at 702-714.

Children & Families First will provide community-based counseling and case management to at-risk youth ages 10-18 and their families, statewide, using the evidence-based Functional Family Therapy (FFT) model. FFT is proven effective in engaging challenging families with complex problems, and improves family relationships; improves school attendance; and reduces involvement in the juvenile justice system. The FFT Program for At-Risk Youth will target youth who have been identified by schools, community organizations, and/or law enforcement as at-risk for juvenile justice involvement. Each Therapist, with support from a Service Specialist, will serve 15 to 18 youth and their families for 16 to 26 counseling sessions, with additional aftercare booster sessions as needed. Services include counseling, information/referrals, concrete assistance and advocacy. FFT has three phases: Engagement/Motivation, Behavior Change, and Generalization. The goal of the program is to reduce risks for juvenile justice involvement, as measured by the following benchmarks: 60% of youth and families will reach the Generalization phase; of those youth who reach Generalization, 75% will have no criminal charges and 75% will improve school attendance; 75% of parents will indicate a perception of improvement relative to measures of family functioning, and 60% of youth will indicate a perception of improvement. NCA/NCF