Award Information
Description of original award (Fiscal Year 2013, $582,268)
The Second Chance Act provides a comprehensive response to the increasing number of incarcerated adults and juveniles who are released from prison, jail, and juvenile residential facilities and are returning to their communities. The FY 2013 Second Chance Act Reentry Program for Juveniles with Co-Occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders seeks to reduce long-term alcohol and other substance abuse among juveniles in secure confinement facilities and to improve drug treatment and mental health services provided to them during their confinement and through the completion of their court supervision. A secure confinement facility may include a juvenile detention center, juvenile correctional facility, or staff-secure facility. Eligible juveniles must have been confined under juvenile court jurisdiction.
The Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS) proposes a new co-occurring disorders juvenile reentry program to reduce juvenile delinquency and criminal activity among committed male youth with co-occurring disorders. DYS will utilize the Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (A-CRA) to transform a staff secure residential substance abuse treatment program into a best practice model for integrated care. The companion Assertive Continuing Care (ACC) will be used to deliver continuing care at home in the community upon release. The goals for this project are to: 1) pilot integrated treatment for c-occurring disorders for youth in secure custody and 2) provide seamless continuing care and coordinated referrals to support pro-social community living. Treatment staff working in the program will be trained and certified on the A-CRA/ACC model by developer Mark Godfrey of Chestnut Health Systems. Two new continuing care specialists will provide continuing care upon release and introduce youth to appropriate community resources. A psychiatrist will be engaged from the University of Massachusetts Medical School to provide medication management and pharmacotherapy and a new Direct Care Support Staff will be added to enhance safety and security within the facility. Grant funds will be used to provide training to caseworkers and district office staff and engage a third-party researcher to provide a process evaluation and an assessment of short-term and long-term outcomes. Data will be coordinated by a part-time staff person.
CA/NCF