Detention Program

This is a maximum secure program designed to house youthful offenders, male and female, eleven (11) to seventeen (17) years of age. Youth are lodged while awaiting court proceedings. The average length of stay is thirteen (13) days. This program is highly structured with each hour of every day designed to provide the youth with new learning experiences. The tool staff use to encourage change is called the “Token Economy System”. Youths earn tokens for displaying positive behaviors such as being respectful, reasonable, and responsible. The philosophies of Educative Detention are used to create an environment where youth learn skills such as anger management, communication skill building, building self-esteem, cleaning, improving personal hygiene, and learning budgeting.

Residential-Treatment

All youth, male and female, are committed to this program by the court. There are two components to the treatment program. The Youth Accountability and Attention Program (YAAP) is a short term intervention (up to sixty days) designed to ensure immediate, intensive, and “balanced” residential care for eligible youth who have not been complying with the conditions of community based supervision or who may require a “Temporary Time Out” in order to make the adjustments necessary to succeed at home, school, employment, and in the community. The Working for Success (WiSP) program is a longer term (three to eight month) intervention designed to provide at risk youth with a temporary, secure environment utilizing a milieu of individualized strength-based, family centered interventions to prepare youths for successful reentry to their home and community.

Both components use William Glasser’s Reality Therapy as a principle mode of therapy along with behavior modification through the use of the “Token Economy System”. A graduated level system is also used to monitor youth progress in the program. An Individualized Treatment Plan (ITP) is developed to help identify youth strengths and needs and to establish goals and objectives for the youth and family while in Treatment.

Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ)

BARJ principles are utilized throughout treatment. The BARJ response to crime is a balanced approach, giving equal consideration to the victims, offenders, and the community. The main principle of BARJ is that crime is harm, not just to the state, but also to victims and the community. The balanced approach has three main goals. First, to hold the offenders accountable to the victims and the harm they caused. Second, to have the offender leave the system more competent to function within the community than when he/she entered the system. Third, to promote public safety by the involvement of the community. The community should be responsible for the well-being of its members and should allow the offender to repair the harm and make reparations.

Reentry/Aftercare

Reentry is defined as reintegrative services that prepare out of home placed youth for reentry into the community by establishing the necessary collaborative arrangements to ensure the delivery of required services and supervision. Reentry is designed to minimize recidivism among youth released from out of home placement. A comprehensive reentry strategy and plan is developed from the onset of placement and is monitored and adjusted throughout placement by the Treatment Team. The three phases of reentry are:

1. Institution Phase

2. Pre-Release Phase

3. Community Phase

The critical elements of reentry that are addressed in each phase include Individualized/Specialized, Family, Community, Diversity, Strengths-based, Restorative, and Accountability.

Sex Offender Treatment

The Youth Center offers gender specific Sex Offender Treatment to court wards housed at the Youth Center and those in community placement. The treatment component consists of an offender risk assessment; individual, family, and group counseling/education; individualized adjustments to curriculum for lower functioning youth; comprehensive development and understanding of individual cycle of offense for both offender and family; comprehensive safety plan development for reentry into the community; relapse prevention planning; therapeutic monitoring of conditions of release while in community placement and individualized methods of accountability to victim(s). Continued cooperation and coordination with community resources is essential to the safety of the community.

Education Program

The Educational Component consists of five classrooms. The local Intermediate School District is contracted to provide the educational program. Teachers are certified in at least one area of special education that allows classes to be designed to meet the individual needs of all students. Each student receives six (6) classroom hours of individualized instruction each day in he areas of Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Personal Living, and Physical Education. All grades and/or transcripts are sent to the student’s local school district upon their release from the Youth Center. Students are tutored on a one-on-one basis, if necessary, and up to ten (10) students are allowed in each classroom. There is also a ten (10) week Summer School Program designed to offer the basics to all Treatment youth. Work-experience opportunities are also available to eligible students.

Student Wellness Program

The goal of the Student Wellness Program is to create a healthy environment that enhances the development of lifelong wellness practices to promote healthy eating and physical activities that support student achievement. The program has three components. First, the “Walk Around Michigan” walking program promotes physical fitness through healthy movement and exercise. Youth wear a pedometer and record the number of steps they take each day. Youth also pick a city in Michigan they will simulate walking to. When youth reach their destination they give a report to other youth about their pick city. Second, the “Garden Project” helps teach gardening and healthy eating skills. Youth cultivate, plant, monitor, and harvest vegetables grown. The vegetables are used in preparation of their daily meals. Finally, the ‘LaCuisine Formal Dinner Program” teaches healthy eating, menu planning, social graces, etiquette and team building. Formal dinners are held monthly.

Substance Abuse Education Program

“Class In Action” (CIA) is designed for youth grades 9-12. The program presents underage drinking as a communitywide issue, giving kids the opportunity to debate the legal problems of alcohol related cases involving teenagers. CIA is a 12-week, highly interactive program that uses a group format. CIA addresses drinking and driving, fetal alcohol syndrome, drinking and violence, date rape, drinking and vandalism, and school alcohol policies. CIA is facilitated by a community-based counseling agency at no cost to the youth, family, or Court.

Substance Abuse Treatment Program

Community-based service providers provide substance abuse treatment services for youth in the Treatment programs. Services include assessment, individual, group, and family counseling and are funded through contractual agreements with providers and by funds provided by the South Eastern Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA).

Project Second Chance

Project Second Chance is an “Anicare” based therapy program that pairs kids from the Youth Center with dogs from the Humane Society to give them a second chance. Youth are responsible for the care, grooming, and training of the dogs. Combined with therapy, the results are a win-win-win: a more compassionate and responsible youth, a more desirable dog for adoption and a safer community. A four-run kennel, funded entirely through private donations has been constructed on the Youth Center grounds to house the program.

Book Club

In partnership with the Monroe County Library System and the Active Balanced Community (ABC) initiative, the Book Club is a voluntary reading and discussion group designed to reach at-risk youth.

Skill Building Series – “Managing Emotions”

The skill building series “Managing Emotions” provides a series of compelling videos, accompanied by a selection of youth activities and print assignments designed to help improve youth skills in a variety of emotion related topics. The goal of the program is to help youth learn how to manage their emotions in a productive, socially acceptable way. Conflict resolution, stress-reducing strategies, anger management, violence prevention, and sensitivity training are essential skills that all young people need to learn. It is crucial that we teach young people how to understand and control difficult emotional impulses such as making impetuous decisions in anger, being verbally abusive, using physical violence or harassing others.

Youth Enrichment Activities (YEA!)

Youth strengths and needs are identified through an assessment process and are included in youth Individualized Treatment Plans. To help address these needs youths participate in Youth Enrichment Activities. These are staff led activities geared towards skill building and basic problem solving. These activities are action/process oriented and can be an ongoing experience. Although primarily utilized in the Treatment program, these activities are also available to youth in the Detention program.