OJJDP News @ a Glance - November/December 2008

OJJDP's Court Coordination Program Promotes the Delivery
of Services to Children in Need

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Judge Nan Waller of Multnomah County, Oregon gives a blanket Stephanie Quisnoy a graduate of the Wraparound Oregon program.

Judge Nan Waller of Multnomah County, Oregon, gives a blanket to Stephanie Quisnoy, a graduate of the Wraparound Oregon program.

Three years ago, OJJDP developed the Court Coordination Program (CCP) to address a challenge that many judges—particularly those in large jurisdictions—face in ensuring that children with multiple needs receive treatment and services from multiple agencies. Although judges may order appropriate services for these youth, the youth too often fail to get the complete services they need due to breakdowns in communication and coordination. CCP supports a court coordinator who reports directly to the juvenile court judge and oversees and coordinates cases so that children get the comprehensive services they need.

The program is based on Judge Leonard Edwards' successful wraparound model, the Milwaukee model, which establishes that services should be provided to children on an individual needs-driven basis rather than a "one-approach-fits-all" model. Each child's treatment plan is focused to achieve successes in each of their trouble areas, such as school attendance, substance abuse, family issues, or other variables. The program's success lies in coordinating services and funding from different programs.

Desired outcomes of CCP include improved efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery, increased speed in successfully closing cases, reduced duplicative services, decreased disproportionate minority contact, and a reduced recidivism rate for comparable juveniles appearing before the court.

The CCP Sites

The program was launched in 2005, and each site receives a total of $120,000 in funding: $60,000 in year 1, $40,000 in year 2, and $20,000 in year 3. Larger cities were chosen for the program because these large service delivery systems are the most likely to experience breakdowns in coordinating services for youth with multiple needs.

The five CCP pilot sites are Albany County, Albany, NY; Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, OH; Miami-Dade County, Miami, FL; Orleans Parish, New Orleans, LA; and Multnomah County, Portland, OR. Each jurisdiction defined its target population based on local knowledge and local need. Referrals to CCP are made by probation staff, judges, court intake, and the CCP court coordinator.

CCP's first site completed its 3-year pilot in October 2008, and the other sites will complete their pilots by June 2010. Early results are encouraging, and all five programs participating in the pilot program have met one of the great challenges of all new programs: securing funding to sustain their services.

Improvement in Coordination

One goal of the program was to improve coordination for youth being served. According to Court Coordinator Alice Galloway of Multnomah County, this goal has been achieved. She remarked that coordination "has improved 100 percent." For Multnomah County systems it is now "a matter of fact that they work together," Galloway said. The silos that previously separated the funding and practice of various systems have been put aside in the interest of a wraparound service model.

The Miami-Dade program has focused on working with truants. Court Coordinator Cheryl Polite-Eaford stated that many problems cause truancy and CCP has opened access to the school system and other systems needed to effect positive changes. For instance, she has been able to coordinate with various agencies to streamline assessments so that they are done quickly and result in a more effective service/program selection and speedier delivery.

Cross-site Evaluation

Success Story

According to Multnomah County Judge Nan Waller, Roger* had bounced through 20 foster placements by the time he was 9 years old, but with CCP's comprehensive approach, his life has transformed.

Returning to Oregon after a failed adoption out-of-state, Roger was placed in residential care, and his prognosis was long-term institutional care. He had no contact with relatives, and his brother was in an adoptive placement in another part of the State.

After entry into CCP, his facilitator and parent partner quickly found that his grandmother lived only three blocks from Roger's residential placement. His grandmother and the team worked with him on an individual plan of care that included a foster home, school, and sports.

Today, Roger is a thriving 11-year-old in public school and playing on an "All Star" baseball team. He is a talented and gifted student. Best of all, Roger is being adopted by his foster father.

*Name has been changed to protect the minor's identity.

One of the objectives of the CCP evaluation is to document the process of implementing services in each site. The profile of each youth and his or her family, the services provided to the youth, and any short-term changes in the youth's life skills and behavior are also documented when the youth enters the program.

Early assessment of the baseline data indicates that most youth in the program are not involved with drugs and most have adults in their lives but do not relate well to them. Overall, 69 percent of the participants are male. Males in these programs are slightly younger than females; the average of males ranges from 14.2 to 16.1 years old, while the average age of females ranges from 14.7 to 16.8 years old. Most youth are minority, and the largest minority group is African American.

The cross-site evaluation collects data on family structure, education, mental and physical health, substance abuse, criminal justice involvement, and other issues. Data following release from the program is being collected to compare with baseline data, and a process evaluation is currently underway with the final report expected in January 2010. A replication manual also is being produced for communities interested in implementing a court coordination model.

Obtaining Sustainable Funding

A major challenge of any new program is to secure future funding, and all five sites have accomplished this goal. Since the courts actively started participating in service coordination, the results have been very positive, according to Tim McDevitt, Placement Manager of Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. He noted the large drop in out-of-home placements made by the courts, from as high as 100 to 200 each year down to a high of 50. This change represents both a huge savings for the courts and better outcomes for the youth they serve. Ultimately, obtaining sustainable funding is possible when the coordinated approach achieves better outcomes for youth for the same or less money.