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WHAT DO THE NUMBERS TELL US? |
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Prevention is desperately needed in Chatham County and in Georgia
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The highest groups of re-offenders are youth between the ages of 8-13 (at 65%) and 14-16 (at 49%). Without parental involvement and early prevention, our first and second time offenders will likely commit more crimes and penetrate further into the system, increasing the need for costly residential treatment or short term wilderness type programs.
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Redirect Funds from Costly Residential to Parent Programs
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Youths will spend an average of 333 days in long-term residential programs (YDC), at a cost of approximately $165 per day. The total cost to the taxpayer is $54,945 per youth. Or they will spend 68 days in short-term residential (STP's) at $154 per day, at a total cost to the taxpayer of $10,472 per youth. Yet, as page 7 of the Georgia report on recidivism states, 1 out of every 2 youths committed to YDC's (51.4%) will re-offend within 3 years, as will 55.9% of youths committed to the STP's (such as wilderness or the old "boot camp" type of approaches). The SFI Model only costs the taxpayer $1,455 per youth, shows only a 16% recidivism rate, and actively involves the parents throughout the entire process. For the cost of putting one youth into a residential program ($24,000 - $48,000), we can effectively serve 17 to 34 families using the SFI Model! |
If the Parents Remain Unchanged, the Youth Will Likely Re-offend
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In the Juvenile Justice programs in Georgia and the rest of the United States, the focus is currently on the individual youth. Yet, this contradicts all the available outcome research, which shows that juveniles will return to future delinquent acts if their parents remain unchanged in the areas of consistent limit setting, rebuilding emotional attachments, and improved communication (Williams and Chang, 2000, p. 159). It is said that the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing over and over again, even though it is shown not to work! Georgia must employ evidence-based programs like the SFI Model that involve and change the parents.
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- Extremely Low Recidivism Rates:Research with low, medium, and high risk juveniles showed that the SFI Model reduced long term re-arrest rates to 16% over 12 months, compared with 55% in the control group. In addition, juveniles in the control group spent a total of 543 days in detention, at a cost to Georgia of $83,000 ($153.00 per day), while juveniles in the SFI group spent only 72 detention days, at a cost of $11,000. The cost savings were 87%, or $72,000 dollars ($83,000 -$11,000) using the SFI Model (Sells and Smith, 2003).
In another recently published study by the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 102 adolescents were court ordered and treated for alcohol and drug abuse using the six-week SFI Parenting With Love and Limits® program. Only 6.5% (six adolescents out of 93) relapsed in their substance abuse or re-offended over a one year period.
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- Increased Parent Involvement:Current treatment for juvenile offenders does not involve parents, but instead focuses on the individual youth. Yet research studies show that, without parent involvement, juvenile offenders will likely return to future delinquent acts (Williams and Chang, 2000, p.159).
Studies using the six week SFI Parenting With Love and Limits®parenting group show an 85% attendance rate by the parents and a 80% attendance rate by youth (Smith, Sells, & Rodman, 2003; Sells and Smith, 2003). Attendance by parents in the aftercare family therapy was 95%.
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- Aggression, ADD, Depression and Externalizing Problems Improved:Compared to the control group, the SFI Model significantly reduced aggressive behaviors, along with depression, attention deficit disorder problems, and externalizing (blaming others) problems as measured by the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL).
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- Parent-Adolescent Communication and Attitudes Improved:Compared to the control group, the SFI Model significantly improved parent and adolescent communication and decreased the mother's negative attitudes and perceptions about their adolescents.
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The SFI Model: Why Does It Work?
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Parenting with Love and Limits®, a six-week parenting group, is the only program in the US that is custom designed for parents with out-of-control and difficult teenagers (See Appendix B).
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The Parenting Group Creates a Long Needed Village of Support - Parents of today are isolated from their natural village of friends, neighbors, and extended family. The parenting classes bring four to eight groups of parents together to help one another get back their lost parental authority. They become a village and help one another out because they all have one thing in common - they are parents of difficult or out-of-control teenagers.
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Gives Parents a Step-by-Step Manual Rather Than Just Theory - Parents of today do not want a bunch of theory, but instead a step-by-step, concrete road map of how to regain their lost authority and restore nurturance with their child. Dr. Sells' five years of results resulted in the SFI 15-Step Model which gives both counselor and parent the micro-steps they need in a new and improved owner's manual.
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Gives the Parents What They Need in a Time Limited Package - Parents are extremely busy today. They do not want traditional treatment that can last up to six months or more. The SFI is so skills-based and step-by-step that the majority of families can complete it in 12 weeks.
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A Soft Love Approach - A teen's misbehavior is as much connected to a lack of structure as it is to a lack of nurturance. Yet, time and time again, treatment models only provide our families with a tough love approach. Parents need to be shown how to both love and like their child again.
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| A Filtration System - Parents often come to the conclusion, after taking the six-week Parenting with Love and Limits® classes that everyone in the family has to change - not just their teen. The parenting program acts like a filtration system. Once parental resistance is broken or reduced, the parents become ready and motivated for more intensive family counseling after the program ends. |
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