A new pilot program in Colorado is aimed at keeping teens with mental-health problems out of the criminal-justice system, foster care, hospitals, and out-of-home placements. The $80,000 pilot program is expected to save the state millions of dollars, the Sterling Journal Advocate reported Aug. 9.The program consists of several tiers of intervention. There's hang-out time, where teens can play games, watch videos, work on the computer, or do homework. There's also one-on-one and group therapy where the teens can discuss their feelings without being judged, learn life skills, and discover how to make life choices that won't lead them down a dead-end path.
Teens also take part in focus groups, which include discussions on alcohol and other drug use, anger management, depression, and self-esteem. Community-service projects are also required.
In the early stages of the program, teens go to the center four times a week. After five months, the frequency is reduced to two times a week.
"These kids we are working with have a history of problems and weak support systems. The way for them to have success is to have a support system in their life that is positive," said Virgie Nelson, coordinator of youth services at Centennial Mental Health Center, in Sterling, Colo., one of the pilot sites. "It isn't just changing a pattern of thinking. It's changing a lifestyle."
To qualify for the program, participants must be under the age of 18, have been in the criminal-justice system and diagnosed with a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, or attention-deficit disorder.
"The program gives them a different view than what they know," said JaNae Roelle, a certified addiction counselor at the center who works with the pilot program. "It gives them other ideas and options they wouldn't have otherwise."
To date, seven of the 60 youth in the Sterling program have obtained GEDs. Citing links between having a GED and staying out of jail, the state said the GED recipients alone would save $3 million in tax dollars.
A study on the program's participants also indicated that the state would save $2.3 million in costs related to other placements, such as with psychiatric institutions, foster care, special education, and detention.
The other pilot site is located in Denver. If the two programs are successful, the initiative could become a grant program open to any of the state's mental-health centers.
COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:
(Comments now appear first to last)