Statewide Gaps Analysis and

Program Recommendations

An overview and summary for the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee

February 5, 2015

Stephanie A. Bradley, Ph.D.

Objective• Identify needs for prevention, intervention,

and innovative/promising programs to fill gaps in services

• To include: Basic needs assessment related to delinquency

prevention to identify unaddressed risk factors in current menu

Analysis of currently supported programs Quality outcomes? Still filling a need?

Process1. Examine and analyze statewide data sources

2. Identify heightened areas of risk and vulnerability

3. Review current VPP programs’ match to needs

4. Identify additional programs to match unmet needs through program registries, evidence base, and emerging research

5. Rank candidate programs’ evidence of effectiveness

6. Recommend programs based on ranking and need

Key Considerations• Across youth development

In-utero/infancy, elementary through high school, transition to adulthood

• Across contexts (levels) Individual, family, school, community Gender, race/ethnicity

• Across continuum of risk Universal prevention to placement

Data Sources Across Risk• PAYS 2011 & 2013 Statewide – evaluate risk and

protective factors, problem behaviors among school

attending youth (“universal” population)

• 2012 PA Juvenile Court Dispositions – examine

characteristics of youth making contact with the

juvenile justice system

• 2007-09 JCJC Recidivism – evaluate needs for higher

risk youth entering and returning to the juvenile

justice system

Registries and Research• Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development

• Crimesolutions.gov; Nat’l Institute of Justice

• California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare

• National Registry of Evidence-based Programs & Practices (NREPP), SAMHSA

• Striving to Reduce Youth Violence Everywhere (STRYVE), CDC

• Prevention Research Center, awareness of emerging evidence

Findings & Recommendations

Need: Positive Youth Development• Community opportunities for prosocial

involvement; all grades

• Relational and physical aggression and suspensions spike in 8th grade

• Depression, 38% of female students report feeling sad or depressed on most days compared to 24% of males.

Positive Action: Blueprints Model program, across elementary + middle school, integrated into school day.

Focus on social-emotional learning, character development. Significant effects across many prosocial and antisocial behaviors and emotional disturbance.

Recommendation:

Need: ATOD Prevention

10th grade youth report higher rates of being drunk at school and being arrested relative to 8th grade youth (2.45x, 1.43x)

The most widely used substance is alcohol, with 44% of seniors reporting using within the last 30 days.  

Low perceived risk of drug use The rate of decline is lowest for drug related dispositions

Current VP programs address these needs: Life Skills Training – school-based, middle school Project Toward No Drug Abuse – school-based, high

school SFP 10-14 – middle & high school aged youth

Recommendations:

Need: Family Functioning/Coping• 46% of all youth involved in delinquency dispositions

reported their biological parents as never married.  

• 80% of youth who recidivate come from disrupted

family situations (i.e., never married, divorced,

separated, one or both parents deceased).

• Youth with both parents deceased recidivated at the

highest rate (32%) of all family situations

• Parental attitudes favorable to antisocial behaviors (55)

1. Familias Fuertes2. Family Bereavement Program3. Family Foundations for Expectant Parents4. New Beginnings for Children of Divorce5. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)6. Positive Parenting Program (Triple P)7. Strong African American Families8. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

(TF-CBT)

Recommendations:

Need: Family Functioning/Coping

Familias Fuertes• Hispanic version of SFP 10-14; Promising results

from Chester County concept grantStrong African American Families• Blueprints Promising; culturally tailored SFP 10-

14Positive Parenting Program (“Triple P”)• Blueprints Promising; promoting parenting

competence, reducing maltreatment risk, and child behavior and emotion problems. Universal to selective. Ages birth to 12.

Recommendations:

Need: Family Functioning/Coping

Family Bereavement Program• Strongly indicated need, preliminary research promising

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)• CA Clearinghouse highest rating, high quality research.

Treatment is for youth with a known trauma experience (not ‘suspected’ trauma).

Need: Family Functioning/Coping

Recommendations:

Final 2015 New VP Programs

1. Positive Action2. Familias Fuertes3. Strong African American Families4. Triple P – Positive Parenting Program5. Family Bereavement Program6. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

(TF-CBT)

Promotion Prevention Treatment MaintenancePromotion Universa

lSelective Indicated Case

IdentificationStandard Treatment for Known Disorders

Compliance with Long-term Treatment

**Positive Action

Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies

         

Incredible Years Dinosaur School          

LifeSkills Training          Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

         

Project Towards No Drug Abuse        **Familias Fuertes

**Strong African American Families**Triple P

  Strengthening Families 10-14

       

  Big Brothers Big Sisters

       

**Family Bereavement Program

  Incredible Years Basic Parent Training      Incredible Years Dinosaur Small Group Therapy      Aggression Replacement Training    

**Trauma-Focused CBT      Functional Family Therapy      Multisystemic Therapy        Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care

Continuum of VP Programs

LifeSkills Training Blueprints Initiative 2013

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA 3 years of free training, technical assistance

support from Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CO)

Train teachers to implement as part of health curriculum

Recruitment for 2013 included co-sponsored letter from PCCD, PDE, and DDAP

Implemented in 50+ school districts, 34 collected data, on 4,800+ youth

Significant improvements across knowledge, skills, and risks.

Recruitment for 2016 participation underway.

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA

Overall Knowl-edge

ATOD Knowl-edge

LifeSkills Knowl-edge

Positive Self-Im-

age

Good De-cision

Making

Negative Media In-fluence

Anxiety Reduction

Effective Commu-nication

Pre 0.65 0.58 0.69 0.83 0.85 0.64 0.66 0.65

Post 0.75 0.71 0.78 0.87 0.89 0.73 0.78 0.74

10%

30%

50%

70%

90%

Knowledge

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA

Peer Refusal Assertiveness Relaxation Task Persistance

Pre 4.47 3.69 3.67 3.85

Post 4.6 3.8097 3.9 3.84

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

Life Skills

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA

Favorable Attitudes-

A&T

Favorable Attitudes-Smoking

Favorable Attitudes-Drinking

Peer Use Percep-

tions

Adult Use Percep-

tions

Intent to Use ATOD

ATOD Use

Pre 1.34 1.315 1.369 1.6879 2.7686 1.09 1.07

Post 1.33 1.3 1.3546 1.866 2.61 1.11 1.08

1.5

2.5

3.5

4.5

Risks

 Number of Sites

Youth Served

Pennsylvania CostsWSIPP Benefits

PA Return on

Investment

PCCD Data

5 grants 1,584 $227/youth

Cost per participant based on EPISCenter analysis of 2010-12 PCCD budgets for LST grants.

$3,461/youth

$5,122,656

CSPV Data*

34 school districts

4,963 $7.84/youth

Calculated by cost of data collection fees by the Survey Research Center, divided by the number of youth served by CSPV.

$3,461/youth

$17,137, 239

    6,547  Total Value:

$22,259,895

ROI is calculated as the total costs (cost * youth) subtracted from total benefits (benefits * youth).

*The cost that CSPV invested in this project for training and materials is not incorporated into these figures, as it was not an expense that PA directly incurred.

LifeSkills TrainingBlueprints Initiative in PA