Ensure Quality Early Interventions

By supporting quality interventions policymakers help to ensure that young people get the services that they need at the earliest possible opportunity.  Early intervention is a good way to address delinquent behavior before it escalates; providing opportunities for youth to address gang affiliation, substance abuse and behavioral problems before they become more serious. Some of the strategies for ensuring quality early interventions include:

• Ensure quality mental health and substance abuse interventions. Many teens experiment with alcohol and drugs; and research shows that teens with substance abuse problems are more likely to break the law, behave violently, or drop out of school.[1]  Additionally, while youth with mental health disorders commit only a minority of a community’s delinquencies, they are at far greater risk of offending and re-offending than youth, on average, in their communities.  In order to prevent delinquency, it is critical that youth with substance abuse and mental health treatment needs receive early interventions and quality supports.[2]  The Wyoming Substance Abuse Control Plan is an integrated, statewide alcohol and drug control plan enacted by the Legislature and funded with proceeds from the State's share of the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. The Plan calls for the Wyoming Department of Health, in conjunction with the Department of Corrections, and the Department of Family Services to work jointly toward achieving and developing comprehensive substance abuse strategies targeting prevention, early intervention, and treatment of tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse in the state.
• Invest in gang prevention and intervention. Investing in anti-gang strategies such as, primary prevention, secondary prevention, gang interventions, and gang enforcement, are important in reducing the number of youth that get involved or remain involved in gangs.[3]  The Texas Legislature appropriated funds to support programs that expand juvenile gang prevention efforts along the Texas-Mexico border. The Texas Border Gang Prevention Coordination Assistance Program provides communities with funds to enhance the coordination of existing community-based juvenile gang prevention and intervention programs. Effective coordination can help identify existing programs and resources and maximize their impact through information sharing, mutual referrals, joint case management, and collective action.
• Provide immediate intervention and sanctions for behavioral problems. When youth begin to exhibit behavioral problems, it is important to intervene early in order to ensure that the behavior does not escalate.  Supporting policies that take into account protective and risk factors for juvenile delinquency, and that lead to appropriate interventions will help to ensure that youth have the supports that they need to avoid further behavioral problems.  The At-Risk Youth Intervention Program, established by state law in California, is designed to assess and serve families with children that exhibit chronic behavioral issues. The program provides opportunities for immediate and local supports for youth with behavior problems in an effort to prevent future involvement with the justice system.
• Support youth courts. Youth court is an alternative to the juvenile justice system for young people who have committed non-violent offenses.  The program’s goal is to intervene in early antisocial, delinquent, and criminal behaviors in an effort to reduce incidents and prevent their escalation. For communities’ youth courts can provide an opportunity to recover losses due to juvenile crime and to regain confidence in local youth.[4]  New York State, through the New York State Division of Criminal Justice System and the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, funds the Association of New York State Youth Courts.  The Association of New York State Youth Courts aims to create a state-wide comprehensive juvenile justice alternative operated for and by youth.