Support Comprehensive Aftercare Services

Approximately 100,000 youth under the age of 18 leave secure residential facilities, including juvenile facilities, jails and prisons.[1]  Youth who are released from institutional confinement—many of whom struggle with substance abuse, mental illness, lack of education and family and housing instability—are more likely to succeed if they have access to services that meet their needs and help them thrive in the community.  Ensuring coordinated pre- and post-release supports and continued access to services can help youth transition back to the community and support their long-term success and well-being. Some of the strategies for supporting aftercare services include:

• Develop a coordinated pre- and post-release strategy. Approximately 130,000 youth—or the total number of students in Alaska—are released annually from juvenile justice or probation facilities in California alone.[2]  To ensure that youth successfully reenter the community and avoid recidivism, policymakers can support the development of a coordinate pre- and post-release reentry strategy that includes pre-release planning beginning with out-of-home placement; connection to community-based services; individualized reentry plans; a focus on school re-enrollment; reengagement with permanent, supportive family connections; access to needed substance abuse treatment and mental health care; workforce preparation; and housing assistance.[3]  A comprehensive reentry process begins after sentencing and continues through incarceration and into the period of release back into the community. At the time of release from detention, youth in New York are presented with a Youth Service Plan that details all program requirements: school enrollment and attendance, participation in assigned Boys and Girls Club activities, compliance with all service referrals, compliance with curfew, attendance at weekly case management meetings and attendance at biweekly court hearings. These plans aim to ensure that both the youth and parent have a clear understanding of the expectations and consequences of non-compliance.[4]

• Ensure continued access to needed services. To ensure a complete transition back into the community, discourage further delinquent behavior and promote the well-being and success of youth leaving the juvenile justice system, policymakers should ensure that these youth have continued access to services that meet their health, mental health, substance abuse, educational, housing, employment and other needs.  Rhode Island’s Project Hope provides transition services to youth with serious emotional disturbances returning to the community. Administered by the state Department for Children, Youth and Families, the program recognizes the importance of advocacy for strength-based practices and family involvement in decision making. A youth involved with Project Hope receives intensive community-based services which can include: family service coordination; mentoring; job and life skills development; care management; crisis intervention; therapeutic recreational activities; educational advocacy; tracking and other non-traditional services as requested by the youth and family.