Youth Outreach Services

Detention Alternatives YOS believes finding community-based alternatives to expensive incarceration is a better way to break the cycle of further involvement in the juvenile justice system. Evening Report Center (ERC) - The ERC program is a community-based alternative to detention for a target group of juvenile offenders who would otherwise be detained in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center. The ERC staff supervises and counsels up to 25 males, five days per week. Through the use of our qualified staff and specialized curriculum, the ERC seeks to achieve the following goals: • Provide highly structured, well-supervised individual and group activities. • Provide opportunities for adolescents to enhance their strengths and gain new skills to reduce their risk to reoffend. • Ensure court appearances and reduce the likelihood of re-arrest while enabling the minor to continue attending school and remain at home. Day Reporting Program YOS believes that providing support and mentorship at critical junctures in youths’ lives enables them to learn from mistakes and avoid future problems. In partnership with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), YOS accepts referrals for the Day Reporting Center from the Aftercare Department for youth who have failed to meet the conditions of their release and are at high risk for re-commitment to an Illinois Youth Center facility. Based on each youth’s risk assessment, an individual plan of wrap-around services is developed to target areas of highest risk. Youth are engaged with appropriate services to address risk areas and learn skills to handle them independently when the program ends. Family involvement, life skills education, recreational opportunities, pro-social activities, and education are addressed within a plan. Multisystemic Family Therapy (MST) YOS believes that the family unit is an incredible asset in every youth’s life and should be nurtured and maintained. A family-focused, evidence-based initiative designed to serve youth ages 12-17 who struggle with complex emotional, social and academic issues, as well as delinquency such as: Juvenile Justice

• Truancy and academic performance • Serious disrespect and disobedience • Aggressive behaviors (i.e., fighting and property destruction) • Criminal activity • Drug and alcohol abuse • Runaway tendencies

This program serves all of Cook County, IL. MST therapists provide home-based and 24/7 on-call services for a span of 3-6 months, utilizing individualized treatment plans that incorporate the family’s values, beliefs and culture. To prevent the removal of youth from their homes and/or their involvement in the juvenile justice system, the YOS MST Program helps youth develop the abilities they need to positively modify their behavior, while also providing parents and primary caregivers the skills and resources they need to independently address the difficulties of raising teens with behavior problems. Multi-Systemic Therapy for Problematic Sexual Behavior (MST–PSB) YOS believes that a specialized treatment plan ensures client, victim, and community safety. MST-PSB is an evidence-based adaptation of MST. MST-PSB is a family therapy program designed to serve youth ages 10-17.5 displaying problematic sexual behavior (PSB). Examples of PSB include unwanted touching, incest, etc. This is an intensive program, with therapists meeting with families at least three times per week. MST–PSB therapists are also on call 24/7 for crisis management and meet with

families in the community (typically in their homes). MST–PSB is highly focused on safety planning in order to prevent further instances of PSB. MST–PSB also works in close collaboration with the Children’s Advocacy Center, who provides trauma-focused therapy for the victims of the PSB. • The MST-PSB program covers all of Cook County. • For clients to be eligible for services they must live in a home with a long-term caregiver (or will be returning home from a placement within 2 weeks of starting treatment). • Services are free to families.

Diversion & Reentry Services Reentry services are for kids who are coming back into the community from detention or the Department of Juvenile Justice. Diversion cases are those referrals where we are trying to prevent them from penetrating the system.