TPP Juvenile Justice Center Case Study
Organization: University of Utah-Adolescent Services, Salt Lake City, UT
URL: http://healthcare.utah.edu/pediatrics/services/general/teen-health.php
Program Name: South Main Clinic – PREP class at Juvenile Justice Center
Funding: PREP
Curricula used: Love Notes
Curricula benefits:
- Love Notes works well as a supplement to the required PREP materials.
- Activities allow for easy adaptations to engage youth.
- Student journals provide opportunities for goal setting writing.
- PPT graphics and pictures are easily modified to tailor for the audience.
- Love Notes is flexible when students become highly engaged in a specific topic
Target Audience: The target audience 14-19 year old male and female youth at two juvenile justice centers 14-19 year old male sex offenders in a juvenile justice center.
Audience Demographics:
Gender: Teen incarcerated males and teen male sex offenders.
Primary Ethnicity: Mix of ethnicity with more Hispanic (because of area) split with Caucasian.
Class size: 20 male youth in each of 5 classes at Juvenile Justice Centers (2 classes at 2 different centers and 1 for male sex offenders at 1 center)
Location of Instruction: Love Notes is offered at 2 Juvenile Justice Centers – Decker Lake Center and Wasatch Center, Salt Lake City, UT.
Length of Instruction: Love Notes is offered at 2 Juvenile Justice Centers for 2-hour sessions, once a week for 8 weeks in the summer.
Utilization of teacher and student materials: South Main Clinic has one facilitator teaching at this time. She occasionally gets nursing students or volunteers to co- facilitate. They are given upcoming lesson to read and prepare. The facilitator uses Love Notes instructor manual. Students use student journals and they are able to keep them. Handouts are also used during sessions. Love Notes is required as part of day programming in summer programs in Juvenile Justice Centers to replace school classes.
Outcomes: Outcomes over the 3 years of using Love Notes were gathered from pre/post tests.These tests demonstrate an improvement in:
- communication and conflict resolution skills
- ability to identify healthy and safe relationships
- implementing effective goal setting skills for education and relationships
- ability to participate in sharing what they’ve learned
Challenges: Seeing youth back at the Juvenile Justice Center demonstrates a challenge. Did they get it and were they able to make life changes? Upon discussions with returning youth they seem to remember what they learned from previous sessions. Encouraging them to act on this knowledge is encouraged. Classroom management can be challenging due to the facilities they are in. Participation was challenging but by implementing incentives in the sessions there is better participation with the challenging students.
Tips: Getting to know your community, the administration and staff of a facility is needed for success in program and support. They are an asset to you, the youth and the program. Make sure you have co-facilitator for better class management. Suggestions for co-facilitators include involving local colleges, community centers and interns. Incentives are an effective method for participation in sessions and to encourage worksheets and journal exercises to be completed. Youth can earn monopoly money. This can be cashed in every couple of weeks for items like: candy, ramen noodles, makeup, and sticky notes. The incentives were paid for via the grant. Watch Up Your Game! Strengthen Your PREP Adult Preparation Topics Using proven, adaptable materials (Free Webinar)