Spotlight on
Steuben County's Youth Program
by Rick McInroy, Program Manager
Ever since his cousin died in a car accident last year, 16-year-old John* has been getting into fights at school and with his two younger brothers at home. His parents were referred to the Center's Steuben County office through our PINS Diversion program, to see if they could get John the help and support he needs. At first, John was reluctant to come to the program, but after meeting with the staff and his parents for an intake meeting, John started to open up about his feelings of rage and grief. He eventually told his parents that he had been feeling guilty about his cousin's death. Over the course of three months in the program, John came to realize that he could manage his feelings in better ways, and he began to write song lyrics as a way to express his grief over the loss of his cousin.
The Center's Youth Program in Steuben County serves Youth ages 7 to 18. This program is separated into two sub-programs; PINS Diversion and Juvenile Delinquency Adjustment.
The PINS Diversion program is a referral-based program for the most part. The referrals come from Probation Officers and Department of Social Services (DSS). Parents may also contact the Center for Dispute Settlement to ask for Youth mediation services without a referral.
The four parts to this program are:
- The Intake Meeting: At this meeting, we talk with the Parent and the Youth to explore the circumstances of why the Youth was referred. At the end of the Intake meeting, the Youth creates a Consent Agreement which consists of areas of improvement for him/her. The parent and the youth sign the agreement.
- Education Seminar: At this seminar the Youth learns about anger and conflict management, her/his conflict management style, how to make educated choices, etc.
- Youth Mediation: The topics of mediation are created by the parties. The parties could opt to participate in Conflict Coaching prior to doing mediation to become better prepared for mediation.
- Anger Management Workshop: This workshop consists of two sessions. Each session is two hours. Topics include but are not limited to: How to handle conflict and deescalate their anger, anger triggers, relaxation techniques, and handling everyday stress.
The Juvenile Delinquency Adjustment program is a referral-based program. The referrals come from probation officers.
The four parts to this program are:
- The Intake Meeting: At this meeting, we discuss what crime the youth committed and why, making better choices, and restitution, if sought.
- Education Seminar: Same as above
- Victim/Offender Mediation: At this mediation the Victim has an opportunity to meet face to face with the Offender in a non-threatening environment. One topic that would be discussed is restitution, if being sought.
- Letter of Apology: The Offender writes a letter of apology to the victim. The probation officer approves the letter and then sends it to us. We in turn mail the letter to the Victim.
For more information about our Steuben County Youth Program, contact Rick McInroy: rmcinroy@cdsadr.org
*Names and identifying information have been changed
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