(The Center Square) – A youth intervention program that helps adolescents steer clear of the juvenile justice system is successfully targeting a growing need in northwest Louisiana.
The Harbor resource center targets youth who have not committed serious offenses and also families in crisis. Last year the center served around 12,000 families, doubling the number from previous years.
Their on-site network of available services is growing.
Kelli Todd, executive director of Volunteers for Youth Justice, a nonprofit that manages the organization, said once families are there they don’t have to leave. Todd said that is key.
Todd shared updates, stories and intervention action with the Caddo Parish Commission juvenile justice committee on Thursday.
One such story involves a teen girl who was abused by her father. She arrived at the center alone, having ridden the city bus, with a visible black eye.
“She didn’t know where to go,” Todd said.
Her mother and the Department of Children and Family Services were contacted.
“Mom was also running from dad,” Todd said.
The Harbor’s on-site service providers helped them move to a safe house, bought school clothes and provided enough food to make it through the week.
“They’re thriving, and it’s because of the collaborative partnerships that we have,” Todd said.
The Harbor is making a measurable impact addressing adolescent truancy with its support for families struggling with school attendance. They intervene before youth are sent to Caddo Parish Juvenile Court, reducing the number of truancy-related cases.
“It’s been incredibly helpful to us – the most serious cases actually reach probation, as opposed to years past when some of our officers have perhaps had maybe 20-25% of their caseload be truancy,” said Andrew Randall, director of Juvenile Services for Caddo Parish. “That detracts from more serious matters that officers could be dealing with. So this program actually has been a great help.”
Harbor truancy sessions work to improve attendance and reduce the need for formal court hearings. Intervention occurs in graduated levels, the most intrusive being level three, a formal Harbor hearing.
About 205 of their 1,300 truancy cases – or 15% – were elevated to the hearing phase. So far, all of the tier three cases have corrected their behavior enough to avoid going “to the juvenile court system,” Todd said.
The center is a partnership between the parish, city and school board. It’s located at 3004 Knight Street in Shreveport, in building six.
Partner agencies provide mental health services, parenting education, child advocacy services, domestic violence counseling and current Volunteers for Youth Justice programming. One of its primary goals is to keep low-level, nonviolent offenders out of juvenile detention by offering services rather than booking kids into the system.
