NCJ Number
69891
Journal
California Youth Authority Quarterly Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer/Fall 1980) Pages: 18-27
Date Published
1980
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The California Youth Authority's Youth Training School, concerned by growing misbehavior among wards, developed a new voluntary program and case management system to improve performance.
Abstract
The major task of the school is to assist wards to make better decisions about their lives when they return to the community. The voluntary program gives the young men the choice to participate, to whatever extent, in their choice of program. Time cuts are recommended according to the amount of program involvement and the quality of the participation. Performance is evaluated through the ward's general behavior, educational performance (in work, trade, or school assignment) as measured against his objectives, and social performance. The ward signs a contract agreeing to a level of involvement; breach of contract removes the ward to a lower level. Specialized programs allow the wards to receive assistance in counseling, fighting off drug or alcohol dependence, or in receiving behavior intervention. With the initiation of the program, the staff was reorganized to achieve a better student-teacher ratio. A review of the first 3 years of program operation (1977-79) shows a length of stay reduction, a decrease in institution violence, a lack of problems in adjustments to community, and financial saving. With such success of the Voluntary Program, a case management system was developed to give the wards more attention to individual and personal problems. The five steps of the system involve need assessment, objective setting, planning activities (to allow the ward to achieve objectives), carrying out the program process, and evaluation of the degree to which objectives were achieved.