Article archive / January 1, 2013
Originally published: . Volume 4, No. 5. Source pages: 1, 6.
Models for Change Contributors Include Drs. Paul Frick, Tiffany Simpson, Jana Sutton
A December 2012 report by the Association for the Advance- ment of Evidence-Based Practice, a watchdog group for crime prevention, Louisiana is among the top five states for its rapid and successful implementation of proven programs for juvenile offenders. The report was presented at the Models for Change annual conference held in Washington, D.C., in December.
Of the top five ranked states, the Association explained that Louisiana had made the most rapid and effective improve- ments, using the number of therapist teams as the measure of performance.
“The Pelican State may be the most interesting case for those states that are just beginning to experiment with EBPs [Evidenced Based Practice],” the report noted. The authors pointed out that Louisiana turned a crisis into opportunity after The New York Times profiled conditions in Louisiana’s juvenile institutions in 2006. Followed by a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, a major push for change began.
Louisiana’s comprehensive juvenile justice program involves a group of key leaders, including physicians, psychologists, and counselors. The program is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and its Models for Change program.
Dr. Peter Greenwood, executive director of the Association for the Advancement of Evidence- Based Practice authored the report. An article on the Models for Change website noted, “Dr. Greenwood’s study praised Louisiana specifically for its creation of the state Juvenile Justice Reform Act Implementation Commission to oversee execution of evidence-based programs in the state and the state’s transition to a therapeutic model of care. He also emphasized the importance of the MacArthur Foundation’s Louisiana Models for Change initiative and its leader Dr. Debra DePrato, faculty at LSUHSC School of Public Health, for her success in developing good working relationships with key stakeholders at the state and local level and bringing together those stakeholders to disseminate and implement more effective community-based services for youth.”
Dr. DePrato, physician and senior faculty member of the LSU Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, is the home for the Models of Change program in the Institute for Public Health and Justice. She was named 2012 Champion of Louisiana Juvenile Justice. But DePrato agreed to take the job of project director for the Models for Change program only if she could handpick her team, noted the report.
One of these key team members is Dr. Paul Frick, Department Chair at U. of New Orleans and international expert in understanding the factors in adolescents’ emotional and behavioral problems. He designed and coordinated information tools needed for the program’s success.
“Paul’s data is giving us concrete information about how youths are entering the system, what interventions are being provided and the outcomes. This gives us a rock-solid foundation for reform,” says DePrato, in a report on the Models website.
“Dr. Frick has also motivated and organized his colleagues,” she said. “In a state that has recently embraced community- based reforms, he exemplifies the desire of committed professionals across the state – from local sites to state government – to work toward a common goal of achieving improvements in the juvenile justice system.”
Frick developed a comprehensive data mapping process of the juvenile justice system in each parish and a state data group involving a diverse group of key leaders and stakeholders. He also developed an Outcome Evaluation Plan to look at effectiveness in reaching those goals, noted the MacArthur report.
“Paul’s great accomplishment is integrating his under- standing of child and adolescent psychology and immense data collection expertise with an understanding of politics and policy,” DePrato said. “He knows how important data collection and research are in developing effective interventions that lead to lasting reforms and better lives for kids.”
The Louisiana Models for Change also includes state partnerships that provide infrastructure for statewide reform. Another of these partnerships is the Children’s Cabinet, Executive Director Dr. Tiffany Simpson.
Dr. Simpson is a University of New Orleans graduate and student of Dr. Frick, now leading the Children’s Cabinet and its multiple programs, including Youth planning Boards, State level Data/Information Sharing, and Best Practices for Informal Status Offenders.
The Cabinet coordinates children’s policy across five Louisiana departments that provide services for young people. The Children’s Cabinet was awarded a Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund grant which helped to fund the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Integrated Juvenile Justice Information Systems for statewide communication.
Another Higher Education partnership in the Models of Change program is the U. of Louisiana at Monroe – Marriage and Family Therapy Program for Adolescent Substance Abuse Assessment and Treatment Models, led by Dr. Jana Sutton. Dr. Sutton is Assistant Professor and Director of Clinical Training – Marriage and Family Therapy, in the department of Behavioral Sciences at U. of Louisiana at Monroe. Sutton was awarded a MacArthur Foundation: Models for Change Grant over recent years. Dr. Sutton has degrees in Marriage and Family Therapy and undergraduate in psychology. She is a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist.
Also, Dean of Northshore Technical Community College Sharon Hornsby, a licensed professional counselor was named “Champion of Change” for juvenile justice this December at the Washington conference.
The report from the Association for the Advancement of Evidence-Based Practice also outlined and looked at the three most highly regarded evidence-based programs for family therapy, with the goal to reduce future delinquency. The report noted that Louisiana is using Multi-Systemic Therapy and Functional Family Therapy, two programs described by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder and its Blueprints for Violence Prevention. At Blueprints, 11 programs have been selected from over 900 therapy programs for effectiveness. Detailed information about these therapies is available at http://www.colorado.edu/c spv/blueprints/modelprogr ams.html
The report, “Implementing Proven Programs for Juvenile Offenders: Assessing State Progress,” can be downloaded from the website, Advancingebp.org.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.