ARY and CHINS Petitions FREQUENCY OF USE AND KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM A STATEWIDE SURVEY Catherine Pickard, MSW, MPP Washington State Center for Court Research 2015 Becca Conference
Jan 17, 2016
ARY and CHINS PetitionsFREQUENCY OF USE AND KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM A STATEWIDE
SURVEY
Catherine Pickard, MSW, MPP Washington State Center for Court Research 2015 Becca Conference
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
246 257 260 239 293
1,8611,643 1,548 1,419 1,449
Number of ARY and CHINS Petitions Filed Annually
ARY CHINS
CALENDAR YEAR
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
What about frequency of use by individual courts?
COURTS FILING ZERO CHINS PETITIONS IN AT LEAST ONE OF
THE PAST FOUR YEARS: Adams, Asotin, Benton,
Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Greys
Harbor, Island, Kitsap, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln,
Okanogan, Skamania, San Juan, Walla Walla, Wahkiakum,
Whitman, Yakima
Why do we see variations in the number of ARY and CHINS petitions filed in each county?Youth PopulationIntervention ProgrammingCourt Policies
0%
40%
80%
47.8% 60.1% 59.4%
51.8% 39.5% 39.1%
Gender of Youth with ARY and/or CHINS Petition(s) in 2013
Female Male
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
AsianBlack/African
American
Native American/Pacifi
c Islander WhiteOther or Unknown
ARY 2.6% 9.3% 3.5% 70.4% 15.0%
CHINS 2.2% 12.7% 1.8% 68.4% 16.2%
ARY AND CHINS IN 2013 1.4% 14.5% 0.0% 63.8% 21.7%
Race and Ethnicity for Youth with ARY and/or CHINS Petitions in 2013
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
Average Age When Becca
Petition was Filed in 2013
Percent of Youth with a Juvenile
Offender Referral Prior to 2013 Becca Petition
Average Age at Time of First
Offender Referral
Percent of Youth with a
Dependency Case Filed
(through 2013)
Average Age at First Dependency
Case Filing
ARY 15.4 42.0% 14.0 9.1% 7.3
CHINS 15.8 46.5% 14.4 25.0% 9.4
ARY AND CHINS IN
201315.8 40.6% 14.6 15.9% 10.7
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
Multi-system Involvement for youth with ARY and/or CHINS Petition(s) Filed in 2013
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
Washington State Becca Task Force ARY AND CHINS SURVEYS DISTRIBUTED IN 2015
Recognition that the ARY and CHINS processes can vary county by county
Survey intended to help identify:◦ How Petitions are filed in each court◦ Innovative approaches to the ARY and CHINS Petition process
◦ Collaboration between agencies ◦ Opinions from professional court staff on how they view the ARY and CHINS Petition processes
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
Who participated in the surveys? PROFESSIONAL COURT STAFF
Juvenile Probation Counselor Juvenile Probation Manager Court Commissioner Probation Director Diversion Supervisor Becca Caseload Supervisor/Coordinator
Juvenile Court Administrator Case Manager Children’s Administration Supervisor Judge Detention Manager Public Defender
JURISDICTIONS NOT RESPONDING
Jefferson
Cowlitz
Okanogan
Ferry
Asotin
Garfield
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
How do people in your community get information about ARY and CHINS? Juvenile Court Services (97%)Children’s Administration/DSHS (90%)Law Enforcement (87%)Schools (84%)Word of Mouth (77%)Counselors (71%)Attorneys (68%)Website (55%)(Comments also mention other community partners, such as: TeamChild, Lutheran Family Services)
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR FILING A CHINS PETITION?“The youth will call the toll free number to set up an appointment”
“Documents are available from the juvenile court, school and DSHS office. Once forms are prepared, take to DSHS for review and assessment. If approved by DSHS… we send out notice and assign attorney”
“Youth is directed to DSHS to speak with an FRS worker. FRS worker explains the process, complete the Family Assessment and will help the youth in filing the petition”
“Screened for eligibility by JPC, referral made to defense attorney, CHINS filed by attorney”
WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR FILING AN ARY PETITION? “Parent/legal guardian contacts the DSHS Intake Line and requests an At-Risk Youth Order”
“Documents are filled out by parent, taken to DSHS for assessment. If approved the documents are brought back to juvenile department, attorney assigned and notice is mailed to respondent”
“Families call the ARY coordinator for initial screening. If parents are convinced they want to file, they fill out a petition and set up an appointment with the ARY coordinator to work on a family assessment”
“Exactly the same as for a CHINS Petition”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
Is there always a Family Reconciliation Services (FRS) assessment provided to the
ARY or CHINS petitioner? DOES YOUR COURT ACCEPT ARY AND CHINS PETITIONS AND SET HEARINGS WITHOUT FRS FAMILY ASSESSMENTS?
“The court would prefer to only hear petitions accompanies by a family assessment. Occasionally this is not possible given children on the run or other extenuating circumstance”
“If DSHS cannot complete within 72 hours, the petition can be filed”
“Petitions are filed and hearing set before the family assessment is completed. However, if the family assessment is not completed by the fact finding, the hearing is continued”
“A CHINS may go forward on an interim basis if placement is an issue”
DOES YOUR COURT USE ANY SORT OF SCREENING OR ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR YOUTH WITH AN ARY OR CHINS PETITION?
Out of 41 survey participants:
44% provide an assessment for both ARY and CHINS
34% do not provide an assessment for ARY or CHINS
12% “don’t know” if they provide an assessment for either petition
SS-GAIN (Global Assessment of Individual Needs), Trauma Screen , PACT, UCLS/CPSS Trauma Screen for ARY cases
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
What services are you able to order in an ARY or CHINS case?
AT LEAST 75% OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS REPORT ABLE TO ORDER:
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING
FAMILY COUNSELING
FFT COUNSELING
DRUG TESTING
DRUG EVALUATION
MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION
50-75% OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS REPORT ABLE TO ORDER:
DBT COUNSELING
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM
PARENT SUPPORT GROUP
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
OTHER SERVICES OFFERED LESS FREQUENTLY:
RAD COUNSELING
MST COUNSELING
ART
CSEC REFERRAL
INTERNET ADDICTION COUNSELING
THE INCREDIBLE YEARS
TRIPLE P
STRENGTHENING FAMILIES PROGRAM
Do you believe the court has accessible and appropriate services for the families you are serving? “Overall I think we have accessible and appropriate services.
It would be nice if specific cases need more specialized services that those would be more accessible. Example: A teen who is not on probation cannot access ART under an ARY”
“Currently working with a steering committee to increase current and add new programs”
“We desperately need Anger Management and/or ART for our population!”
“Becca youth don’t have access to the same number of services as offender youth”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
What barriers to services do you believe exist?
“Inadequate service delivery in an ARY (like FFT for example) often results in the conflict increasing….”Overall, we have very good outcomes. However, there are some cases where additional services would be beneficial”Our biggest barrier is a toss-up between variety of services available, and language. We currently have no counselors that speak Spanish in the county”“I don’t believe we have a barrier to services. I believe we have more of an issue with family participation”“Families with inadequate health insurance or funds are not always able to obtain the counseling and treatment recommended for their situation” “DSHS programs that are available to dependent families are not available to non-dependent cases”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015
What barriers exist that limit your ability to collaborate with other agencies to provide services in ARY or CHINS cases? “Lack of staff time/availability and money”“Lack of knowledge about who to collaborate with”“Lack of family specific services in the community”
“We are meeting with FRS next week to clarify roles amongst agencies so that we can increase our partnership and alignment, in effort to improve our ARY/CHINS outcomes”
75% of Survey Participants said “YES” they collaborate with other agencies to provide service in ARY and CHINS cases
Successful Programming “Parent-teen mediation,
using a local mediation agency”
“Connections– drug court grant funded, is really helpful for youth struggling with addiction issues”
“Administrator allocated a small portion of funding to serve a few ARY youth with FFT”
“Boys Council and Girls Circle”
“Community Truancy Board”
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In your opinion, how effective are the ARY and CHINS pro-cesses in your jurisdiction?
ARY CHINS
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Where to find more data on youth in Washington State?
Annual Caseload of the Courts: http://www.courts.wa.gov/caseload
OJJDP Juvenile Data: Easy Access to Juvenile Populations: 1990-2014 www.ojjdp.gov
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015