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The Minnesota Youth Intervention Programs Association is currently working to create and introduce a new interactive website. This will be a very resource intensive undertaking for YIPA and our ability to spend the time necessary to properly support the KidsChange blog will be limited. So, for the time being, we have decided to temporarily discontinue posting to our blog and instead are going to focus our attention on connecting with followers on Facebook.


If you value the important work that YIPA does, and would like to stay abreast of events, training opportunities and issues that impact youth in Minnesota, then we encourage you to connect with us on Facebook. And of course, stay tuned for the launch of our new website!

March Member of the Month: Amicus

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (link: http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/girls-prison), in 2008 there were more than 14,000 girls incarcerated in the United States, a number that has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. Most of those girls are arrested for minor, nonviolent offenses and probation violations. Despite good intentions of helping the girls, many of them are re-traumatized because the majority of them have been prior victims of abuse. Consequences such as solitary confinement, routine strip searches, and other forms of interventions sometimes produce unintended outcomes. Instead of helping girls cope with the trauma, occasionally youth detention centers further traumatize girls.

In spring 2010 YIPA member, Amicus published the Amicus Girls Study. It examined the thoughts, feelings and experiences of those involved with girls in the juvenile justice system, and of the girls themselves. According to their review of the literature, a history of sexual or physical abuse is common among girls in the juvenile justice system, and often such victimization contributes to female juvenile delinquent behavior. Girls in the juvenile justice system are also more likely than boys to experience neglect and abuse within their families. Amelia Goodyear, Youth and Mental Health Director at Amicus echoed that message as we talked in depth about her work with teen girls in the Radius Program.

Amelia has conducted weekly groups in both Ramsey and Dakota Counties and provided individual therapy for girls in the Ramsey County detention and community programs. In working with these groups, she has found that a significant number of them have experienced trauma in their past, which is something that they address in group sessions. The goal of the group is for girls come to terms with trauma and mental health issues, develop healthier relationships, link to positive assets, and that they are empowered with self-regulation skills and positive relationships. Ideally, girls involved in this program will develop the skills and coping mechanisms needed to help them avoid further contact with the juvenile justice system.

While the Radius program has proven beneficial in helping many of these girls, policy makers are encouraged to allocate more resources for prevention and early intervention programs. Helping these girls at the first sign of a problem is our best bet for keeping them out of the more costly juvenile justice system. Early interventions programs have proven time and time again that they work. It’s time to act fiscally prudent and make wise investments in prevention and early intervention. It works and it’s the right thing to do!