Accountability Starts Here, a program in Sebastian County that takes a holistic family therapy approach to juvenile mental health, is being recognized as a breakthrough in an "overwhelming" social problem.
Lisa Albuja, the local therapist who created the program for Juvenile Judge Leigh Zuerker last year, says the multifaceted team-oriented program she calls "ASH" was born out of simple frustration.
Albuja said she kept seeing juveniles "recycling" within various mental health and juvenile correctional agencies. ASH tries to get everyone involved, from parents or guardians to police and schools, and on the same page, and it uses both education and therapy to better cope with adverse childhood experiences.
"Between 80 to 92 percent of juveniles entering the system have had a traumatic event, and basically it's been overlooked," Albuja said. "I don't think it has been overlooked on purpose, it was just never looked at to begin with. It was easier to say 'This is punk behavior.'"
Traumatic events can be anything from sexual or mental abuse to having a parent die or living through a tornado. There are many levels and types of traumatic events, she said. Many times, the problems go back generations.
Donna Watson, director of Sebastian County Juvenile Services, was a probation officer when she was approached by Albuja on ways to see better results.. Watson was seeing the same thing. Children and their parents and referred to the ASH program by Juvenile Services, police and some schools.
"Our goal is to help the child and you can't help the child if you can't help the parents," Watson said. "We want to heal the family. We're trying to keep families out of the system."
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[For more of this story, written by John Lovett, go to http://swtimes.com/news/sebast...milies-heal-children]
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