In 2015, Florida detained 37.6 juveniles per 100,000 between the ages of 10-17, which is comparatively lower than the National average of 50.1 per 100,000 children (Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics). Though this is lower than the national average, that is still a very significant number of young adults being detained for various crimes. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice currently have some interventions in the hopes to prevent and detect risk factors for juvenile delinquency and incarceration. The Prevention Assessment Tool (PAT) is an intervention that identifies areas of highest concern when it comes to adolescent and teen crime, and develops a plan to reduce risk factors and monitor the progress made in reducing risk factors, like alcohol and drug use, household members that were incarcerated themselves, abuse and neglect, and other prominent adverse childhood events (ACE’s) known to increase risks of negative health and life outcomes (Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Prevention Assessment Tool Profile). However, there should be more of an initiative to create a post-arrest intervention for those juveniles who are already detained in one of north Florida’s detention centers. By implementing an intervention using service dogs while the children/teens are confined to the detention center, there can be a chance to reeducate the kids, create a bond of trust and safety between the service animal in training and the child. The connection and commitment in helping train and care for a service dog may also facilitate peer support and mutual self-help so that the child can building trust, establish safety, and learn to be empowered (Feuer-Edwards). The target audience I aim to specifically implement interventions for will be juvenile offenders that are incarcerated in a juvenile detention centers in the northern region of Florida. With funding, the activities that will be executed throughout the intervention of having minors in North Florida training service dogs will include education, trainings, caring and grooming of the animals, and a period of play and bonding with the animals the minors are each assigned to. The minors, over time, will meet with their service animals every day for regular training sessions, have a thirty-minute play session with the service animal to promote bonding and emotional release for the minor, and will groom their service animals once a week, as to teach responsibility and discipline. Once a week, the minors will also go in for a 45-minute therapy session with a detention center hired therapist, and talk to them about how they feel, how the program makes them feel, and their goals in training their assigned service animals. The major levels of the social ecological model the Northern Florida juvenile detention center service animal program will focus on targeting will be the individual or intrapersonal level, the interpersonal level, and the organizational level. The intrapersonal level will be a targeted level in this program, as we aim to build individual resilience and to empower each detained minor through weekly therapy sessions, aiding in building better coping mechanisms, teaching accountability and building trust and safety in each child through the dedication and responsibility of training and caring for a service animal (Healthy Campus 2020, 2018). The interpersonal level will also be a targeted level in this public health intervention, as the service animal program aims to facilitate peer support and mutual self-help (Healthy Campus 2020, 2018). The organizational level will be targeted by building a rapport with the detention center staff and establishment itself can help empower the minors, help develop respect and give them a feeling of power, reduce the feeling of being trapped, promote community engagement and appropriate behavior for when they are released again into society, and reduce social isolation within the establishment. The service animal rehabilitation program will ensure future grantees of building the trauma-informed principles of: safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support and mutual self-help, and empowerment, voice and choice, into the program as the training and activities curriculum develops and grows.
Resources:
Juvenile Justice, Geography, Policy, Practice & Statistics. (n.d.). Florida Juvenile Justice. Retrieved February 7, 2019, from http://www.jjgps.org/florida
Feuer-Edwards, A., O’Brien C., O’Connor, S. (n.d.). Trauma-Informed Philanthropy. Pg 13. Retrieved February 7, 2019, from
Healthy Campus 2020. (2018). Ecological Model. Retrieved March 19, 2019, from https://www.acha.org/healthyca...cological_model.aspx
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