Community Members Rally to Help Teens in Hardin County, Ohio

By bringing together juvenile courts, probation, treatment, mental health, educators and the community, Reclaiming Futures Hardin County has accomplished a lot in two years.
According to a 2012 report, participants in Reclaiming Futures Hardin County reduced substance abuse from 100% at intake to 28% at six months in treatment. At 12 months in treatment their illegal activity dropped to 5% (29% below the national juvenile court average).
This month, Hardin County Reclaiming Futures welcomes Judicial Fellow Judge Steven D. Christopher, to their team of caring adults who are emphasizing treatment over detention.
Judge Christopher fills the vacancy recently left by retired Judge James S. Rapp, who has helped lead many successes, including a 92% graduation rate at Hardin Community School.
Reclaiming Futures Hardin County remains committed to providing:

• Individualized treatment plans based on screening and assessment 
• Evidence-based drug and alcohol education and treatment
• Supervision
• Public education
• Mentors
• Educational and vocational services
• Family support

Please listen to project director, Khrystal Wagner, interviewed March 12 on WKTN Radio:
   
Are you interested in helping your community break the cycle of drugs, alcohol and crime? Here’s how you can help teens in Hardin, County and everywhere: 

• Provide summer apprenticeships
• Offer unpaid internships
• Teach financial literacy
• Donate game or movie tickets
• Contribute funds for bowling and pizza
• Lead music and art experiences
• Offer job shadowing opportunities
• Provide 4-H Leadership (special requests for videography, robotics or GIS)
• Spearhead outdoor projects,
• Design cultural service learning projects

The Reclaiming Futures model unites juvenile courts, probation, adolescent substance abuse treatment, and the community to reclaim youth. Please call 503-725-8911 if you're interested in bringing Reclaiming Futures to your community.
Pictured above: Hardin Community School 4-H treasurer, president, vice president and secretary.

Susan Richardson is national executive director for Reclaiming Futures. Formerly, she was a senior program officer in the health care division of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in North Carolina, where she led a three-year effort involving the state's juvenile justice and treatment leaders to adopt the Reclaiming Futures model by juvenile courts in six North Carolina counties. She received her B.S. in Public Health, Health Policy and Administration, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.