Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County Reports on Successes in 2013

Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County recently released its 2013 Annual Report detailing its remarkable accomplishments over the last year. Also known as R-3 (Re-enter, Re-Engage, and Re-Claim), Reclaiming Futures of Snohomish County strives to provide comprehensive services for young people within and outside of the criminal justice system.
In 2013, Snohomish County successfully implemented, or sustained, the following programs to further its mission to meet the needs of young people in the juvenile justice system and at-risk teens:

• Youth Partner Program: a mentorship program that matches young people with positive adults who share similar interests.
• Journey: a gender-responsive program that utilizes the One Circle Foundation Curriculum and focuses on relationships with peers, body image, and path to the future.
• Promising Artists in Recovery (PAIR): a variety of eight-week art workshops for teens in recovery with the goal to exhibit the teens’ work at local venues.
• The Seven Challenges Program: Snohomish County had its first fidelity visit—a day of training, reviewing of quality assurance documents and observing youth groups at each agency.
• Music Futures: a performing arts program for teens actively involved in substance abuse treatment who are interested in attending guitar, percussion and song-writing workshops.

Of these programs, PAIR had the most significant results with a 23.3 percent misdemeanor recidivism rate and a 10 percent felony recidivism rate. 

Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County also made a positive impact on the county’s Detention center, which helps to promote efficiency and growth in the system. Justice Fellow Allen Hilderbrand reported that working together with Reclaiming Futures led to the following improvements:

• An organizational flowchart was developed and encouraged each unit within 
Juvenile Court to produce their own chart, resulting in a total agency chart by department.
• The GAIN-SS evidence-based standardized Drug and Alcohol/Mental Health Screening Tool is now implemented during the intake process with detainees. 
• At the end of 2013, Catholic Community Services applied for, and received, funding from the 1/10th of 1% sales tax revenue to place a treatment staff inside of secure detention in order to provide assessments to youth following their GAIN-SS, link youth to local treatment providers as indicated and provide resources to parents.
• A presentation explaining Detention Services to the community was produced for the Systems 101 Conference and led to the rebirth of “Juvenile Court 101.”
• Two Detention Staff (Amy Stoose and Damon Scott) completed the first mentor training and plan to establish stronger linkages for the Mentor program.

RF Snohomish County looks forward to further growth in 2014 and is now working on implementing its first teen recovery house; developing a universal drug and alcohol screening and assessment throughout the county’s systems to reduce “assessment fatigue” and duplication of efforts; strengthening its budding mentor program; increased collaboration with our schools to support our kids in recovery, and much more.
Read the full 2013 annual report for more details, or visit the Reclaiming Futures Snohomish County website.

Cecilia Bianco is the social and digital communications account coordinator for Prichard Communications. She contributes to the Reclaiming Futures blog regarding topics of juvenile justice reform and substance abuse prevention.