5th December 2019
Since launching in April, 51 families with children involved in the youth justice system have been listened to, educated, coached and supported to prevent further involvement with the law.
The newest addition to AV’s range of innovative services aims to tackle the tough problem of Youth Justice, and to do so through the power of a unified family. Launched in April this year, the program is one of two trials from the Department of Justice and the first of its kind in Victoria. The program takes a fresh approach, recognising that no person is an island; that we are all part of a community, and that the core of a young person’s community is their family.
The program is grounded in Functional Family Therapy (FFT) – an evidence-based model with more than 30 years of research behind its success at supporting families and reducing youth re-offending. AV workers teach interpersonal skills across three to five months, at all hours of the day, and in many locations. The program helps disrupted families to grow together from a place of understanding, rather than succumbing to the pitfalls of blame, anger, and resentment.
Bringing disrupted families together is challenging, but AV’s experience shows that families do want change; they just don’t know how. Jane* had been remanded by Youth Justice. Her mother was battling the use of drugs and unable to provide support. Jane’s Nana was brought in, but she was nearing retirement, tired from years of family dramas and very reluctant to help. Both Jane and her Nana longed to move out of this turbulent and emotionally draining situation. With the help of AV workers, they were able to reflect that while neither of their lives had played out as they expected, the opportunity to support each other in moving forward remained.
While FFT is not about making things perfect or healing long-standing trauma, it’s about getting things to a point where families can communicate as they adapt to the changes in their lives; functioning through difficulty. A mother with seven children, trying to hold down a job has enough challenges without the stress of being in court. By going back to the core of family functioning, sitting around a table together, talking about how things could be different in the future, we see families take new perspectives on their connection to each other and use support to create working relationships despite challenging emotional environments.
Young people involved with the law typically have a complex, though seldom told, backstory. “They are not big, scary kids like you might see in the media; they are mostly 13-16 years old and typically have had long Child Protection and trauma histories,” reflects Shannon Harris, Project Lead. “Some have fled violence or live with family violence. But whatever their background, we seldom afford them the same sympathy and understanding that we extend vulnerable children; though equal victims of circumstance,” she said.
Prevention is a priority for AV, and Youth Justice social workers have welcomed the program for its fresh perspective towards re-offending. With the program now well underway, the focus is on building more positive outcomes for more families.
