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City of Houston Municipal Courts Department

City of Houston Municipal Courts Department. Juvenile Case Manager Program. Presented by: Catherine A. Klier Senior Juvenile Case Manager. What is the Juvenile Case Manager Program?. A diversionary program

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City of Houston Municipal Courts Department

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  1. City of HoustonMunicipal Courts Department Juvenile Case Manager Program Presented by: Catherine A. Klier Senior Juvenile Case Manager

  2. What is the Juvenile Case Manager Program? • A diversionary program • Focuses on increasing attendance of middle school and high school students through prevention, intervention, and case management. • Lowers juvenile referrals to Municipal Courts for Failure to Attend School offenses.

  3. Program Partners • Houston Independent School District • Houston Independent School District Police Department • Department of Neighborhoods • Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office

  4. Community Partners • Baylor College of Medicine Teen Clinic • Kinghaven Counseling • Houston Food Bank • Cathedral Health & Outreach Ministries • Harris County CYS • Harris County Juvenile Probation Department • Houston Area Women’s Center • United Way

  5. Role of the Juvenile Case Manager • Campus-based: • Assist truant youth and their families • Identify truant students • Diagnose the cause(s) of truancy • Perform home visits • Referral services • After school programming/mentoring/summer programming • Processes juvenile Failure to Attend School dockets • Assists judge in decisions regarding cases • Coordinates sanctions

  6. Program Focus • Focus on students at the middle and high school levels. • Students must have 3-10 unexcused absences. • Non-punitive approach to truancy • Resolves issues through case management, community referral, and mentoring. • Serves 11 HISD campuses 2011-2012.

  7. Juvenile Case Manager Training • Juvenile Case Managers are trained for one month before assuming work duties in the field. • Pre-Service Training: • Introduction to the program • Applicable laws/legislation • Policies and procedures • Code of ethics/role of the JCM • School campus/district orientation • Case management • Citation issuance • Field training • Community Referrals • Court procedures/protocols • Juvenile mental health/child psychology

  8. Juvenile Case Manager Training • Juvenile Case Managers are required to have at least 8 hours of in-service training annually: • Mental Health • Legal Updates • Recognizing and Reporting Abuse/Neglect • Substance Abuse • Juvenile Gangs • Special Topics

  9. JCMP Origins • Began as a truancy initiative in one high school campus in 2007 under the direction of the Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office. • In November 2008, the program was placed under the direction of the Municipal Courts Department and the first four Juvenile Case Managers were hired. • In January 2009, Juvenile Case Managers first began work at four HISD campuses.

  10. Texas Education Code • Section 25.094- Failure to Attend School • A student is considered truant if they have 3 unexcused absences (days or parts of days) in a four week period or; • 10 unexcused absences (days or parts of days) in a six month period. • Can only be enforced on students between the ages of 12-17. • Section 25.093- Parent Contributing to Non-Attendance • If a warning notice is issued, the parent (with criminal negligence) fails to require the child to attend school as required by law and; • If the child has absences for the amount of time specified under 25.094, the parent commits an offense.

  11. Case Progression Process • Employs three phases of intervention: • Referral Phase- student’s case is referred by the campus, an assessment is completed, and home visit performed. • Monitoring Phase- cases are monitored for a minimum of 30 days. Case management, referral services, and attempted resolution of barriers to school attendance. Case managers meet with students once/weekly. • Court Phase- a citation has been issued to the student and/or parent under TEC 25.093 and/or 25.094. Students and their parents report to court and are assigned sanctions in order to resolve the citation(s). Progress is monitored for 30 days. • Citations are issued as a last resort in all cases. • Extenuating circumstances are taken into account.

  12. Sanctions/Service Learning

  13. After School/Summer Programming • After School Programming • Lady Like Girls’ Group- Chavez HS • SouthEast Aquatics (SEA)- Jones HS • A-Team Poetry Club- Sam Houston HS • La Platica (The Talk) Group- Patrick Henry MS* • Summer Programming • Summer Youth Enrichment Program • With program partner- Mayor’s Anti-Gang Office • Summer SouthEast Aquatics (Summer SEA) • Home Visits • Community Initiatives * New for 2011-2012 school year

  14. After School/Summer Programming

  15. Juvenile Case Manager Program Statistics • 2,514 cases referred to JCMP since January 2009. • 910 cases referred 2010-2011 school year. • 62 citations issued by case managers. • 42 Failure to Attend School citations issued to students (4.6%) • 20 Parent Contributing to Non-Attendance citations issued to parents • 17 cited students were closed non-compliant and court fines/fees assessed (1.9%) • 0 cited parents were closed non-compliant • 97.5% compliance rate- 2009-2011

  16. Program Demographics From 2009-2011: • 74% of students referred are Hispanic. • 65% of students referred are in the 8th grade. • 52% of students referred were female. • The average age of students referred to the program was 14.

  17. Looking to the Future • Programming expanded to include all middle and high school grade levels. • Previous school years- 8th/9th grade served • Expand to additional school districts • Spring Branch ISD- August 2012 • Cy-Fair ISD • Expand after school programming services and/or mentoring opportunities.

  18. Measuring Success • Data collection: • Monthly reports submitted to OCA • Monthly performance tracking submitted to Municipal Courts. • Internal weekly and monthly tracking reports. • All students referred are asked to complete a pre-intervention questionnaire. • Monitors and records what they know about truancy and school attendance policies. • All students complete a post-intervention questionnaire. • Measures an increase in knowledge regarding truancy and school attendance policies. • Provides a testimonial area for students to explain how we’ve helped them.

  19. Contact Information Catherine A. Klier Senior Juvenile Case Manager (832) 393-1061 (office) (713) 647-1843 (cell) Catherine.klier@houstontx.gov

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