TR For Youth At Risk

Increasingly, SRAs are being called on to provide services for youth with troubling behavioral problems

In the aftermath of the tragic school shootings in Colorado, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Georgia, these questions continue to emerge: Could these events have been prevented, or could we have seen the warning signs? And, what is the role of community recreation providers?

While therapeutic recreation agencies have the stigma of solely providing services for "the disabled" or "wheelchair-users," many special recreation associations in Illinois are stepping into the role of programming for troubled teens.

The troubled teen population has emerged from the "latchkey child" of die 1980s to the 1990s labeling of "youth at risk." The U.S. Bureau of the Census report projects the number of people ages 0 to 19 in Illinois will increase by about 4 percent by the year 2010.

The number of youth in their high-risk years who commit offenses will increase even more: 10- to 14-year-old juvenile offenders are projected to increase by about 6 percent, while ages 15 to 19 are expected to increase nearly 20 percent.

Times of unsupervised activity between the hours of 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. dramatically have increased since the 1980s with more single-family households and two parents working outside home. This time period of unsupervised activity stimulates among teens the opportunity for mischief and delinquent behaviors.

Addressing juvenile crime has come to the forefront in Illinois and across the country. In 1997, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno released the National Juvenile Justice Plan for reducing youth violence and preventing delinquency. Stateside, the Illinois Criminal Justice Authority, a special legislative committee, was established to examine die state's juvenile crime problems.

Perhaps no part of the crime prevention debate is less understood than the impact of discretionary time; boredom, lack of leisure, literacy; and the absence of positive, caring role models, parents or others. To address the issue, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act adopted by Congress states: "the incidence of juvenile delinquency and crime can be reduced through public recreation programs and activities designed to provide youth with social skills, enhance self-esteem and encourage the constructive use of discretionary time."

Furthermore, the Act defines "youth at risk" as a youth at risk of educational failure or dropping out of school or involvement in delinquent activities.

Within the past five years, the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) recognized the need to focus on teen issues with the development of a Youth at Risk Section in its membership (within the American Park and Recreation Society or APRS). The focus of this section is to create an awareness by increased exposure and knowledge regarding the changes in society that are affecting the delivery of services. These include juvenile crime rates, lack of appropriate use of discretionary times and low involvement in recreational resources.

According to NRPA's definition: Youth at risk come from all backgrounds, races, and areas of the community. They are youth who are, or have the potential to be, influenced negatively by family, environment, or peers; social factors that deter positive mental and social growth. Also, those who do not have the financial resources or have the ability to affect a positive change within their environment, family or economic status.

As recreation professionals, we need to examine our roles in addressing these emerging problems. The issues facing today's youth call for a return to the mission and objective which spurred the public recreation movement in the 1900s. The movement involved all members from

"Playing in a structured league is a tremendous incentive for alternative-school students, many of whom have not had the chance to play and compete in that sort of setting"

—Steve Castle, Director of the East DuPage Special Education District

a community—including social workers, day camp directors, YMCAs, churches, family members, teachers—in directing and affecting a child's life and values.

To meet the needs of "youth at risk," the community needs to respond by developing intervention services for "at risk" adolescents that focus on building self-esteem, alternative leisure patterns, redirecting inappropriate lifestyles or behaviors, developing personal skills, assisting with pre-employment training, development of morals and values and enhancing the quality of life through positive recreation experiences.

Special recreation associations (SRAs)—extensions of the local park district or recreation department—are designed to provide services to residents with a disability who are in need of adapted recreation, or assistance in developing appropriate leisure patterns. Throughout Illinois, park districts and SRAs have had difficulty in providing services to youth ages 10 to 18 years. And, the "youth-at-risk" group, which many teens fall into, has been hard to identify and serve. SRAs have a stigma associated with serving the disabled population ("retarded" or "wheelchair user") and teens at risk do not want to be associated with the disabled population.

Yet, included in the broad identification of youth at risk are students classified as having learning disabilities, behavior disorders, conduct disorders, juvenile offenses, drug and alcohol addictions, and emotional problems. Some of the students in these identified groups are receiving educational services through alternative school placements, special education classes, resource services, and psychiatric placements. They receive limited recreational services.

Recently the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA) has had to struggle with providing service for the youth at risk population through "inclusion" service requests from its member districts. Specifically, these requests have sought help with behavior modification for teens registered in park district recreation programs. Emerging are teens who are mandated by the courts to participate in recreation services as a means of corrective measures of juvenile offense. These teens appear with ankle monitors and present behavior problems; they need behavioral direction and support.

With limited financial resources and the focus of this decade of "doing more with less," plus tax cap restrictions, more often park districts are relying on SRAs to provide the behavior intervention expertise. As a result, TR staff are providing this specialized support for individuals who are identified as "youth at risk."

Sponsored by a grant from DuPage County and the Northeast DuPage Special Recreation Association, PRO is designed as a comprehensive collaborative community and school support system for youth at risk in alternative school placements and behavior disordered segregated classes within the DuPage County schools. Students enrolled in these programs come from all economic and social backgrounds. All the students have been identified by the school system as having a behavioral problem and often have environmental issues that result in their placements. PRO services are designed to create a structured and competitive sports league, motivate students to succeed, and reinforce academic behaviors as a means for participation.

"The program was excellent for our students," says past PRO educator Steve Castle, director of the East DuPage Special Education District.

"Many players on the (basketball) team previously had significant attendance and truancy problems, but we witnessed dramatic improvement after we started the program. Playing in a structured league is a tremendous incentive for alternative-school students, many of whom have not had the chance to play and compete in that sort of setting."

PRO services facilitate the development of intervention services for adolescents, with the focus of building self-esteem, alternative leisure patterns, redirecting inappropriate lifestyles or behaviors, developing personal skills, assisting with vocational training through mentoring, developing morals and values, and enhancing the quality of life through positive recreation experiences. PRO is also established to discourage participation by at-risk youth in gang activity, the use of illegal drugs, violence and dangerous weapons, and other criminal activity within school and in the community.

1. Intervention
The program involves students in a school-directed recreational program within the community, developing an awareness of and interest in opportunities available to them outside the school day.

2. Diversion
Participants experience fun leisure activities to encourage positive choices through establishing a pattern of healthy leisure lifestyles during "free time."

3. Prevention
Participants develop healthy friendships, good sportsmanship, mentoring with individuals within the community and healthy leisure interests.

In this program, recreation and arts are used to build self-esteem, arts expression, enhance academic learning, redirect inappropriate behaviors, encourage alternative leisure patterns, and increase peer socialization. The program is a partnership between WDSRA and the Naperville Park District. It's funded in part by the Hinsdale Center for the ARTS and the Illinois Arts Council.

Targeting low-income youth for the integration element increases the youths' self-esteem from positive peer modeling, while also enhancing their arts opportunities through constructive use of discretionary time and preventing boredom or lack of leisure literacy. "Stepping stones" targets youth with a disability and youth residing in low-income areas and creates an opportunity for them to grow and benefit together. These populations are severely under-served and often forgotten.

"The children have greatly benefited from these dance programs," says Tracey Gustke, program coordinator for the Naperville Resource Center.

"It is apparent that the children are very enthusiastic and have a lot of pride in what they have learned. It has not only increased their self-esteem but has also given them a chance to become role models for other special needs children who are in the class."

Therapeutic recreation staff play an important role in reaching youth at risk who are falling through the cracks. They play a support role for park districts, providing the expertise and knowledge to handle difficult teens.

We will never know if we could have prevented the school tragedies that took place in Littleton, Co., and other cities. However, as recreational professionals we are affecting the lives of these children and teens through positive recreation experiences.

LAURA J. BROWN
is the superintendent of communications & development for Western DuPage Special Recreation Association

KARIN SEVCIK
is the public relations coordinator for the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association.

NISRA Teams with Community Health Providers for At Risk Youth

BY REBECCA SCHULEWITZ AND SHELLEY ZUNIGA

The Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA)—a cooperative of nine park districts and city recreation departments in the McHenry County area— provides an array of unique cooperative programs for individuals with mental health needs. NISRA cooperates with outside agencies throughout McHenry County and, thus, has developed an extensive offering of programs geared towards the mental health and youth-at-risk population. Each program listed below focuses on both leisure education and recreational activities in order to provide participants with personal skill development, including: self-esteem, peer interactions, positive socialization, conflict resolution, and leisure awareness.

• McHenry County Mental Health Board: NISRA provides a Saturday Recreation program to clients involved with the SASS (Screening, Assessment, and Support Services) program. These children range in ages from 6 to 13 years and they include youth with mental illness, behavioral disorders, emotional disorders, and youth at risk of out-of-home placement.

• McHenry County Court Services: Monday Night Adventures serves teens who are court involved. They are referred to NISRA by their probation officers and are required to complete the program. During the summer, participants have the opportunity to go on a high adventure trip called Therapeutic Adventures of a Lifetime.

• McHenry County Family Services: Day Treatment is a unique program provided by NISRA staff who go into Family Services and provide a 1-hour leisure education recreation based group session to adults with mental illness and/or dually diagnosed clients.

• Pioneer Center: Pioneer Center's Headwinds group refers clients to NISRA's Out-N-About program. This social program serves adults with traumatic and acquired brain injuries.

Tips for Working with Mental Health Providers

• Allow plenty of time prior to each season for case managers to make referrals to the program.

• Make reminder phone calls to referring agencies.

• Keep referring agencies informed about the progress of their clients.

• Complete Pre/Post Test Evaluations on clients to show progress in the program.

• Finalize who will be billed and who will pay for fees in programs.

Funding Sources

Cooperating with outside agencies helps fund the programs that are developed specifically for their clients. There are also both small and large grants available for diverse program ideas and for the mental health populations.

NISRA is proud of its commitment to the mental health population in McHenry County. Because of that commitment, NISRA is a well-respected component of the service array provided to these individuals. As this often overlooked group of people increases, we will continue to expand on the numbers and variety of programs offered.

REBECCA SCHULEWITZ is the regional coordinator and SHELLEY ZUNIGA is the superintendent of recreation for the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association (NISRA)

TR for Youth at Risk