SPECIAL FOCUS
TR for Youth at Risk
Increasingly, SRAs are being called on to provide services for
youth with troubling behavioral problems
BY LAURA J. BROWN AND KARIN SEVCIK
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 Youth at Risk Problem
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.
The Role of Recreation Providers
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
July/August 1999 / 31
SPECIAL FOCUS
"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.
The Role of SRAs
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."
To address this demand, WDSRA has
developed the pilot programs detailed
below.
Positive Recreation Opportunities (PRO)
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.
The PRO program combines three
methods of service:
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.
32 / Illinois Parks and Recreation
TR FOR YOUTH AT RISK
Stepping Stones towards Independence
through ARTS
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."
Conclusion
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)
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July/August 1999 / 33