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by Gregory Vander Kooi, Judy Hughes Astle, and
Jeff Jacobs
Camps that partner with their communities not only are good neighbors,
but also assist in offering services that help solve local problems. Because
of the complexity of community relationships in today’s world, it is beneficial
for the camp director to focus resources on interacting with the local
community in helpful ways. Carefully thought out community involvement
builds support for your camp mission and provides services to the community
that perhaps would not be available from other service providers. Providing
facilities and services to assist with youth diversion programs is just
one way that camps can interact with the local community. After sixty
years of being a good neighbor in the community, Camp Henry, in Newaygo
County, Michigan, became involved in just such a youth diversion program.
Response to Need
In 1995, Newaygo County, in rural west central Michigan, experienced
three crucial changes — an increase in juvenile deviant behavior in the
form of gang-related activity; an increase in total population, including
the juvenile population; and an increase in petitions from the prosecutor’s
office and probate court. These changes, along with increased strategic
law enforcement activities in the local high school, doubled the workload
of the juvenile justice system in three short years. Clearly, a quick
and effective response was needed.
Dr. Agnes Baro, School of Criminal Justice, Grand Valley State University,
secured the aid of F/Lt. Gregory Paul Vander Kooi, Newago Post Commander
of the Michigan State Police, to study the problem. At the conclusion
of the study, a juvenile justice master plan for Newaygo County was developed
and submitted. Part of this plan included the use of the challenge education
facilities and programming in a youth diversion program.
At the urging of the local prosecuting attorney, the Newaygo County Prosecutor’s
Youth Diversion Program for drug and alcohol offenders was created. Team
members who helped develop the program included the school liaison police
officer, a psychologist, the prosecuting attorney, the families involved
in the program, and challenge education professionals. This “Diversion
Team” worked to create an effective program to educate young offenders
in Newaygo County. Their goal was to create a diversion approach that
was at least as cost effective as existing probate court options and was
more effective in deterring repeat offenses or recidivism.
Newaygo County Prosecutor’s Youth Diversion Program
A program was designed and implemented that allowed youthful offenders
and their parents or legal guardians to participate in an alternative
to traditional forms of juvenile justice. As part of the program, the
prosecuting attorney gave first-time offenders the option of participating
in the program when their offense was the use of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco.
The offenders and their parents were required to sign a contract that
obligated them to complete the program and to no tolerance for further
deviant behavior. If any of these conditions were not met, the violators
were referred back to the probate court. Youth who complete the program
have all fines waived and no juvenile record.
The program involved three components. The first component was an orientation
meeting at which parents, the youth, and Diversion Team members learned
the purpose of the program. Parents and youth were given the opportunity
to talk about the importance of working together to complete the program
and develop a contract of behavior.
The second meeting, and the bulk of time in the program, was a one-day
event at Camp Henry where the youths participated in a series of adventure
education activities, which included group initiatives and a ropes course
experience. Each activity was preceded by a briefing and followed by a
debriefing. These discussions focused on the intent of the activity as
a tool to work on written contracts. The psychologist and a diversion
M.S.W. attended each of the early diversion challenge programs at Camp
Henry.
The third component of the Youth Diversion Program was a follow-up meeting
to review lessons learned in the program, revisit the parent/youth contracts,
and coach the relationship between parents and youth.
Camp Henry
Camp Henry had several things to consider before entering into an agreement
with Newaygo County. Did involvement in the project fit well with the
camp’s mission and philosophy? According to Jeff Jacobs who oversees the
program at the camp, Camp Henry has a challenge course philosophy of “challenge
by choice.” Participants in Camp Henry’s challenge programs are encouraged
to be responsible for what level of involvement they will have in any
activity and the consequences of that involvement. This includes the option
to not participate at all. However, when young offenders agreed to participate
in the Newaygo County Prosecutor’s Youth Diversion Program, they agreed
to fully engage in all activities. Failure to do so resulted in expulsion
from the program. Camp Henry resolved this philosophical dilemma by hiring
staff skilled in dealing with resistant behavior in challenge programs;
fully informing all participants of the consequences of their choice to
participate or not participate, including possible expulsion from the
diversion program; and allowing the court liaison officer to make the
final decision about whether a particular participant’s level of engagement
in activities met the criteria of participation in the diversion program.
In this way, Camp Henry’s staff was able to support the camp’s program
philosophy, which was an important issue to the camp; program philosophy
is often referred to when determining best practices.
Another issue Camp Henry had to consider was appropriate staffing of
the program. Because of the nature of the program, resistant behavior
by participants was a reasonable expectation. Camp Henry looked for staff
with college degrees and/or significant experience working with delinquent
youth in the context of a challenge course. Camp Henry had well-established
relationships with people who hold these qualifications, so this issue
was readily handled. Without this type of staff resources at hand, a camp
can consider staff training and/or team facilitation with community human
service professionals that have expertise in counseling, youth development
issues, and juvenile justice.
The nature of the collaborative relationship with other community members
and how that might change over time is also an important issue to consider,
according to Judy Astle, Executive Director of Camp Henry. The Newaygo
County Prosecutor’s Youth Diversion Program has changed since it began
in 1996. Now the day program is attended by Gale Beach, MSW, Newaygo County
Diversion Program Coordinator, who works with a school liaison police
officer and the Camp Henry staff. In early 2001, the Prosecutor’s Office
transferred jurisdiction of the Diversion Program to the Newaygo County
Sheriff’s Office, Youth Services Division, although all referrals continue
to come from the Prosecutor’s Office. Pre and post sessions and counseling
issues are handled by the Diversion Program staff. A new Camp Henry Program
Director has taken up the challenge of delivering this program, and the
Diversion Office continues to be very happy with the professionalism of
Camp Henry lead program staff.
Conclusion
Camp Henry’s successful involvement in the Newaygo County program can
provide you with several important steps to consider if you decide to
administer such a program at your camp. First, you should establish the
support of board leadership. The benefit of community involvement and
congruency with the mission statement should be emphasized as part of
this process. Second, because of the great variance in the definition
and application of diversion programs, you should consult with local officials
about local processes for handling juvenile justice and the appropriate
involvement of camp in those processes. Third, you should become more
than a local service provider by participating in the youth diversion
program in its development stage. Finally, clearly define your camp’s
role. Is your challenge course staff prepared to deal with the behavior
that participants in youth diversion programs may exhibit? Who will be
responsible for implementation and delivery? What issues of liability
are unique to this program and how will that liability be managed?
The camp that partners with local officials in youth diversion programs
stands to become a valuable resource to the local community. Most important,
your camp’s involvement in youth diversion programs can create a lasting
positive impact on participating youth, their families, and your community.
Originally published in the 2001 September/October
issue of Camping Magazine. |
