APA spurs services to juveniles in D.C.?s court

The association has teamed up with others to offer psychological services for children in the Washington justice system.

By Lisa Rabasca
Monitor staff

Psychology and the legal system have teamed up in a pilot program to provide counseling and intervention services to juveniles who may otherwise go untreated.

Four students from the doctoral program at the American Schools of Professional Psychology (ASPP) in Arlington, Va., are providing intervention and treatment services for juveniles and their families through the Social Services Division of the District of Columbia Superior Court.

Many of the children, age 6 to 18, supervised by the court need help with substance abuse, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect. And in some cases, they have been charged with drug abuse, use or possession, school truancy, runaway behavior, simple assaults or the unauthorized use of a vehicle. But,

Typically, one out of five youths evaluated by the court?s Child Guidance Clinic do not receive adequate psychological services because their parents lack private insurance or their needs are too great to be covered by Medicaid, says Michael Barnes, PhD, the clinic?s chief psychologist.

Now the court is able to provide treatment to some of these youths through interns from ASPP, who are supervised by trained psychologists LaPearl Logan Winfrey, PhD, ASPP?s director of training, and Fred Strassburger, PhD, of the DC Psychological Association, Barnes says.

Community outreach

The pilot program was initiated by the D.C. Coalition, a group of prominent community leaders who are interested in developing a multi-faceted approach to handling juvenile justice issues. As a member of the coalition, Shirley Higuchi, the Practice Directorate?s assistant executive director of legal and regulatory affairs, served as chair of the Provider Subcommittee, which helps the community and young people access psychological services. APA invited ASPP to participate in the program and Judge Arthur Burnett, a D.C. Coalition member, provided a link to the court system for APA and ASPP. (Four psychology students from Howard University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Bowie State University also are participating in the program through other channels, says Barnes.)

This pilot program is a good example of how psychologists can offer their services to the community, says Russ Newman, PhD, JD, APA?s executive director for practice. He hopes it will demonstrate that the additional psychological services provided by the interns are effective and valuable to the court and that it teaches psychology students the importance of community outreach.

'Historically, community outreach has not happened because, for whatever reason, the profession has not realized the potential benefit and value we could bring if we went out and were involved more broadly in the community,' Newman says.

Model program

Burnett, who recently retired from the bench as an active judge to become a spokesman for the Children?s Defense Fund, hopes the program will serve as a model for the rest of the country. The court system'needs a lot more psychologists who are able to assess the needs of these children, understand them and come up with meaningful programs at this formative age rather than trying to rehabilitate or reform someone at 22, 23 or 24,' he says.'If we can meet the needs of each individual child, we are hopeful that the first offense might be the child?s only offense.'

Burnett plans to work with judges in other cities to establish similar programs. APA will work with ASPP to set up similar programs at its seven other schools across the country, Higuchi says.

In addition to helping the court system, the program provides ASPP?s doctoral students sound training opportunities and exposes them to community service issues, says Cynthia Baum, PhD, ASPP?s dean.