Client Programs
The mission of the Programs Division is to provide services that facilitate client and family insight, growth, hope and empowerment through accountability, skills development, advocacy, counseling and treatment.
Clinical Programs Services in particular provide for substance abuse assessment, treatment, and mental health counseling. These programs demonstrate our commitment to support the youth of our community by lowering drug and alcohol use, increasing life skills, and thereby reducing risk for re-offensive behavior. Clinical Programs staff are specifically qualified to provide group, individual, and family counseling on a vast array of issues that juveniles may face. It is our goal to evolve to meet the needs of our clients and their families and to assist them by providing support and linking them to resources in the community.
Substance Abuse Services (SAS) Detention Treatment Program
SAS is based out of the Ada County Juvenile Detention Center and is an intensive treatment program addressing substance abuse and mental health issues. It is a minimum of eight weeks occurring Monday through Friday.
SAS Treatment includes:
- Weekly individual counseling with a qualified professional
- Daily group therapy in the following subjects:
- Relapse Prevention
- Co-occurring issues
- Drug Education
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
- Intensive family counseling/collaboration to increase familial support and rebuild relationships
- Academic component facilitated by a state certified teacher so clients may work on school credit, GED/HSE, or other academic pursuits.
- Referrals for continuum of care
Outpatient Treatment
ACJCS offers weekly Substance Abuse treatment services on Monday thru Thursday from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. The program is a minimum of 6 months. It consists of two phases.
Services include:
- Phase 1 - Educational groups focusing on topics of relapse prevention, addiction, and physiological effects of substance abuse.
- Phase 2 - Groups focusing on exposing addictive behaviors of clients, as these tend to be most adolescents’ relapse triggers.
- Individualized treatment planning with qualified professionals.
Intensive Outpatient Treatment/Juvenile Drug Court
This is a four phase treatment program addressing substance abuse and mental health. Groups are Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 5:30.
Services include:
- Assessment – Our clinicians provide both substance abuse and Mental Health assessments that help determine what type and what level of care will provide the most benefit to the juvenile.
- Phase 1 – Education – exposure and learning terms to sobriety and recovery (8 weeks)
- Phase 2 – Foundations of recovery – beginning to apply concepts – self personalization
- Phase 3 – Becoming solid in sobriety and actively using interventions to maintain sobriety
- Phase 4 - Internalizing information – Recovery Enhancement (relapse prevention)
Juvenile Drug Court uses a combined approach to battle adolescent substance abuse, mental health and criminality. Clients participate in all of the Intensive/Outpatient Treatment Services as well as appear weekly before the Judge and the Drug Court Team. This is a 9 – 16 month program that clients may choose as an alternative to formal adjudication. Benefits of this program include: charges being dismissed upon successful completion; maintaining a driver's license instead of a mandatory suspension. Intensive family involvement in this program means more parents are able to participate more fully in their child’s recovery from substances.
Mental Health Counseling
The Counseling Unit encompasses:
- Counseling in Detention - Detention counseling is offered to all juveniles who are placed in secure custody and express issues related to suicide, mental health, family, drug/alcohol, or other concerns that the juvenile would like to speak to a counselor about.
- Status Offender Program – The least restrictive and pro-active program, this brief intervention is designed to assist the child and the family in avoiding further court involvement.
- Individual/family counseling – Master’s level therapists provide individual and family counseling. Referrals come from Judges, probation officers, and the community.
- Assessments – Our clinicians provide both substance abuse and Mental Health assessments that help determine what type and what level of care will provide the most benefit to the juvenile.
Transitional Care
Ada County Juvenile Court Services offers short-term foster care placement for adolescents through the Transitional Care Program. This program provides a sheltered environment for those youths needing time to transition back into their own home or the home of a relative. Counseling, education, and other treatment services are utilized to return children home within a few months.
Community Service
The Ada County Juvenile Court Community Service Program provides community-focused work opportunities for juveniles who are Court ordered to complete community service hours. ACJCS Community Service provides:
- Work crews 6 days a week;
- Male and female specific work crews;
- Individual placements for clients who cannot participate in work crews; and
- 450 hours of service work weekly to better our community.
Work In Lieu of Detention (WILD)
Work In Lieu of Detention is a subcomponent of the Community Service Program at ACJCS, although it is treated as a separate program because WILD work days are credited as detention time served by the Court.
The WILD program provides:
- Work crews 3 days a week for males and 2 days a week for females;
- Male and female specific work crews;
- Safe working environments for juveniles repaying a debt to the community; and
- 200 hours weekly for restitution to our community.
For more information on WILD or Community Service, please contact our office at 208.287.5600 or contact:
Summer Hirschfield
Community Service Supervisor
Ph: 208.287.5629
Email: smorch@adaweb.net
Victory Academy
Victory Academy is a cooperative educational program between Ada County Juvenile Court Services, Boise School District, and Idaho Youth Ranch to serve high school students who have been suspended or expelled from neighborhood schools. Students work at their own pace on curriculum aligned with state and district standards toward earning high school credits, or preparing for GED testing at Boise State University. Victory Academy creates an environment that respects the dignity of students as individuals while keeping expectations high. The goal is to prepare students to be successful in a traditional school setting, and then transition them to mainstream schools at an appropriate time. In addition to academics, students participate in projects designed to nurture their creativity and enhance involvement in the community. Student work has been displayed in local art galleries and the Boise Art Museum.
For more information on Victory Academy, please contact our office at 208.287.5600 or contact:
Kristi Swanson
Email: jvswankm@adaweb.net
or kristi.swanson@boiseschools.org
Attendance Court
Attendance Court, operating since January 2000, is a prevention program targeting elementary school students over the age of seven who have a history of chronic school attendance problems. The program was based on research demonstrating that students with early truancy problems are at greater risk of entering the juvenile justice system than their peers.
Referrals come from Boise and Meridian school districts. Students and their families attend Court at the Ada County Juvenile Court Services building. They work with a judge, attorneys, school personnel, and program staff to develop a plan for improving attendance and school performance. Student attendance is monitored by school and program staff to ensure compliance with the contract, and the family is brought back in front of the judge to review progress. If attendance has improved, the case is closed successfully. If there has been little or no improvement, the judge may set the case for another review or they may close it, which in turn facilitates a referral to the prosecutor for further action.
Attendance Court teams with the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation, the Boys' and Girls' Club of Ada County, Warm Springs Counseling Center, the Department of Heath and Welfare, and other agencies in the community to provide additional resources for students and their families. Private attorneys volunteer their time to assist families referred to Attendance Court.
For more information on Attendance Court, please contact our office at 208.287.5600 or contact:
Larry Overholser
Ph: 208.577.4815
Email: jvoverlr@adaweb.net
For more information on the Programs Division, please contact our Programs Manager Jeffrey G. Schatz at 208.287.5612 or our reception desk at 208.287.5600.