Making a PROMISE to Norman youth

May 07--Norman Public Schools has taken on a challenge which may be the first of its kind in the state -- serving youth on probation through a new program called PROMISE.

The program is in its infancy and was birthed through cooperation of Cleveland County District Judge Steve Stice and Norman Addiction & Information Counseling, with the blessing of Cleveland County Commissioners, who made the space available at the Allen J. Couch Juvenile Detentional Center.

"The idea came through Judge Stice," said NPS Special Services Director Justin Milner. "He approached us about three months ago with this idea."

PROMISE is an acronym for Preventing Recidivism through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Support and Education.

Milner said education can help break the cycle of repeat offenses because it allows teens who were in trouble with the law to get decent jobs and not be tempted back to crime.

"Hopefully, this will be the last offense these kids will commit," Milner said. "The judge understood that this is just one piece, so here's an opportunity to make sure they work through substance abuse issues and educational issues to put them on the path to success post high school."

NAIC will provide counseling services at Couch three afternoons a week, making it easier for the teens by providing service under a single roof in the space vacated by CASA.

PROMISE serves kids who have been found delinquent -- the adult equivalent of being found guilty of a crime.

"They do go home at night," Milner said "They're not detained at the facility. You have students who have come through trauma and have made some poor decisions, and now they're involved with the courts. The judge wants to create a pathway where they are successful."

Stice said putting education and counseling under the same roof helps kids who may have transportation issues, a difficulty he realized is common through the juvenile drug court program. Under that program there are strict rules about counseling and treatment, submitting to drug testing, seeing probation officers, appearing in court, and finishing high school or getting a GED.

"Which are all good things to have them do, but the majority of these kids have a homelife where these requirements were putting huge amounts of stress on the families," Stice said.

The Office of Juvenile Affairs reports that 44 percent of youth in the juvenile court system in Oklahoma live with a single parent, while 10 percent live with grandparents.

Some families don't have cars, and the kids don't drive, he said. They may not have computers or internet connections to take Norman's online classes, and some live too far to walk to the public library. In addition, there may be other siblings demanding their parents' time.

"When CASA moved out of the detention center, I went to the county commissioners and asked if we could have that space," Stice said. "My whole thought was 'let's put these services under one roof.'"

Milner said Stice's passion to help these kids change direction was a driving force behind the partnership.

NPS serves 13 residential facilities, such as JD McCarty and some group homes, in addition to having two teacher in place at Couch for the 20-plus students who are in residence at the juvenile facility. In that case, all of the students are considered Norman's responsibility.

In the case of PROMISE serving the kids on probation, NPS can only teach students who live in Norman. While school funds are limited, NPS was able to provide a half-day teacher and computers to allow kids to catch up on school work and earn credits toward high school graduation. That teacher was available because a group home had closed.

The teacher, Kevin Wiley, has taught inside Couch before and has worked with youth in crisis, so he has the experience to do the job, Milner said.

"We couldn't go to a full day with existing staff," Milner said. "We wanted to start small and purposeful. This has not been done before -- I'm not aware of it in Oklahoma. Because we started late, we hope to continue this in the summer months. "

Wiley started on April 24, and NAIC will be bringing in counseling this week.

The CASA offices at Couch were renovated to make one bigger classroom and two smaller offices, one for counseling and another for the juvenile drug court coordinator. NPS brought in computers and a school van for transportation along with providing the teacher.

"If we can get them, get them educated and try to keep them off drugs or even minimize their time using, then hopefully we can prevent them from becoming another statistic in the adult corrections system," Stice said.

And that, he said, saves taxpayer dollars in the long run.

"We are providing the same services that we were providing here at NAIC," said Connie Branch, NAIC Youth and Family Director. "We're moving those treatment services to the Couch Center to make it one-stop shop accessibility for the families and their adolescents. "

Counseling includes group therapy, individual therapy and family therapy.

The STREET Grant will provide funding.

"I will be offering treatment for any of the kids where substance abuse is identified through our assessment process," Branch said.

They will also receive trauma-related counseling.

"The majority of the kids will probably have co-occurring disorder (substance abuse and mental health issues)," Branch said. "I would say the majority of our kids have had some past trauma before their substance abuse."

The Office of Juvenile Affairs reports that 60 percent of youth in the system had involvement with the state's child welfare division prior to 2015, and 10.3 percent were removed from their homes by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services prior to 2015.

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