Programs and Case Management

Programs and case management staff offer an array of evidence-based group interventions for skill building and risk reduction. In addition, facility case managers provide supportive individual counseling sessions and facilitate regular youth communication with their families. 

Evidence-based interventions delivered by Programs and Case Management staff in DJJ secure facilities include:

• Pathways to Daily Living - a workbook-based group program designed to address critical life and lifestyle issues.  The overall objective is to help participants improve their general health and happiness as functioning members of society.  The skills and concepts taught here are the basics of a healthy and happy life. The lessons, and lesson plans, can serve as a starting point for discussions and supportive interactions with program participants.  Each lesson includes a suggested time frame, seating arrangement, sequence of activities (“process”), and comments.
• Merging Two Worlds (M2W) - a life skills/transition-based curriculum developed by The Arizona Department of Education’s Secure Care Education Committee specifically for secure-care populations. The M2W curriculum is based on the concept that resiliency (the ability to come back from and successfully adapt to adversity) is critical to an individual’s successful reintegration into the community. The M2W curriculum is divided into chapters, each aligned with the concept of resiliency. The M2W curriculum is designed to be flexible and may be enhanced with or supplemented by content-specific lessons or additional life skills and transition materials that the teacher already uses.
• SAVRY (Structured Assessment of Violent Risk in Youth) – This assessment and case planning tool is an integral component to successful treatment decisions. The Risk-Needs-Responsivity model of adolescent risk model provides an evidence-based framework by which to identify and treat the criminogenic risk of youth. DJJ treatment and program staff will administer and interpret results of the assessment tool and to utilize tool results to guide treatment team decisions for youth as well as evaluation of youth progress.
• PREA - The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) curriculum is a comprehensive, lesson-based program developed by A.R. Resources, Inc. It is implemented in each facility within the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.
• Skillstreaming- Skillstreaming is an evidenced-based intervention that involves systematically teaching social skills to address the needs of the youth who display behavioral problems and to support the youth with necessary skills to lead effective and satisfying personal and interpersonal lives. Skillstreaming the Adolescent employs a four-part training approach—modeling, role-playing, performance feedback, and generalization—to teach essential prosocial skills to adolescents.
• Thinking for a Change (T4C): This is a group approach that addresses cognitive distortions and thinking errors. The goal of T4C is to help youth identify distorted thinking and develop new skills to correct these distortions.
• Aggression Replacement Therapy (ART): This is a group approach that addresses behavioral issues. The goals of ART are to assist youth in building in social skills, anger management, and moral reasoning.
• Victim Impact: This is a group designed to educate youth on the impacts of criminal behavior on the victim and on the community. The group addresses broadly applicable empathy- and skill-building material, while additional, offense-specific material is available to be delivered in individual counseling sessions.