1. ARY and CHINS Petitions FREQUENCY OF USE AND KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM A STATEWIDE SURVEY
Catherine Pickard, MSW, MPP
Washington State Center for Court Research
2015 Becca Conference

2. Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

3. What about frequency of use by individual courts?
COURTS FILING ZERO CHINS PETITIONS IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE PAST FOUR YEARS:
Adams, Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Greys Harbor, Island, Kitsap, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln, Okanogan, Skamania, San Juan, Walla Walla, Wahkiakum, Whitman, Yakima
Why do we see variations in the number of ARY and CHINS petitions filed in each county?
Youth Population
Intervention Programming
Court Policies

4. Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

5. Race and Ethnicity for Youth with ARY and/or CHINS Petitions in 2013
Asian
Black/African American
Native American/Pacific Islander
White
Other or Unknown
ARY
2.6%
9.3%
3.5%
70.4%
15.0%
CHINS
2.2%
12.7%
1.8%
68.4%
16.2%
ARY AND CHINS IN 2013
1.4%
14.5%
0.0%
63.8%
21.7%
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

6. Average Age When Becca Petition was Filed in 2013
Percent of Youth with a Juvenile Offender Referral Prior to 2013 Becca Petition
Average Age at Time of First Offender Referral
Percent of Youth with a Dependency Case Filed
(through 2013)
Average Age at First Dependency Case Filing
ARY
15.4
42.0%
14.0
9.1%
7.3
CHINS
15.8
46.5%
14.4
25.0%
9.4
ARY AND CHINS IN 2013
40.6%
14.6
15.9%
10.7
Multi-system Involvement for youth with ARY and/or CHINS Petition(s) Filed in 2013
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

7. Washington State Becca Task Force
The Becca Task Force provides a forum to help foster collaboration between courts, schools, and service providers; leads efforts to ensure that adequate funding, accountability mechanisms, and efficient and effective processes for carrying out the intent and goals of the Becca laws are in place.
ARY and CHINS Surveys distributed in 2015
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

8. Recognition that the ARY and CHINS processes can vary county by county
Survey intended to help identify:
How Petitions are filed in each court
Innovative approaches to the ARY and CHINS Petition process
Collaboration between agencies
Opinions from professional court staff on how they view the ARY and CHINS Petition processes
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

9. Who participated in the surveys?
Professional Court Staff
Jurisdictions NOT responding
Juvenile Probation Counselor
Juvenile Probation Manager
Court Commissioner
Probation Director
Diversion Supervisor
Becca Caseload Supervisor/Coordinator
Juvenile Court Administrator
Case Manager
Children’s Administration Supervisor
Judge
Detention Manager
Public Defender
Jefferson
Cowlitz
Okanogan
Ferry
Asotin
Garfield
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

10. How do people in your community get information about ARY and CHINS?
Juvenile Court Services (97%)
Children’s Administration/DSHS (90%)
Law Enforcement (87%)
Schools (84%)
Word of Mouth (77%)
Counselors (71%)
Attorneys (68%)
Website (55%)
(Comments also mention other community partners, such as: TeamChild, Lutheran Family Services)
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

11. What is the process for filing a CHINS petition?
What is the process for filing an ARY petition?
“The youth will call the toll free number to set up an appointment”
“Documents are available from the juvenile court, school and DSHS office. Once forms are prepared, take to DSHS for review and assessment. If approved by DSHS… we send out notice and assign attorney”
“Youth is directed to DSHS to speak with an FRS worker. FRS worker explains the process, complete the Family Assessment and will help the youth in filing the petition”
“Screened for eligibility by JPC, referral made to defense attorney, CHINS filed by attorney”
“Parent/legal guardian contacts the DSHS Intake Line and requests an At-Risk Youth Order”
“Documents are filled out by parent, taken to DSHS for assessment. If approved the documents are brought back to juvenile department, attorney assigned and notice is mailed to respondent”
“Families call the ARY coordinator for initial screening. If parents are convinced they want to file, they fill out a petition and set up an appointment with the ARY coordinator to work on a family assessment”
“Exactly the same as for a CHINS Petition”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

12. Is there always a Family Reconciliation Services (FRS) assessment provided to the ARY or CHINS petitioner?
Does your court use any sort of screening or assessment tool for youth with an ARY or CHINS petition?
Does your court accept ARY and CHINS petitions and set hearings without FRS family assessments?
“The court would prefer to only hear petitions accompanies by a family assessment. Occasionally this is not possible given children on the run or other extenuating circumstance”
“If DSHS cannot complete within 72 hours, the petition can be filed”
“Petitions are filed and hearing set before the family assessment is completed. However, if the family assessment is not completed by the fact finding, the hearing is continued”
“A CHINS may go forward on an interim basis if placement is an issue”
Out of 41 survey participants:
44% provide an assessment for both ARY and CHINS
34% do not provide an assessment for ARY or CHINS
12% “don’t know” if they provide an assessment for either petition
SS-GAIN (Global Assessment of Individual Needs), Trauma Screen , PACT, UCLS/CPSS Trauma Screen for ARY cases
FRS Case assessment:
Intake and assessment services, the FRS shall include: exploration of the seriousness of the situation that triggered the crisis, determination of family strengths, and the assessment of the need for CPS services, including reporting of all cases of suspected child abuse.
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

13. What services are you able to order in an ARY or CHINS case?
At least 75% OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS REPORT ABLE TO ORDER:
50-75% OF SURVEY PARTICIPANTS REPORT ABLE TO ORDER:
OTHER SERVICES OFFERED LESS FREQUENTLY:
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING
FAMILY COUNSELING
FFT COUNSELING
DRUG TESTING
DRUG EVALUATION
MENTAL HEALTH EVALUATION
DBT COUNSELING
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAM
PARENT SUPPORT GROUP
RAD COUNSELING
MST COUNSELING
ART
CSEC REFERRAL
INTERNET ADDICTION COUNSELING
THE INCREDIBLE YEARS
TRIPLE P
STRENGTHENING FAMILIES PROGRAM
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

14. Do you believe the court has accessible and appropriate services for the families you are serving?
“Overall I think we have accessible and appropriate services. It would be nice if specific cases need more specialized services that those would be more accessible. Example: A teen who is not on probation cannot access ART under an ARY”
“Currently working with a steering committee to increase current and add new programs”
“We desperately need Anger Management and/or ART for our population!”
“Becca youth don’t have access to the same number of services as offender youth”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

15. What barriers to services do you believe exist?
“Inadequate service delivery in an ARY (like FFT for example) often results in the conflict increasing….”
Overall, we have very good outcomes. However, there are some cases where additional services would be beneficial”
Our biggest barrier is a toss-up between variety of services available, and language. We currently have no counselors that speak Spanish in the county”
“I don’t believe we have a barrier to services. I believe we have more of an issue with family participation”
“Families with inadequate health insurance or funds are not always able to obtain the counseling and treatment recommended for their situation”
“DSHS programs that are available to dependent families are not available to non-dependent cases”
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015

16. 75% of Survey Participants said “YES” they collaborate with other agencies to provide service in ARY and CHINS cases
What barriers exist that limit your ability to collaborate with other agencies to provide services in ARY or CHINS cases?
“Lack of staff time/availability and money”
“Lack of knowledge about who to collaborate with”
“Lack of family specific services in the community”
“We are meeting with FRS next week to clarify roles amongst agencies so that we can increase our partnership and alignment, in effort to improve our ARY/CHINS outcomes”

17. Successful Programming
“Parent-teen mediation, using a local mediation agency”
“Connections– drug court grant funded, is really helpful for youth struggling with addiction issues”
“Administrator allocated a small portion of funding to serve a few ARY youth with FFT”
“Boys Council and Girls Circle”
“Community Truancy Board”

18. Where to find more data on youth in Washington State?
Annual Caseload of the Courts:
OJJDP Juvenile Data:
Easy Access to Juvenile Populations:
Washington State Center for Court Research - October, 2015