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As a precursor to statewide implementation of welfare reform, the Governor of South Dakota initiated a pilot project targeted to families of youth involved with the Department of Corrections. A major realization of this initiative was that addressing substance abuse issues for youths and families was a critical component in the development of a comprehensive system of services. Other service elements for helping families make a successful transition included education/training (to develop sufficient job and life skills), medical health-related problems, mental health status, and employment services.

Collaboration Promotes Success

State staff realized that the success of the pilot program hinged on collaboration not only within the Department of Human Services, but among all agencies that deal with families and children. One of the realities for States is that families with one or more members suffering from substance abuse problems often face a multitude of concurrent problems. Such families may already be receiving assistance from several separate State agencies or programs, so a comprehensive, systemwide approach is most likely to produce successful outcomes.

Since December 1996, four departments of South Dakota State government—corrections, labor, human services, and social services—have been cooperating on the Family Aftercare Program (FAP) to provide intensive family services to parents and siblings of boys sent to boot camp. FAP's goal is to help these families create an environment to which the boy can be returned and in which he can succeed. Three-quarters of the boys have substance abuse problems and receive treatment in boot camp; half of the boys say their parents have substance abuse problems.

If the Department of Corrections determines that a boy's family needs services in order for him to return home after boot camp, the caseworker contacts the Department of Social Services (DSS) and asks for intensive services. During home visits, DSS workers conduct a comprehensive family-functioning assessment, which includes a screen for parental substance abuse. Yet despite the youths' reports of substance abuse in the home, the social workers came up blank. "Theoretically, we had it covered, but we weren't picking up substance abuse," said Sharon Sonnenschein, DSS Assistant Division Director for Program Management. "We learned that when we had families complete self-screening forms, we got no referrals." That was when FAP clearly demonstrated what interdepartmental cooperation can yield for clients. Because the program is under the aegis of the Department of Corrections, DSS case workers could consult Corrections' records to compare information on the family and make the appropriate referrals, Sonnenschein said.

Until FAP began coordinating casework for these juvenile justice families, "services to kids were disconnected, all bits of a puzzle," according to Gilbert Sudbeck, Director, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. "FAP brings all the pieces together," he says, which for families with a chemical dependency system is of critical importance. "These families are entrenched in denial, they know how to work the system. But FAP helps stop the games, it short-circuits them," he said. "No one can wiggle out of it because we have a network that provides the missing information."

So far, none of the families has dropped out of the program. If the boy is to return home, the family must cooperate. The parents sign a service agreement in which each side agrees to do certain things. "The family has

to work with us," Sonnenschein stressed.

For FAP families in which substance abuse is a problem, this means accepting referral for alcohol and drug treatment, which is paid for by the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. "This is a real benefit," said Kevin McLain, Assistant Secretary for the Department of Corrections. "Not only do you help the juvenile offender, you also help the parents and the siblings." This is especially important when there are three or four younger children in the family, he noted, because of the opportunity for prevention.