Recent Work
CreativeWorks Initiative! A Performing And Visual Arts Mentoring Initiative For Court Involved Youth
The Institute's CreativeWorks! project was founded on the premise that troubled youths, if provided meaningful, socially engaging, emotionally supportive, and educationally enriched experiences, will be more likely to choose pro-social, healthier, productive life-pathways. The concept of "disconnection" is central to our project. Many of the youth we are targeting present a mix of troubling, "at risk" characteristics, including but not limited to, high levels of academic underachievement, economic disadvantage, histories of alcohol and drug abuse, distressed home environments, gang involvement, and emotional and mental health problems.
Our research on mentoring has identified the most effective mentoring programs to be those that are highly structured, motivating to participants, and implemented by trained professionals with previous skill-building training. And performance and visual arts programs have been particularly successful with court-involved youth, many of whom have experienced years of school failure, emotionally and physically abusive relationships, and frequent exposure to violence.
Project leaders, Professors Forrest Novy and David Springer of the School of Social Work, launched CerativeWorks! in June 2009, together with The Mobile Film School by partnering with Travis County and its Juvenile Probation Department in providing a high interests, skill building, mentoring experience for 14 juveniles currently in detention at the Gardner Betts Residential facility in South Austin. The Mobile Film School finished 2009 with a 4-day Public Service Announcement workshop with 14 adjudicated youth at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center.
Youth Of Color With Mental Health Needs In The Juvenile Justice System
The Inter-American Institute for Youth Justice collaborated with Southwest Key Programs) on a grant from the Hogg Foundation to address policy issues involving youth of color with mental health needs in the juvenile justice system. Focus groups with parents and with mental health service providers were held in Austin and San Antonio, Texas and local and national experts convened for a symposium in Austin, Texas to discuss the prevailing issues related to disproportionate access to services, barriers to treatment, the need for diversion programs, and culturally competent service in both the juvenile justice and mental health systems. A "white paper" resulted with key policy recommendations, based on the discussion from the focus groups and symposium.
The report, published by Southwest Key Programs and the Inter-American Institute for Youth Justice at the University of Texas at Austin calls for improved mental health services for youth of color in Texas, particularly those involved in the juvenile justice system. Funded by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the report describes findings from a symposium with national and local experts, as well as stakeholder focus groups with youth, parents and providers. The study confirmed disparities in access, quality of treatment and aftercare for minority youth in the Texas juvenile justice system and provided a set of policy recommendations to address these issues.
Download the report and supplemental documents here:- Juvenile Justice, Mental Health & Youth of Color: A Framework for Action in Texas (PDF, 28 pages)
- Public Policy Supplement: State of Texas Agency Mental Health-Related Juvenile Justice Policies, Management Standards, & Memoranda of Understanding (PDF, 16 pages)
- Complete List of State Agency Documents Submitted for Review (EXCEL, 101 pages)
- List of Expert Panelists - Symposium on Juvenile Justice, Mental Health and Youth of Color (PDF)
Institute Participation in Conference on Human Rights
In March 2009, the Institute was excited to participate in a poster session at a conference titled Human Rights at UT: A Dialogue at the Intersection of Academics and Advocacy held at the University of Texas at Austin.
Institute Travels in Brazil
In November 2008 and again in June 2009, investigator and director, Dr. Novy, headed visits to Brazil. The purpose of these trips were introduce the newly formed institute to Brazil's juvenile justice community, gather data on Brazil-specific juvenile justice issues and explore possible future collaboration between Brazilian institutions and The University of Texas. Dr. Novy traveled with Professor Michael Churgin of The University of Texas Law School and Carl Reynolds, Executive Director of the State of Texas' Office of Court Administration during parts of the trip.
The comprehensive visits began in Brasilia and included stops in Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre. Meetings were held with many members of the juvenile justice and judiciary community ranging from representatives and members of Brazil's Supreme Court to the Justice Department's National Council on Human Rights of Children and Adolescents. In an interview given while in Brazil Dr. Novy discussed the many commonalities shared by the typical Brazilian youth involved in the juvenile justice system and his or her American counterpart. He also visited several regional juvenile detention programs and residential placement centers for court-involved youth
Juvenile Detention Center in Curitiba
Classroom at juvenile detention center in Curitiba
During his travels Dr. Novy encountered widespread support for developing joint projects, as evidenced by the signing of a joint memoranda of understanding between The University of Texas at Austin and the federal University of Paraná. Dr. Novy lectured on the topic: The Power of Education in Juvenile Justice at the Federal Universities of Rio de Janiero and Rio Grande do Sul. Discussions were also held regarding potential faculty and student exchanges between our universities. Currently talks are under way for seminars to be held in Austin and in Brazil on Juvenile Justice - Human Rights Principles and Practices, and will hopefully draw upon other UT resources such as the Law School's Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice and the School of Social Work's Institute for Restorative Justice and Restorative Dialogue.
The Institute's work in Brazil was recognized on June 24, 2009, by Brazilian Senator Flávio Arns (Paraná) in a "Vote of Applause" [Download PDF] who wrote, "Considering that juvenile delinquency is emerging as one of the most serious risks for Brazilian society, it is appropriate to elevate and encourage initiatives like this, in order for them to be able to contribute to the healthy development and participation of our youth, that in this way they will occupy with ownership the space that is appropriate for them in all contexts of Brazilian life." [Translation by Institute].
