Family Integrated Transitions (FIT)

Family Integrated Transitions (FIT) provides integrated individual and family services to juvenile offenders with mental health and chemical dependency disorders during the period of the youth’s transition from incarceration back to the community. The goals of the FIT program include lowering the risk for recidivism, connectingthe family with appropriate community supports, achieving youth abstinence from alcohol and other drugs, improving the mental health status of the youth, and increasing prosocial behavior.

Quick Facts:

Focus of initiative/program:
  • Children and Families
  • Mental Health
  • Substance Abuse
    • Inititative/program name:
    Family Intergrated Transitions
    Year Established:
    2001
    Lead agency/organization name:
    University of Washington
    Population served by initiative/program:
  • Returning from local detention facilities
  • Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
  • Juveniles
  • Men
  • Women
  • Gang members
  • Tribal populations

    • Family Integrated Transitions (FIT)

    Contact:

    Joshua Leblang
    Lecturer
    University of Washington, Dept of Psychiatry
    Phone: 2066852254
    2815 eastlake ave E, suite 200
    Seattle, Washington 98102
    jleblang@uw.edu

    depts.washington.edu/pbhjp/projects/fit.php

    Family Integrated Transitions (FIT)

    Initiatives and Programs

    Focus of initiative/program:
  • Children and Families
  • Mental Health
  • Substance Abuse
    • Inititative/program name:
    Family Intergrated Transitions
    Lead agency/organization name:
    University of Washington

    Funding

    Funding sources for initiative/program:
    State and Local Funding

    Partners in the reentry initiative/program

    Informal Agreement Formal Agreement
    (e.g., a written contract or an MOU) with this partner.
    Community- and faith-based services providers:
    X
    Education and training providers (e.g., local public school officials, vocational instructors):
    X
    Health, mental health, and substance abuse treatment providers:
    X
    Institutional corrections (e.g., DOC, jail, prison):
    X
    Law enforcement agencies (e.g., police, sheriff's office):
    X
    Members of the community (e.g., people who have been incarcerated, their families or neighbors):
    X
    Other criminal justice agencies (e.g., prosecutors, judges):
    X

    Participants

    Population served by initiative/program:
  • Returning from local detention facilities
  • Under community corrections supervision (parole or probation)
  • Juveniles
  • Men
  • Women
  • Gang members
  • Tribal populations

    • Data Collection

    Does your organization collect demographic data on participants?
    Yes
    If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
    age, race, ethnicity, criminal behaviors, gender, school enrollment/work participation. research still pending. No significant difference has been seen thus far between various demographics.
    Does your organization collect data about the process of your initiative/program?
    Yes
    If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
    Client contact, collatoral contact, progress towards goals, adherence data on clinicians following the model.
    Does your organization measure and/or track the outcome of participation?
    Yes
    If "yes", what kind of data? And what results has this data yielded?
    track whether youth remains in the community, youth has been re-arrested, if youth is in school/working/vocational activity. Also whether care-givers have increased their support, family relations have improved, improvement in parental skills, increase in prosocial activities, and changes are sustainable.

    Activities

    What, if any, activities does your initiative/program include for people while they are incarcerated and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
    Two months prior to release, the youth and family are engaged in services and focused on building on the ideas of success. Families are motivated to identify the triggers that led to criminal behaviors and to rearrange the ecology to decrease the opportunity for these trigger to be available.
    What activities does your organization engage in post-release and how do these activities differ from those offered to the general population?
    Post release there in on-going and intensive efforts to work with the youth/family on their desired outcomes and identifying ways for family/youth to be successful. Therapy is focused on building on family's strengths, increasing their responsible behaviors, require care-giver's to be in charge of the changes in ways that are developmentally and culturally appropriate, and that the changes are sustainable.
    How are people placed into your program?
    Referral referral criteria is determined based on funder
    Explore the Justice Center’s Websites
    CSG Justice Center Criminal Justice / Mental Health Consensus Project Justice Reinvestment National Reentry Resource Center Reentry Policy Council