Alyssa Militello and her staff of three have been present for a teen mom giving birth.
They've been to school suspension hearings; they've brought underwear to a youthful offender incarcerated in the Cayuga County Jail; and they've held the hand of a teenager undergoing a painful dentist's visit.
The team of four are the hearts behind Cayuga County's non-profit "Intensive Supervision Conditional Discharge Program," a court-monitored alternative for youths facing two or more misdemeanor charges and at the risk of being placed in foster care.
For youths who are spiraling downward, the united front of the Partnership For Results staff presents ways to start an upward tilt in the direction of their lives.
Instead of leaving youths to addictive behaviors, criminal histories and poor choices, they offer the chance to become law-abiding members of the community, said Auburn City Court Judge Michael McKeon, who uses the program as a sentencing option.
"If you get at the root of the problem that the person faces, provide services, with that type of program and structure, those individuals will have the tools to avoid committing more criminal offenses," McKeon said.
The result, Militello said, is "kids who hate every single person they have ever met, now trusting adults."
Militello, the program's supervisor, along with therapist Kelly Boskos and case managers Mike Cullen and Amanda Jackson, are currently working with 18 youths. Over the last five years, the program has supported 116 youths facing unstable living situations, poverty, mental health issues, addictions and subpar educational performance.
The federal grant funding the ISCD program expires Sept. 30, but the Partnership staff will shift to working with students in grades 6 to 12 who have behavioral problems or truancy issues that are referred by Cayuga County Family Court or are referred into the program because they are facing a Person In Need of Supervision (PINS) diversion.
When the soon-to-expire program is successful for participants, the ISCD staff said, it is because they recognize the good feelings stemming from being sober, not having their parents yelling at them, and accomplishing major life milestones of education and work.
Even when they revert to truant behavior, the desire to get that good feeling back can be motivation for youths to change things again, Militello said.
The staff's intervention efforts can be as simple as "teaching them how to be in a normal setting and have fun," Boskos said. The program has taken ISCD youths fishing and for a dinner at the Sunset Restaurant. Staff also teach job interviewing and dress code skills.
Work is done with receptive families to decrease fighting that results in youths acting out in school or engaging in criminal behavior.
"We're trying to break that pattern," Boskos said.
Intensive is the operative word for the ISCD. The staff have contact - typically in person - with the youth every day of the week.
ISCD staff meet with students at their schools, during study halls and during lunch periods. They meet with the youth at their workplaces and in their homes.
The staff also holds a biweekly group meeting at their office at 144 Genesee St.
All the staff members have cell phones, and a staff member is on-call on the weekends with a beeper.
In Auburn City Court, McKeon meets with the youths and the ISCD staff once a month.
The staff regularly updates Cayuga County Family Court on the progress of the youths with written reports.
The staff is in constant communication with each other, court officials, other not-for-profit workers and school employees.
Because of this intense, interconnected communication, a violation is reported right away and can be dealt with immediately, McKeon said.
The ISCD provides a unique opportunity to address factors in an offenders' life that not-for-profits without an outreach component can't address within their regular business hours, said Kevin Hares, executive director of Auburn's Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs counseling agency.
"Kids are great at splitting, avoiding a lot of little things that really comes out to no engagement in the process. When they're in the ISCD, they're really asked to respond to that," Hares said.
The staff's constant availability is important because "it's what happens to them when they leave our building after hours and on the weekend" that really shapes troubled youths, said Susan Peck, a school social worker at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. "That's where the Partnership folks zoom right in. I can see it make the difference between the family getting through the crisis and learning from it and just getting through it. For them to wait until Monday morning for when an office opens, the deed has already been done."
Firm fairness is how the staff greets youths who resist participation in court-mandated substance abuse, mental health and other programs.
The staff says they can't make them go, but they hope the youths will participate because otherwise they'll be brought into court for failure to comply with the program.
If the youths successfully complete the one-year supervision program, they are conditionally discharged from their misdemeanor charges.
If they don't, they face regular sentencing penalties for their convictions.
Because the staff gives multiple warnings of the consequences of the failure to complete the program, "no kid will ever say I didn't know what was going to happen," Militello said.
The program has worked because the staff has been firm and consistent about the consequences of punishment if the programs' guidelines are not met, McKeon said.
Except for Sullivan, all staff members have been with the program since its inception and have continued personal relationships with former clients. A reunion was held this past summer.
"Just seeing the results got me hooked in the job," Sullivan said.
It's a contrast to Sullivan's last job at a maximum security detention center.
Now Sullivan sees kids getting their GEDs and getting jobs, and works directly with families and other community members.
He has seen a mother inspired by her daughter's return to school to go back to school herself.
Program results
- A total of 116 youths have been involved in the Intensive Supervision Conditional Discharge Program.
- A total of 62 successfully completed the program.
- A total of 57 needed substance abuse treatment.
- A total of 20 qualified as having homelessness issues because of their unstable living situations.
- A total of 21 got their general equivalency diplomas, four got their high school diplomas and 10 entered college or some other higher education certification program.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
The team of four are the hearts behind Cayuga County's non-profit "Intensive Supervision Conditional Discharge Program," a court-monitored alternative for youths facing two or more misdemeanor charges and at the risk of being placed in foster care.
For youths who are spiraling downward, the united front of the Partnership For Results staff presents ways to start an upward tilt in the direction of their lives.
Instead of leaving youths to addictive behaviors, criminal histories and poor choices, they offer the chance to become law-abiding members of the community, said Auburn City Court Judge Michael McKeon, who uses the program as a sentencing option.
"If you get at the root of the problem that the person faces, provide services, with that type of program and structure, those individuals will have the tools to avoid committing more criminal offenses," McKeon said.
The result, Militello said, is "kids who hate every single person they have ever met, now trusting adults."
Militello, the program's supervisor, along with therapist Kelly Boskos and case managers Mike Cullen and Amanda Jackson, are currently working with 18 youths. Over the last five years, the program has supported 116 youths facing unstable living situations, poverty, mental health issues, addictions and subpar educational performance.
The federal grant funding the ISCD program expires Sept. 30, but the Partnership staff will shift to working with students in grades 6 to 12 who have behavioral problems or truancy issues that are referred by Cayuga County Family Court or are referred into the program because they are facing a Person In Need of Supervision (PINS) diversion.
When the soon-to-expire program is successful for participants, the ISCD staff said, it is because they recognize the good feelings stemming from being sober, not having their parents yelling at them, and accomplishing major life milestones of education and work.
Even when they revert to truant behavior, the desire to get that good feeling back can be motivation for youths to change things again, Militello said.
The staff's intervention efforts can be as simple as "teaching them how to be in a normal setting and have fun," Boskos said. The program has taken ISCD youths fishing and for a dinner at the Sunset Restaurant. Staff also teach job interviewing and dress code skills.
Work is done with receptive families to decrease fighting that results in youths acting out in school or engaging in criminal behavior.
"We're trying to break that pattern," Boskos said.
Intensive is the operative word for the ISCD. The staff have contact - typically in person - with the youth every day of the week.
ISCD staff meet with students at their schools, during study halls and during lunch periods. They meet with the youth at their workplaces and in their homes.
The staff also holds a biweekly group meeting at their office at 144 Genesee St.
All the staff members have cell phones, and a staff member is on-call on the weekends with a beeper.
In Auburn City Court, McKeon meets with the youths and the ISCD staff once a month.
The staff regularly updates Cayuga County Family Court on the progress of the youths with written reports.
The staff is in constant communication with each other, court officials, other not-for-profit workers and school employees.
Because of this intense, interconnected communication, a violation is reported right away and can be dealt with immediately, McKeon said.
The ISCD provides a unique opportunity to address factors in an offenders' life that not-for-profits without an outreach component can't address within their regular business hours, said Kevin Hares, executive director of Auburn's Confidential Help for Alcohol and Drugs counseling agency.
"Kids are great at splitting, avoiding a lot of little things that really comes out to no engagement in the process. When they're in the ISCD, they're really asked to respond to that," Hares said.
The staff's constant availability is important because "it's what happens to them when they leave our building after hours and on the weekend" that really shapes troubled youths, said Susan Peck, a school social worker at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES. "That's where the Partnership folks zoom right in. I can see it make the difference between the family getting through the crisis and learning from it and just getting through it. For them to wait until Monday morning for when an office opens, the deed has already been done."
Firm fairness is how the staff greets youths who resist participation in court-mandated substance abuse, mental health and other programs.
The staff says they can't make them go, but they hope the youths will participate because otherwise they'll be brought into court for failure to comply with the program.
If the youths successfully complete the one-year supervision program, they are conditionally discharged from their misdemeanor charges.
If they don't, they face regular sentencing penalties for their convictions.
Because the staff gives multiple warnings of the consequences of the failure to complete the program, "no kid will ever say I didn't know what was going to happen," Militello said.
The program has worked because the staff has been firm and consistent about the consequences of punishment if the programs' guidelines are not met, McKeon said.
Except for Sullivan, all staff members have been with the program since its inception and have continued personal relationships with former clients. A reunion was held this past summer.
"Just seeing the results got me hooked in the job," Sullivan said.
It's a contrast to Sullivan's last job at a maximum security detention center.
Now Sullivan sees kids getting their GEDs and getting jobs, and works directly with families and other community members.
He has seen a mother inspired by her daughter's return to school to go back to school herself.
Program results
- A total of 116 youths have been involved in the Intensive Supervision Conditional Discharge Program.
- A total of 62 successfully completed the program.
- A total of 57 needed substance abuse treatment.
- A total of 20 qualified as having homelessness issues because of their unstable living situations.
- A total of 21 got their general equivalency diplomas, four got their high school diplomas and 10 entered college or some other higher education certification program.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or at amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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