On July 28 before an overflow crowd on the grounds of the Ingham County Family Center, the Ingham Academy, the day treatment program for the 30th Circuit Court’s Juvenile Division, celebrated the graduation of four of its students. Alexander Jackson, Imani Kenny, Mikhaiyla Moon, and Ronald Seaton were each awarded high school diplomas for their successful efforts. In addition, Moon was awarded the Panther of the Year Award – given to the graduating student judged to be an exceptional role model and inspiration to other students – and Seaton earned the Worker of the Year Award – meant to recognize that graduating student with an excellent work ethic in the vocational aspect of the program.
The Ingham Academy is designed for youth who have been found responsible for the commission of one or more offenses through the Court’s juvenile delinquency jurisdiction and are found suitable to avail of the program’s goals of promoting academic progress and behavioral stabilization in students who are not successful in a traditional school setting. Judge-approved referrals to the Academy come originally from the Court’s Juvenile Court Officers who oversee delinquency caseloads, including those associated with school truancy.
Ingham Academy promotes positive youth development to help adolescents succeed in their home community through a consistent individual, strength-based treatment process in a cooperative and therapeutic environment.
Quality care is provided through a collaboration with three partner agencies – Ingham Intermediate School District (IISD), Highfields, Inc. and Peckham, Inc. IISD provides the educational component of the program, while Highfields delivers the behavior treatment and support to the program and Peckham runs a comprehensive program called Youth Career Academy which offers vocational training and work experience.
Through the combined efforts of all partner agencies, the program addresses and provides intervention for the mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral issues that are identified through the youth’s risk assessments. The treatment focus is to enhance appropriate social skills, emotional regulation and responsible behavior in youth, while increasing academic success such that youth earn a high school diploma. There are four main objectives for completing the program: (1) obtain a high school diploma; (2) gain a year of work experience (through the collaboration with Peckham); (3) pay off court fines and fees; and (4) obtain the life skills necessary to be successful.
These objectives help realize the overall goal of the program – which is to reduce the likelihood participants will commit new offenses and come back within the court’s jurisdiction.
The idea for the Ingham Academy – a unique educational treatment program unlike any other across the state – began some 15 years ago with the formation of a local planning task force. Judge Richard J. Garcia, now Chief Judge of both the 30th Circuit Court and the Ingham County Probate Court, chaired the yearlong body. Task force members included Juvenile Division staff and several community partners.
The Academy officially opened its doors in September of 2007, temporarily taking over a small amount of unused space in the downtown Lansing courthouse to start up classes. With the Court’s purchase and renovation of the Ingham County Family Center on West Holmes Street in the summer of 2008, the program began to operate from its now permanent location in September of that year and has grown to be able to serve 80 youth at any given time.
Data indicates the Academy model has been a success. Over 83% of youth who participate in the Ingham Academy – regardless of how they exit the program – do not commit a new offense within the first year of being dismissed from the program. Since the establishment of the Ingham Academy (and other community-based programming at the Ingham County Family Center), enrollment in long-term, out-of-home programs has fallen by over 80%.
Short-term detentions have also fallen almost 25% since their peak in 2010.
The Ingham Academy, as well as other programs at the Ingham County Family Center, are supported by the County’s Juvenile Justice Millage. The millage is up for renewal next year.
“We are grateful to the voters of Ingham County for supporting a program that helps youth get an education and gives back to the community,” said Chief Judge Garcia. “When a youth succeeds at the Ingham Academy everyone succeeds.”
July’s four honorees join a long line of those over the last 14 years who have successfully completed the Ingham Academy’s graduation requirements. One of those earlier graduates – Marissa Cole from the Class of 2019 – addressed the audience at the graduation ceremony. Cole provided living proof of someone who, partly through success in the Academy, now has a stable job and housing and is looking forward to life’s opportunities.
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