Raising children is a hard job, and struggles in today’s world only makes that job more difficult. As hard as a situation can appear when the family is dealing with it, each family already has unique strengths that can help them not only make their way through the current crisis but also strengthen the family unit. Dealing with a crisis can make it hard for a family to find their way, and finding someone to help can be costly. But there is somewhere in your county that parents can turn for help at no cost.
STAR Family Connection is a free family counseling program provided to youth ages 0-17 and their families experience crisis, runaway behavior or truancy. The purpose of the program is to reduce family conflict and to prevent the problems of runaway, truancy and delinquent behaviors by:
· helping youths and their families resolve crises that threaten their capacity to live together;
· helping youths and their families develop skills to cope with problems and stresses in their homes; and
· helping parents resume and maintain their parental responsibility.
A family crisis could mean many things – such as a family experiencing divorce or remarriage; a family member with a terminal illness or who has experienced the loss of a loved one; problems in school or with failing grades or truancy; children refusing to follow the family rules; or simply a breakdown in communication between the children and parents.
“My 14-year-old son was having problems with his homework assignments and not being able to control his temper,” said Mrs. Smith (name changed due to confidentiality), whose family recently participated in the program. “He was in need of a support group of his peers and some counseling, so we called North Texas Youth Connection.”
Almost all families are eligible for this program – it does not matter how much or little money the family makes or whether they have insurance that covers counseling – the program is free to any eligible family with a child age 0-17 where there is family crisis. Non-eligible families are those with active CPS investigations, or where the child has been finally adjudicated of a crime, since services are available elsewhere.
STAR Family Connection is a six-week counseling program that uses brief therapy to effect positive changes in the family structure and provide tools to change behaviors. Once per week, the family attends an individual counseling session with a Licensed Professional Counselor. This allows the family to experience time that is tailored to their specific needs and to focus on their strengths. Each week the youth and family set goals that are specific and attainable within the next week.
Another vital aspect of the program is the free support groups. Parents and guardians are involved in the program through a support group that meets weekly. This group focuses on problems parents face when trying to handle a youth who is acting out. By sharing with other group members, they get a sense they are not alone. The facilitator helps the group generate useful ideas that work in the real world.
“The support group was a very positive experience for my son, and he began to look forward to going every week,” said Mrs. Smith. “Being a part of something just for him and others like him that he could relate to really helped him.”
While the parents are meeting, the youth are in another room in the lifeskills group. Here, the facilitator incorporates group activities and videos along with discussion to make the groups more interesting and provide a “hands on” learning experience. Topics such as consequences of behavior, conflict resolution, making good decisions, alcohol and drug abuse are discussed in a peer setting.
Families may refer themselves to the program by contacting the office. Many times a school counselor or other professional will refer a family to the program, but even so the program is confidential unless the parent authorizes release of information to the person who referred them.
In years past, when a child was truant from school, the judicial system had no option except fining a family that may already be experiencing financial hardships. This could mean that a family had to choose between paying the fine or putting food on the table, and it didn’t really help fix the problem by getting the child back in school. However, now the judges have an alternative – they can order the family into our truancy program, which helps the family as a unit focus on how to keep the child in school. Twenty-five percent of the families enrolled in the program are court-ordered to attend due to truancy; over 95% of these families successfully completing the program report experiencing no more truancy. A family does not necessarily need to wait until being court-ordered to receive help dealing with their child’s truancy.
The program includes follow-up. Three months after services are completed, staff contacts each family to follow up and check how things are going. Over 90% of the families report that their family situation has improved or improved greatly; and over 80% of the families with children who had been running away report their child has not run away again.
“My son was able to see hwo his actions affected others and, thanks to his great counselor, was able to control his behavior,” said Mrs. Smith. “Thanks to the counselor’s non-biased self-help style of counseling, he was able to come to the same conclusions as his parents, and the growth began. Week by week he was able to use the techniques for self-control, organization and follow-through and his grades rose and any conflicts diminished. At the end of the program my son had grown and matured. He now studies hard and is much more mature with his actions, and I have North Texas Youth connection to thank for that.”
For those families who need additional assistance not provided by our agency, we have an extensive referral network to help the families connect with other local agencies that can provide for their needs.
The STAR Family Connection program is operated in ten counties by North Texas Youth Connection, formerly Grayson County Juvenile Alternatives. North Texas Youth Connection offers community outreach services and an emergency shelter for homeless, runaway and abused youth ages 10-17 located in Sherman. The STAR Family Connection program is available in Wichita, Archer, Clay, Montague, Wise, Cooke, Grayson, Fannin, Lamar and Hunt counties.
For more information about North Texas Youth Connection or any of its programs, visit the website at www.ntxyouthconnection.org, or contact the local office at (903) 893-4717 or the toll-free, 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-800-568-7776.