Stanford Sierra Youth & Families’ Juvenile Justice Intervention Services (JJIS) works in partnership with Sacramento County Probation Department supporting the Restorative Justice Model, focusing on community protection, victim restoration, and offender accountability and competency.

Youth offenders, young people engaged in high-risk activities, and their families address underlying challenges within their family unit to help them engage in positive, productive activities, while significantly reducing additional criminal offenses.

Our JJIS skills trainers and clinicians utilize Functional Family Therapy (FFT), an evidence-based practice, as a means to provide rehabilitation to young offenders, with a focus on reducing criminal behaviors, decreasing individual and community risk factors, changing negative family relationships, and enhancing protective factors to facilitate relapse prevention.

Skills trainers and clinicians frequently collaborate with probation officers to ensure there is effective communication and coordination of services to achieve the combined goal of successfully reintegrating these young people as healthy and productive members into the community.

Program Facts

• Youth ages 12-17 are referred to JJIS through Sacramento County Department of Probation, based on an assessment and eligibility criteria administered by Probation.
• Eligible youth have previous interaction with Probation and exhibit high-risk behavior, frequently including previous criminal offenses and gang involvement.
• We collaborate with the Sacramento County Probation Department and problem solve with families to help families understand how their role and support can give their children the help they need so they have a way out of the juvenile justice system.

Case Management Services

• Active collaboration and partnership with probation and school personnel
• Assistance and linkage to community resources to help meet critical basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter
• Limited access to funds to meet emergency or critical family needs when no other resource is available
• Attendance at court dates with families
• Attendance and advocacy at Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with schools
• Attendance and advocacy at Student Study Team (SST) meetings with schools
• Assistance with arranging transportation for a variety of needs, such as medical, psychiatric, education or employment needs

What Services Look Like

• Youth and families participate in 8 to 12 Functional Family Therapy sessions over the course of approximately 3 months
• Sessions can be more frequent or extended beyond 3 months for more challenging situations
• Functional Family Therapy works in phases: Engagement and Motivation, Behavior Change, and Generalization. These phases include specific goals, assessment foci, specific techniques of intervention, and therapist skills necessary for success