Adolescent Portable Therapy

APT is portable, meaning that clients receive counseling sessions in their homes and communities. Our commitment to bringing quality treatment directly to our clients allows us to serve families who are often not able to access more traditional clinical services.

Specific APT initiatives include

• Working with System-involved Youth in New York City: APT views the juvenile justice system as a continuum and provides treatment for youth at various points along this continuum. Status offenders—youth who show signs of problem behavior but have not committed a crime—and youth who are considered at high risk of violating the terms of their juvenile probation supervision receive APT services that aim to reduce the likelihood that they will enter further into the system. Project staff also provide reentry planning and transition services for youth returning home from secure residential facilities.
   
• Creating APT Youth Advisory Board: With the support of our FAO Schwartz Family Foundation Youth Development Fellow, APT created the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), a group of former APT clients who meet each month to give project staff feedback on how APT can improve its program practices. Through the YAB, project staff are challenged by the youth they serve, and the youth are learning leadership and communication skills.
   
• Providing Technical Assistance: APT’s treatment model is often adopted by other jurisdictions that want to improve their treatment practices. APT provides technical assistance to these jurisdictions, which include Buffalo, NY, Winnipeg in Canada, and sites in rural New Hampshire.

Why APT is Needed
National studies suggest that up to 80 percent of youth in the juvenile justice system have mental health and substance abuse problems. As youth enter deeper into the system, these problems become more prevalent. Also, this system is not set up to address mental health and substance abuse issues, and youth rarely get the treatment they need even after they return home. APT has successfully partnered with various government agencies to provide young people and families with effective, innovative, and cost-effective substance abuse and mental health treatment.
 

For more information, contact project director Evan Elkin.