Go Daddy 14455 N. Hayden Rd Suite 226 Scottsdale, AZ 85260 US

Restoring youth for a better outocme

Providing evidence based interventions so at risk youth become well adjusted responsible members of the community

Our community needed a safety net, so we built one!

OUR HISTORY

In 2005 Judge Dorene S. Allen, Midland County Probate Court Judge convened a jurisdictional planning summit. The Court and local leaders in the community identified needs around young people involved in the legal system or at-risk of becoming involved in the legal system. Out of this summit, the court adopted policy, in partnership with the community youth-serving agencies, to develop and implement a comprehensive, integrated, and systemic approach to reducing adolescent youths’ risk-taking behaviors. There was also agreement to create an organization to launch this initiative, Midland Kids First was formed in 2008 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit to provide services for the most at-risk youth in the community.

In 2005 Dick Dolinski, Founder of The Legacy Center for Community Success, introduced the Developmental Assets Research published by the Search Institute to Judge Allen. Search Institute’s concept places the focus on positive youth development. Search identified strengths that young people need in their life in order to thrive, called the 40 Developmental Assets.

Judge Allen agreed and Midland Kids First began using the Developmental Asset research to measure the level of Assets as well as risk-taking behaviors of young people in the Midland County Court Wards. The results from the study indicated none of the Court Wards possessed more than 20 of the Assets and those with fewer than 10 Assets participated in 12 of 24 risk-taking behaviors. It was no surprise the risk-taking behaviors measured were high for youth with few Assets. Similarly, it was unsurprising that these young people ended up in the court system. Developmental Asset-building initiatives went into high gear, and programs were designed to increase Developmental Assets. After two years of work, the young people were again surveyed. The results were most encouraging. Asset levels increased significantly with correspondingly large declines in risk-taking and delinquent behaviors. Our efforts continue to collaborate with youth -serving agencies to emphasize Developmental Assets. In addition, we've extended our efforts to provide mentoring, wraparound and trauma informed services, drug treatment, strengthening families, and child maltreatment prevention programs.

Midland Kids First, Midland County Probate Court, and our partners are very proud of our stunning results.

87% Decline in delinquency
94% Decline in alcohol offenses
80% Decline in drug offenses
59% Reduction in drug use

We cannot do this alone. Everyone plays a role. Please join us in our efforts.

Thank you.

A MESSAGE FROM PROBATE COURT JUDGE DORENE S. ALLEN

Greetings to All:

Thank you for your continuing support of our work. We have seen significant improvement in outcomes for juveniles and their families who interfaced with the courts or are at-risk of being involved in the courts. This is the result of many years of focused work on evidence-based programming. Our delinquency rate continues to be extremely low because of the many programs that we have locally and support from the community. Our delinquency rate has an 82% reduction since 1998, which was the highest point for offenses committed by young people. The alcohol and drug Offenses for our youth have significantly declined. Our community has the advantage of the Recovering Youth Futures program – a program to identify and treat substance abuse problems with our local youth. The net effect in our community is wonderful-a significant decline in the use of drugs-including those at epidemic level in the nation and certainly in the adult population. There is a continued concern that our abuse and neglect numbers have not reduced. The numbers have not increased, but the continued need for the Court’s protection because of the abuse and neglect that children suffer in Midland County is s a concern that we have had for years. To that end, we are embarking on a community initiative developed by the U of Maryland called “Safe Environment for Every Kid – SEEK”. The program begins with the health care professional asking the parents to complete a questionnaire that identifies risk factors. Parents who present risk factors are referred to trained counselors/therapists who can address the identified issues. Our aim is to disrupt the generational abuse and neglect and create a new story for these families. In all that we do, we focus on making the maximum positive effort for our community. Together with our partners, we provide the momentum that helps us affect change, we use data driven models, and provide solutions that make a long-lasting difference.

OUR TEAM

Midland Kids First Board Members:

Dorene S. Allen

Midland County Probate & Juvenile

Court Judge

Michele Bell

Community Volunteer

Mark Bone
Bone & Bailey Insurance

Rod Coleman - Treasurer

SYM Financial

Dr. Kathy Dollard

MyMichigan Health

Atea Duso

Midland County Prosecuting Attorney

Nicole Ford - Secretary

Midland Police Department, Secretary

Gib Giblin

Midland Evangelical Free Church

Ryan Griffus

Juvenile Justice Center

Brita Johnson - Vice Chair

Dow, Inc., Office of Ethics and Compliance

Brian Millikin

Midland & Gladwin Counties Department

of Health and Human Services

Sharon Mortensen - Board Chairperson

Midland Area Community Foundation

Deana Schad

Midland County, Community Mental Health for Central Michigan

John Searles

Midland County Education Service Agency

Noel Contardi

President/CEO