The initiative, entrusted to the Juvenile Justice Authority, placed the focus on crime prevention and early intervention. For 18 months Coleman, who is single, has participated in Healthy Families America, an Olathe program that focuses on babies, sometimes even before birth. She learned about the program for first-time mothers while in the hospital to deliver Jonathan. One of the main objectives of the program is to prevent child abuse by offering first-time mothers strategies for coping with pressures they face. Coleman, for example, also attends junior college and has a full-time job.
Case managers advise clients on development, nutrition and other social services.
The idea is to get the baby on the right path, but parents also benefit from the attention. Authorities inside and outside the juvenile justice system say that the Juvenile Justice Authority has been modestly successful since it assumed control of juvenile offenders from the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services four years ago. What we are seeing is a reduced number of young people coming into our facilities. Jerry Wells, executive director of the Topeka-based Koch Crime Institute, a private research organization, said he, too, believed the new model would work. From the outset, the authority, which was authorized by 1995 and 1996 legislation, set its sights high.