Beating the Budget in Midland County Juvenile Court

By Judge Dorene Allen, Midland County Probate and C42 Presiding Family Division Judge


In 2018, the Midland County Probate and Family Court came in more than $1 million under budget.  I have been asked how that could be possible.  The answer is simple: residential placements of delinquent and dual (neglect and delinquent jurisdiction) ward youth.  
In 2007, we made the decision to go from anecdotal, punitive-based treatment of our delinquent youth to evidence-based local treatment.  The decision was a daunting one.  The punitive model of rehabilitation was certainly the most common model in the state and nation at the time.  During the 12 years since that decision, the Midland community involvement has expanded so that now there is a full assortment of options for treatment of our juveniles.  The goal of the juvenile court is rehabilitation, and, as I say to my court kids all the time: I do not want to see them in adult court.


We have expanded the options so that each youth is treated individually - there is not a cookie-cutter list of programs for our youth.  The assortment of local evidence-based programming is quite wonderful.  We have also learned that you can use a train-the-trainer model - one of my staff will be trained in an evidence-based practice and then can train the remaining staff when needed.  This has been a cost saver all the way around.  Our programs at this point include:

• Court-run foster care;
• Court-run detention center;
• Court-run day treatment program with Midland Public School educators;
• Enhanced services – team-driven collaboration, including the use of our local detention center as a residential placement for highest risk youth;
• YASI screening tool - criminogenic risk assessment;
• MAYSI screening tool through Community Mental Health;
• GAIN screening tool - substance use screening tool;
• Referral for psychological evaluations, including cognitive evaluations and psycho-sexual evaluations;
• Drug testing through local agency color line;
• Electronic monitoring using GPS tethers;
• EPICS (Effective Probation in Community Setting) treatment model;
• Family/caseworker/therapist team meetings;
• Multi-system therapy;
• Recovering Youth Futures Substance Abuse Treatment program for juveniles;
• Midland Mentors providing mentors for youth on probation;
• Victim Impact Treatment Group;
• Aggression replacement therapy;
• Thinking For A Change (T4C) Treatment Group;
• Strengthening Families Treatment Group;
• Common Sense Parenting Treatment Group;
• Family Ties Treatment Group;
• Healthy and Responsible Relationships Treatment Group;
• Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescent, and Parents (SITCAP) Treatment Group led by a local domestic violence and sexual assault shelter;
• Safe Dates Treatment Group led by a local domestic violence and sexual assault shelter;
• Trails to Wellness Treatment Group led by a local substance abuse counseling agency;
• Resiliency Treatment Group;
• Problem Solving Treatment Group;
• Mindfulness and Nature Treatment Group led by local conservancy;
• Social Perceptions Treatment Group;
• Brief Strategic Family Therapy through Community Mental Health;
• Educational and recreational opportunities for positive community engagement;
• “Pawsitives” in Detention and Day Treatment providing therapy through dog training;
• Transportation tickets and other emergency supports through a family foundation;
• Community service opportunities.

A review of our residential placement costs since 2004 tells the story of why we are under budget by more than a million dollars.  We have reduced our costs for residential care from $1,315,329 in 2004 to $65,673 in 2018.  I attribute this cost reduction to the strength of our staff and the local resources.  Here are the numbers over the years:

As of August 2019, we do not have any new placements in residential care of our youth.  A significant non-monetary benefit of local placement is that the youth remain in the community without breaking family connections and ties to other positive local supports.

This has paid off in a reduction in a 69 percent decrease delinquency since 2004 (see graph below).

This process was not an overnight transformation, but rather a long view of the issue.  I have had the unstinting support of my staff, the community, and the Midland County Board of Commissioners.  This is a wonderful result and certainly enhances the ability of our youth to become contributing members of our community, state, and nation.

Want to know more?  Contact our court at 989-832-6869.





Judge Allen was elected to the probate bench in 2001, re-elected in 2006, 2012 and 2018, and has participated in a number of local and statewide committees and initiatives.  Judge Allen is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Michigan State University - Detroit College of Law.