The Strickland Youth Center has engaged in several public and private partnerships, which have enhanced the Court’s work with delinquent and nondelinquent youth. They are:
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF SOUTH ALABAMA
Camp Robert J. Martin Leadership Academy
Camp Martin is structured around a military-style boot camp concept. This residential treatment program for males teaches self-esteem, self-worth, self-discipline, teamwork, accountability, goal setting and a positive mental attitude.
Camp Robert J. Martin Leadership Academy and alternative sentencing program for boys 13 to 17 years old, is a project of the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Alabama, INC. in association with the James T. Strickland Youth Center. Until the development of the Camp Martin program in 1992 the Mobile County juvenile Court was limited to the two traditional sentencing alternatives: returning the youth home on probation or committing him to a state institution. The Camp Martin program provides the Court with a local, family based treatment program consisting of short term residential rehabilitation combined with intensive long-term aftercare.
The program consists of two phases: a minimum 90-day residential component and a nine-month aftercare phase.
Camp Martin Leadership Academy objectives for each participant area:
G.R.O.W.T.H.
G.R.O.W.T.H. stands for Girls Reaching our Womanhood through Healing. Established in 1998 G.R.O.W.T.H. is a community-based alternative sentencing program for young female offenders. It is the first gender sensitive program in Alabama. It provides a comprehensive approach to meeting the unique needs of at risk females.
G.R.O.W.T.H. has a four month intensive residential program and a ninety day drug treatment component. Graduates participate in a one year aftercare program. Critical area addresses by G.R.O.W.T.H. are:
Specialized Education Programs
Established through a contract between the Mobile County Public School System and the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Alabama, specialized educational programs are available to delinquent youths in Mobile County. The programs include daily school for youths detained at Strickland Youth Center; P.O.I.N.T.E. (Progressive Opportunities in Today’s Education), located at the Carver campus of Bishop State Community College; Crisis Center; Camp Martin Leadership Academy; and G.R.O.W.T.H.
P.O.I.N.T.E. Academy, an alternative school, was established in 1998. It provides education for graduates of Camp Martin and G.R.O.W.T.H. In addition to a full academic program, which includes the required state curriculum and the PACE program (a remedial education program), P.O.I.N.T.E. offers many elective subjects and G.E.D. training. It can also issues diplomas for youth who meet Mobile Counties graduation requirements.
City of Mobile Police Department
The city of Mobile has placed a social worker in each of it's police precincts to work with police officers in providing crime prevention services to families living in the precinct. Strickland Youth Center has entered into a partnership with the City of Mobile Police Department to provide probation officers in each precinct to work with the social worker and the police officers. The probation officers operates out of the precinct office and maintains close contact with the youths as well as conducting regular curfew checks. In this partnership, a team approach is utilized to help control delinquent behavior and assist families with services needed for fulfilling their parents responsibilities.
University of South Alabama and the University of Mobile
The Court has entered into a partnership with the University of South Alabama and the University of Mobile to develop both an undergraduate and graduate level of Internship Program.
At the University of South Alabama, the Sociology Department and the Political Science and Criminal Justice Departments provide undergraduate students who are required to spend 120 hours working with the court. The graduate departments at the University of South Alabama in Psychology and Counseling provide students who spend a minimum of 900 hours of counseling with families of nondelinquent youth (C.H.I.N.S.) at the Crisis Center. The graduate program in Marriage and the Family at the University of Mobile provides students who spend 50 hours counseling with families.
