We provide direct services to youth and families, and we partner with community coalitions to help stop generational cycles of substance use and arrest.
At TASC, we understand that client involvement in juvenile justice or youth and family service systems increases the likelihood of later involvement in the adult criminal legal system. Our ultimate goal is to divert people away from involvement in that system.
To
this end, we serve youth in child welfare and juvenile
justice systems for whom we provide case management and wraparound services. Under the leadership of the Illinois Department of Children and
Family Services (DCFS), we also serve parents in the child
welfare system who have substance use disorders.
Making a Difference
Our approach works: Among TASC’s juvenile justice clients, treatment completion rates are significantly greater than those of other justice-involved youth in Illinois.
In our
Family Recovery and
Reunification Program (formerly called the Recovery Coach program), families
referred to TASC were more likely to be reunified than families in a control
group, and on average, they were reunified four months sooner. Additionally,
the program was found to eliminate racial disparities in reunification that
persist in the control group.
The program generated more than $11 million in savings between 2002 and 2017, preventing unnecessary expenditures by Illinois taxpayers. And future entry into the justice system was prevented: children of participating parents were half as likely to be re-arrested compared to those in a control group.