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Intervention Services

Team PRIDE cooperates with an array of parties in juvenile and family court systems to offer the benefits of Karate for Kids to at-risk children. Team PRIDE Intervention Services target children who are under the jurisdiction of juvenile or family courts either because they face juvenile delinquency proceedings or because they are involved in dependency (child abuse or neglect) proceedings.

Team PRIDE enrolls court-involved at-risk children in Karate for Kids classes either as a condition of probation (in delinquency cases) or as part of a court-ordered treatment plan (in dependency cases). Probation is used with increasing frequency both at the "front end" (for juveniles accused of minor delinquency but not yet adjudicated) and at the "back end" (as an alternative to incarceration for juveniles adjudicated delinquent). Between 1988 and 1997, the number of juveniles receiving probation in delinquency cases grew 48%, from 435,300 to 645,600 children nationwide. Fifty-five percent of all adjudicated delinquency cases result in formal probation. A recent report on probation concluded that probation services would be much more effective if probation departments were to pursue partnership with community services: "Working with the community reduces recidivism and increases public safety. It also provides greater success in securing offender compliance with and completing probation." Team PRIDE provides a link between probation departments and martial arts programs, in order to promote successful outcomes for the growing numbers of children on probation.

Team PRIDE facilitates productive relationships between Taekwondo instructors and the various actors in the juvenile justice and child abuse and neglect systems: Judges, probation departments, child protective services officials, public defenders, district attorneys and guardians ad litem, dependency attorneys and social workers. Team PRIDE educates these officials about the benefits of Karate for Kids classes. We also provide Taekwondo instructors with training to help them understand the delinquency and dependency systems so that they can work effectively within those systems to identify and serve at-risk children.