This account is about a PSVP partner who took an idea and $8,800, and through personal determination and the help of key collaborators, turned it into $6 million and two, new, sustainable programs in less than two years.
“SNAP”: Stop Now And Plan — The Idea
Stop Now and Plan, or SNAP, teaches “a cognitive- behavioral strategy that helps children and parents regulate angry feelings by getting them to stop, think, and plan positive alternatives before they act impulsively.” The program was started in the late 1970s by the Child Development Institute in Toronto. Through structured group sessions, family sessions, and individual counseling, children under the age of 12 who display antisocial behavior are taught to think more critically about the consequences of their actions. The aim of the program is to correct antisocial behaviors before they become chronic.
Dr. Ralph Loeber, a world expert in juvenile delinquency at the University of Pittsburgh, has followed over 1500 boys starting at ages 7, 10, and 13 for over 20 years. This Pittsburgh Youth Study found that 85% of boys who have even minor corrective police contact before the age of 12 will commit a serious crime and be arrested as teens. These boys tend to become more serious, repeat offenders, and costly in terms of legal costs and incarceration. A cost-effective method that could reduce the incidence of arrests and repeat offenses later in life would not only benefit at-risk individuals, but it would benefit society as a whole.
SNAP’s champion gets the ball rolling
PSVP’s involvement with SNAP began when partner Tom Canfield petitioned PSVP for a small grant to investigate bringing SNAP to Pittsburgh. PSVP awarded $8,800. Tom had several meetings with the SNAP team in Toronto and with Dr. Loeber regarding his research. Dr. Loeber was interested in teaming with an organization in the Pittsburgh area to implement SNAP. Tom connected Dr. Loeber and Jim Rieland, head of Juvenile Delinquency Services for Allegheny County, and an ad hoc steering committee evolved. Jim’s interests paralleled Dr. Loeber’s as the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Court system covers children between the ages of 10 and 18, and most offenders that Jim worked with were older than 12.
PSVP and partner Terry Beggy provided all administrative support, and the committee initiated and funded a competitive process to identify an agency that had the will and resources to implement SNAP. In less than 14 months, Tom Canfield, PSVP and the ad hoc committee had raised $250,000 from two individuals, $1.2 million from several foundations and $350,000 from the United Way of Allegheny County to pilot the project. The steering committee eventually selected two agencies, Auberle and the Holy Family Institute, both which target a wide variety of problems faced by young people and their parents, including behavioral problems.
Success of the SNAP program is measured by the behavior change in the participants following the core 12-week teaching sessions, and then over time. Thus far, the behavior changes demonstrated by local youth have been dramatic, and also consistent with the results achieved in Toronto over their 20+ year experience. However, the real benefit of SNAP to the local community cannot yet be measured due to the longitudinal nature of certain of the variables. To that end, and as part of the PSVP leverage story, the State awarded $4 million to the Western Psychiatric Institute of UPMC to conduct a 10 year study of the SNAP participants. In Toronto, just 8% of boys who completed SNAP were subsequently arrested, a remarkable improvement and one-tenth of the figure indicated by the Pittsburgh Youth Study.
Auberle and Holy Family Institute continue to work closely with the SNAP founders in Toronto, and the two sites are now fully funded by the Allegheny County Court System, so it is clear that SNAP has found a home.
The implementation of SNAP is a dramatic example of PSVP initiative, ingenuity, persistence – and ultimately, the ability to influence people and a situation to achieve a highly desirable outcome for the Pittsburgh region.
Download “‘SNAP’: A PSVP Story of Leverage” (PDF)