Trauma Affect Regulation Psychoeducation Group and Milieu Intervention Outcomes in Juvenile Detention Facilities

This article reports outcomes of Trauma Affect Regulation: Guide for Education and Therapy (TARGET), a group and milieu intervention, in three juvenile detention facilities, controlling for site, length of stay, ethnicity, number of arrests, mental health and traumatic stress problems, and cohort effects. Linear multiple regression results showed that every session of TARGET received in the first seven days of detention was associated with 54% fewer disciplinary incidents and 72 fewer minutes of disciplinary seclusion ( p < .001) for each youth during the modal stay (14 days) in detention. TARGET group participation was unrelated to recidivism, but recidivism declined significantly following implementation of TARGET. Implementing TARGET in juvenile detention facility milieus might improve safety, reduce punitive sanctions, and potentially reduce recidivism.