SNAP® (Stop Now And Plan) Model
Organization Name:
Community Name:
Organization or Community Type:
What was the criminal justice problem facing the community?
Description of Problem:
In 1984, the Canadian Parliament passed the Young Offenders Act, decriminalizing any offense by children under the age of 12. Any child between the ages of 6-11 who engaged in law-breaking behavior was no longer punishable by law, but now falls under the purview of child welfare legislation. Such children are deemed to be “in need of protection” and require services to address their social, emotional, behavioral and mental health needs.
What factors were contributing to the criminal justice problem?:
- Change in legislation
- Lack of existing evidence-based programs to address the needs of high-risk children in conflict with the law and/or children with serious conduct problems
Criminal Justice Topic area:
Crime Justice Sub-Topic area:
Which evidence-based solutions were recommended for this problem?
Name of evidence-based program or practice:
Description of Evidence-Based Program or Practice:
SNAP® is a family-focused, cognitive-behavioral, evidence-based strategy that helps children and their families make better choices “in the moment” by teaching children how to “stop and think before they act and come up with effective solutions to their problems” by improving emotion regulation, self-control and problem-solving skills. The primary goal of SNAP® is to keep at-risk children in school and out of trouble.
How was the evidence-based solution implemented?
Response Strategy:
Utilizing a comprehensive approach, SNAP® includes police-community referral protocols, a gender-specific risk assessment and gender-specific interventions.
Stage 1: Inquiry and Screening. Intake workers conduct an initial telephone or face-to-face screening interview to ensure suitability for the SNAP® programs (SNAP® Intake Screening Checklist and SNAP® Service Inquiry Record). Admission criteria require children to be between the ages of 6-11, with serious conduct-type problems such as aggression, defiance and/or police contact. Once admission criteria are met, Family Workers meet with parents to finish gathering information to complete the screening packages, start the Eco-Systemic Assessment, and sign consent forms.
Stage 2: Eco-Systemic Assessment. Family and Child Workers meet with the parents and the child to gather information, complete standardized measures, and set treatment goals. The Child Worker might then conduct a teacher consultation to gather further information regarding the child’s attitude and behavior. SNAP® Family and Child Workers complete the Eco-systemic assessment report, which is used to conduct a Structured Risk Needs Assessment using the Early Assessment Risk Lists (EARL-20B for boys and 21G for girls). Based on the assessment, a treatment plan is then formulated that targets the child, family, school and community.
Stage 3: Treatment. Depending on the risk level, needs and intensity of problems, treatment dosage and length can range from six months to several years. Typically, the first six months of treatment includes the core program components, gender-specific SNAP® Boys/Girls Groups and a concurrent SNAP® Parent Group with the proceeding months of treatment (if more service is needed) including any additional SNAP® treatment components.
The SNAP® Boys/Girls Groups run for one and a half hours a week for 13 consecutive weeks. Sessions focus on learning the SNAP® strategy through different topics each week (e.g., dealing with anger, stealing, group pressure), and include interactive discussions, role plays, observations and challenging cognitive distortions/“thinking errors.” The SNAP® Parent Group operates concurrently with the SNAP® Boys/Girls Groups, teaching effective parenting strategies and SNAP®. Sessions focus on a different parenting topic each week (e.g., monitoring, routines, effective consequencing/rewards) and include interactive discussions and role plays.
Once SNAP® groups are completed, other treatment components are available based on risk level and need — at times, these components can also be offered during core group components. These components include SNAP® Individual Counseling, Community Connections (community support and recreation), SNAP® Family Counseling, SNAP® School Support/Advocacy, Girls Growing Up Healthy Group (SNAP® Girls only, relationship development), SNAP® Parent Problem-Solving Group (continued care), SNAP® Youth Leadership (continued care component involving ongoing skill development and job skills for youth), The Arson Prevention Program for Children, and Home Work Club/Academic Tutoring.
Stage 4: Discharge. Family and Child Workers have a discharge meeting with the family. This includes a termination report, discharge measures and Discharge EARL-20B/21G assessments. After six months of non-contact, the file is closed.
Stakeholder Groups Involved:
Stakeholder Groups Involved:
The SNAP® stakeholders are also referral sources, increasing the importance of their support and collaboration to improve treatment planning and ensure families follow through with service. Of particular importance is the home-school relationship. It is crucial that both these stakeholders coordinate with the Child and Family Worker to establish consistent expectations for the child across environments. Police, social workers and community members may all need to be incorporated into this process to ensure the child is provided with the greatest chance for success.
Estimated Cost to Implement:
SNAP® is available free of cost to children and their families.
Additional costs include lead and core staff training, annual licensing, ongoing consultation fees including onsite visits, group observations with structured feedback sessions, ongoing team meetings to address any and all implementation challenges or questions, and fidelity and integrity audits. These fees will vary depending on the number of SNAP® programs being delivered (e.g., SNAP® Boys/Girls).
Start-up costs include:
$1,000 for the first SNAP® program implemented, plus an additional $500 for each additional program
*Please contact [email protected] for comprehensive implementation details including full fee schedules.
Estimated Time to Implement:
Pre-implementation phase is three to six months during which appropriate staff, program space and materials are selected; multi-day training for both the lead staff and core program delivery staff begins; and then program delivery can begin; however, full implementation can take up to four years to ensure an appropriate level of fidelity and integrity is achieved and can be maintained.
Estimated Time to Implement:
Impact and Outcomes
SNAP® embraces a scientist-practitioner framework, subjecting it to stringent evaluation and research activities that consistently demonstrate positive treatment changes using standardized measurement tools, several random control trials and cost benefit analyses. Findings include significant reduction in SNAP® children’s aggression, conduct problems, anxiety, overall externalizing behavior and less positive attitudes toward antisocial behavior than children who have either been waiting for service or receiving other treatments (treatment as usual comparison).
In addition, studies show measurable impact on the parents of SNAP® children. Parents involved in the SNAP® programs broaden their repertoire of parenting skills, report less stress in their interactions with their children, and spend more positive time with their children and less time disciplining them. Parenting efficacy is shown to significantly improve.
A longitudinal research analysis shows that 91.8 percent of the boys and 96.9 percent of the girls had no history of criminal offences by age 14, and approximately 68 percent of the children will not have a criminal record by age 19 (survival analyses involving approximately 1,000 SNAP® participants). In addition, brain imaging research conducted at the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto showed increased activation in the brain regions responsible for cognitive control and self-regulation of SNAP® children. Overall, SNAP® children become less aggressive, delinquent and anxious, and are better at controlling their anger, better students, and associate with more positive peers.
A stringent criminological cost benefit analysis (based on convictions) estimates that between $2.05 and $3.75 are saved for every $1 spent on the program. Scaling up to include undetected offenses, between $17.33 and $31.77 are saved for every $1 spent on the program — these are under-estimated as it only accounts for juvenile justice costs and not other associated costs, such as mental health, health and education. The analysis also found that a decrease of externalizing behaviors yielding an effect size of 0.4 over the initial six months of treatment equates to a 33 percent reduction in crime (typical SNAP® effect sizes meet or exceed this threshold of 0.4). The analysis determined there is a cost savings of up to $147,423 per child.
Lessons Learned
SNAP® can be effectively replicated across diverse populations and geographies if the following methods of service delivery and implementation are met:
- A structured, professional judgment approach is utilized. Clinical risk/need assessment and management is important for effective treatment planning.
- A continued care model helps to stabilize and contribute to treatment effects, resulting in a more effective delivery of services.
- Gender-specific programming is a tailored approach that meets the unique needs of both boys and girls.
- A formalized licensing agreement that helps to establish commitment and maintain consistency and a high standard of service delivery, integrity and fidelity that contributes to a uniformity of services provided.
- Stringent criteria for program implementation, making it necessary to preserve control over intellectual properties and ensure product fidelity.
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