AMIkids Family Services

AMIkids Family Services believes that family involvement is a critical component of prevention and intervention for youth experiencing behavioral health, child welfare, and/or juvenile justice needs. To engage families and provide skills for supporting youth success, AMIkids developed the Family Centric ModelTM, a research-informed, community-based model for youth and families.

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EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE TO DISCOVER THEIR TRUE POTENTIAL

AMIkids Family Services is the current statewide provider of AMIkids Family Centric Model programming for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, serving youth and families in many communities throughout Florida including Alachua, Clay, Dade, Duval, Hillsborough, Leon, Manatee, Orange, Gadsden, and Volusia counties. Additionally, AMIkids Family Services provides AMIkids Family Centric Model programming for Bernalillo County government in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as well as in six areas of South Carolina through OJJDP Second Chance Act Reentry Program funding.

AMIkids Family Services believes that family involvement is a critical component of prevention and intervention for youth experiencing behavioral health, child welfare, and/or juvenile justice needs. To engage families and provide skills for supporting youth success, AMIkids developed the Family Centric Model, a research-informed, community-based model for youth and families. The AMIkids Family Centric Model aims to create a non-judgmental environment that promotes positive change and transformation for families. Family Support Specialists (FSS) work alongside the family to form a partnership to obtain successful outcomes. FSS will define problems, identify goals and strategies, teach skills, and practice new behaviors in a collaborative setting with all family members with a common goal to improve the family’s functioning. The Family Centric Model incorporates family engagement and alliance so that prevention and intervention services provided to youth have a long-term impact.  Sessions are typically provided by the in the home with all family members present and progress through three stages: family bonding and assessment, family development and family preservation.

Services

AMIkids has been offering the Family Centric Model™ to Florida families since 2017. The overlay service is provided to youth (and their families) who attend one of AMIkids’ programs. Initial funding included a randomized clinical trial evaluation. AMIkids engaged Justice Research Center (JRC), an external research firm whose principals have more than 25 years of experience in outcome evaluation, to perform the randomized clinical trial evaluation to test the effectiveness of the model with prevention and probation youth. Results showed that youth who were randomly assigned to receive Family Centric Model services achieved greater reductions in oppositional defiant, aggressive, and rule breaking behaviors compared to those in the control group who did not receive Family Centric Model interventions. Parents of youth served in the Family Centric Model project reported significant improvements in family communication, behavior control, and general family functioning. Over the three-year evaluation period, AMIkids provided Family Centric Model services to 812 youth and their families. An impressive 97% of youth remained crime-free during the time in which they received services and 89% remained crime-free following completion of services. This increased to 96% for youth whose family voluntarily participated in the model. This was compared to national statistics at the time, in which the average percentage of youth who remain crime free in the 12 months following services was just 45%.

 

Leadership

AMIkids Family Services is led by their respective Regional Director and Executive Director, ensuring its positive impact on our communities.

AMIkids Family Services Regional Director

  • Amy Bradshaw Hoppock, PhD, LMHC, CAP

AMIkids Family Services Executive Director

  • Dee Kelsey
AMIkids Family Services
Nationwide

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