Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Over the course of over 20 years a small school-community program that started in Mobile County in 2003 has turned into a statewide initiative in Alabama. The Helping Families Initiative or HFI is a preventative program that helps children, and their families battle issues that at-risk students face. It is helping to carve their path forward for a better future.
HFI is geared towards supplying students and families with resources that take preventative measures, designed to impact chronic absenteeism and behavior among students before it reaches a criminal level. Because HFI is a preventative program, the goal is to improve children’s stability at home, mental health and academic success.
While HFI does help public school students of all ages in a k-12 setting,19th Circuit District Attorney CJ Robinson confirmed that the targeted age range of this program is generally middle school.
“We’re trying to connect not just the student but the family with services that probably have always been there. But a lot of these families may not know how to get to them or how to function with them,” Robinson said.
HFI works with schools and other partners within their respective circuits to get to the kids that need a little extra support. HFI is an added resource that helps schools and parents pinpoint the why behind the behavior students are presenting.
“A classic situation might be a student being disrespectful, sleeping in class or a situation where a student has body odor that is distracting for other kids. We’ve had multiple cases come up to where, once we got to looking, it was kind of like an onion that started opening up. We’ve had cases of child sexual abuse that resulted in a conviction, which then resulted in prison time because of that counselor who said ‘something’s not right.’ Because we started to peel that onion, the offender is now in prison for a long time,” Robinson said.
In a recent evaluation and study done by the state Legislature, Robinson confirmed that the Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services or ACES, highlighted the 19th Circuit for being one of if not the most effective HFI program in the state. The 19th Circuit services Autauga, Chilton and Elmore Counties. This amounts to over 200,000 people and over 2,000 square miles within one circuit. Even throughout the span of three counties, the HFI servicing the 19th Circuit has a 96.8% success rate.
Robinson attributed the success to not only the partnerships they have built with local public school systems, but also to his HFI Director Carolyn Locke, who was specifically sought out for the director position by Robinson
“I met Carolyn Locke in 2001. I remember that because I was fresh out of high school, and I was taking classes at the University of Montevallo during the day and then I took classes at Wallace Community College at night. One of those night classes was a public speaking class. I remember her because that first week she had one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen in the history of public speaking. Not because she wasn’t trying, but because she was so nervous and in her own head that I’m not sure what language she presented,” Robinson said with a laugh.
However, Robinson explained that he also remembered her because of her work ethic. Over the course of the 12-week class, Robinson stated she put in the effort, she had a deliberate plan and became the best in the entire class. When they crossed paths 15 years later the rest is history.
“She came on as a caseworker, then she became the director, and now we have a state study representing what a hard worker she is. She trains and leads in addition to having one of our counties. Because of the rapport she’s built, we were able to get additional funding to add a fifth officer. She’s done a great job. But I wouldn’t be doing this justice if I didn’t make a reference about how integral she’s been and my history of what caught my eye about her 23 years ago. I think that’s just a testament to who she is,” Robinson said.
With the program led by Locke, last year Elmore County had a total of 186 students that went through the program. Out of 186, there were zero expulsions of students once they entered the program, and only one put on probation.
In Autauga County 174 students came through the program last year with five expulsions and 11 children put on probation. In Chilton County there were 353 students that went through the program last year, with zero expulsions and only four put on probation.
Robinson confirmed that the total number of students that went through the program amounted to 773. With only six explosions amounting to less than one percent of the total students expelled and only 19 of the 773 students were put on probation, amounting to a 96.8% success rate.
While HFI has trained professionals, a lot of what goes on behind the scenes is actually done by volunteers through the Volunteers of America Southeast. To learn how to help the HFI in the 20 various circuits that they serve in Alabama, visit their website at, https://hfialabama.com/
