On May 31, we had the honor of accepting an invitation to meet with Juvenile Court Hearing Master Sunny Bailey to discuss her new specialty court, Detention Alternatives for Autistic Youth (DAAY) Court. The DAAY Court is an initiative taken to address the uptick in children and young adults with autism in the judicial system that have difficulties accessing various services and treatment programs they and their families need. With DAAY, the courts bypass months-long waitlists for these programs and immediately direct diagnosed offenders to court-affiliated community service workers who provide referrals for early intervention treatments, services, and individualized attention that are essential to preventing repeat offenses.
In talking with Justice Bailey, we learned the problem is not just about the limited availability of resources for these young adults, but rather the lack of infrastructure connecting the resources available to the court itself. That’s where RAD comes in to help!
After our discussion with Justice Bailey, Radhika attended and spoke at the Clark County School District (CCSD) Community Partnership Forum to find out how she can work with the district toward our goal of creating the infrastructure to bring affected people and required resources together. There she met the CCSD LINKS team, which provides direct services, technical support, parent training, classroom consultation, professional development opportunities, and supplemental programming for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other disabilities. After explaining our goals at the RAD Foundation and the DAAY Court, the LINKS team agreed to join our cause. As of this month we are proud to announce that we have secured 300+ hours of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) training for families passing through the DAAY Court, generously donated by the LINKS team. We would especially like to thank Carol Lamkins of LINKS for her unending dedication in helping us finalize this partnership. We are excited to continue our work with DAAY and CCSD, and we look forward to announcing new community partnerships in the near future!