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By Amy Lewis 

AMIkids, in partnership with the Alabama Department of Youth Services, is using Functional Family Therapy (FFT) to bring change into the homes of court-involved youth across 10 Alabama counties. The evidence-based program works to correct family dynamics that contribute to delinquent behaviors, offering a powerful alternative to juvenile commitment.

“We provide family therapy to kids on probation or otherwise involved in the juvenile justice system,” said Functional Family Therapist Jamelyn Hughes. “We travel to wherever they need us to go, sometimes to the school or the library but usually in the home. We’re just here to help them figure out whatever they’re dealing with in order for them to not break the law.”

The therapy is a home-based model designed by FFT LLC, Inc. and implemented by AMIkids with the goal of improving family functioning and reducing recidivism. Therapists assess and address key issues within the family unit, often focusing on communication, anger management, decision-making and building stronger relationships.

“As a therapist, seeing a person who at first really doesn’t want you there is hard,” Hughes said. “But to then have them turn around and thank you and say that you’ve really helped them, makes it ten times more worthwhile for me, than just being a therapist.”

Program Manager Tankiya Morris explained that AMIkids began more than half a century ago in Tampa, Florida, founded by a judge who was determined to provide meaningful alternatives to incarceration. 

“We are a nonprofit that was founded in Tampa and we’ve been around for over 50 years,” Morris said. “Our founder was a judge who made it his mission to help ‘at risk’ juvenile boys. They did things like fishing and camping trips and from there it just expanded.”

Now serving both males and females, AMIkids has grown to offer family services throughout Alabama in counties including Montgomery, Jefferson, Lowndes, Crenshaw, Conecuh, Covington, Pike, Escambia, Wilcox and Butler. While Alabama does not currently offer residential programs, the FFT model fills a critical gap by bringing help directly to youth and their families.

According to data from the Alabama Department of Mental Health, more than two million young adults encounter the juvenile justice system annually in the U.S., with 65–70% of them having at least one diagnosable mental health condition. In Alabama alone, 1,084 youth were in the custody of the Department of Youth Services in 2018.

The impact of FFT goes beyond short-term behavior correction — it seeks to break cycles of incarceration and poverty for generations to come.