Crosswinds Youth Services Inc., a teen crisis center, has started a family based therapy program which aims to bring down the teen crime rate and lessen recidivism.
The University of Miami’s Center of Family Studies worked on the specialized therapy about two decades ago in order to help those troubled teens with drug issues. Because of Crosswinds, the university will be able to test its therapy in a real setting.  Not only is this good for the university but ultimately it is good for Brevard County’s troubled teens.

In 2006, 197 teenagers from Brevard County were put in juvenile detention centers because of crimes they committed. Comparatively, just last year 155 teens were obligated to go to juvenile detention centers. These statistics were provided by the state. 681 teenagers were put on probation because of their crosses with the law in 2007 which was actually an increase of 7.4 percent compared to 2006.
The focus of the new program is its family member participation which is a great part of the teenager’s treatment process. Any member who is part of the teenager’s home should be included in the therapy sessions. The last-chance program is a 12-15 session program for those teens who are at risk of committing another offense. These crimes include drug possession, burglary, and battery. Some of these teens are just a hair away from being put in juvenile jail.
Karen Locke, Crosswinds' director of programs, said “Florida has a history of committing young people, but we're seeing that doesn't work. We're trying to prevent them from becoming adult criminals."
Christine Burge, a Crosswinds counselor, said "If you make their family relationships more healthy, especially younger teens, they don't find a need to use drugs. If they find positive things to do, it's almost like they forget about it. The drug use goes down."
"People are recognizing that you can't just treat the individual when it comes to substance abuse. If one member of the family is pushed or pulled, then every family member gets affected," said Dr. Mark Young, co-director of University of Central Florida's Marriage and Family Research Institute.

Crosswinds is located on Dixon Boulevard and was developed in 1974 in order to help those runaway teenagers, as well as the homeless teens. It works on a $3.4 million operating budget and serves more than 4,000 teens yearly.
The criteria of the Brief Strategic Family Therapy program involves the following:
• 11-18 years old
• Those presently on probation with the Department of Juvenile Justice in Brevard County
• Probation officer referral
• A moderate or high risk of committing another offense while on probation
• Participation of the family