How SmartSimple is helping change the lives of high-risk children and youth

The numbers don’t lie; children who suffer from untreated mental health issues in their formative years are at significant risk for a future of behavioral problems, unemployment, incarceration and even suicide.
Did you know?

• An estimated one in five Canadian children experience mental health issues
• Approximately 60% of incarcerated males in Canada have a history of childhood conduct problems
• It’s estimated that future costs for a career criminal can be up to $6.5M if no early intervention takes place

It’s why SmartSimple was eager to help Child Development Institute (CDI) and their SNAP (Stop Now And Plan) National Expansion Campaign. “At SmartSimple, we firmly believe technology has the power to do good things, so whenever we see an opportunity to apply our expertise to help an organization meet their goals, we’re happy to facilitate.”

SNAP is an evidence-based intervention model designed to positively change the lives of high-risk children in their middle years, and their families. It was developed by CDI, an accredited children’s mental health agency performing ground-breaking work in developing innovative programming.
Specifically, SNAP was developed as an intervention program for children under the age of 12 in conflict with the law. It has evolved into an internationally-recognized program that focuses on emotion regulation, self-control and problem-solving and teaches children with behavioral problems, and their parents, how to make better choices "in the moment."
“Finding state-of-the-art solutions for dealing with children’s disruptive behavior and lack of self-control can only benefit future generations and make life better for children everywhere,” says Mike Reid, COO of SmartSimple. “SNAP had a clear plan to do good work, and we knew, by sponsoring their National Expansion Campaign, we could support that plan in a tangible way. SNAP was a perfect fit for us, and we for them. SmartSimple’s unique Universal Tracking Application (UTA) not only ensures each child’s case is tracked, pertinent data shared with global researchers, but their confidential information is kept completely private.” SmartSimple has been given the honor of Featured Supporter of the SNAP campaign due to our assistance with their program.
“We are very grateful to SmartSimple for applying their expertise to SNAP,” said Dr. Leena Augimeri, CDI’s Director of Scientific and Program Development and co-founder of SNAP. “SmartSimple has made significant impact on the SNAP National Expansion Campaign by developing SNAPiT – an exclusive service delivery portal which will be used by 140 organizations to track outcome data, create efficiencies in service delivery processes and facilitate communities of practice from coast to coast. As a non-profit organization with a long-term vision for social change, yet with limited resources, this kind of support is essential to our work.”
SNAP has proven to be effective and provide significant financial savings to society as a whole. It’s estimated that future costs for a career criminal will be between $1.5 - $6.5M if no early intervention takes place. In contrast, it costs approximately $4,000 for a child and their family to participate in SNAP, representing a savings of close to $150,000 per youth if SNAP is successful.
Ongoing research has also shown:

• Children ages 6-12 are excellent candidates for learning self-control strategies.
• Recent research indicates that 68% of SNAP participants will not have a criminal record by age 19.
• A Benefit Cost Analysis on SNAP showed that there is a $17 - $32 return for every $1 invested in the program.

The following infographic shows clearly how serious the impact of children's mental health issues are on society, and how early intervention can substantially improve young lives:

“SmartSimple is truly pleased to be able to provide the solution to facilitate SNAP’s global expansion. They have an incredible pedigree and we will continue to do whatever we can to help them collect, analyze and report on the data that will assist the future of child development research.”
Be sure to check out the SNAP blog to learn more about how SmartSimple helped CDI and the SNAP initiative achieve their goals.