Marquel was 12 years old and down to his last strike when he was assigned to Youth Villages' Home-Based Counseling program. He started fires to get attention and was aggressive at home and at the alternative school where he had been placed. Brief stints in a group home had not helped. A long-term stay in residential care seemed inevitable.

But, Tanya Ragan, his family counselor, found strengths: a close, caring family, a new teacher willing to give Marquel another chance. Ragan instituted a safety plan that made it impossible for Marquel to have the opportunity to start fires. Consistent rewards and consequences at home and at school helped Marquel learn to control his behavior. Ragan asked for a full-time behavioral aide to be with Marquel at school to help him learn the triggers to his behavior and how to calm down.

"When everyone was aligned, when his mom and his teacher were working together, his behavior began to change," Ragan says.

As treatment ended, Marquel was allowed to go back to regular classes at school. The boy who was once absent from class for months at a time made A's and B's on his report card last year.

"Kids like him make it all worthwhile," his teacher says. "He's very intelligent, very articulate, a good athlete. He's just my poster child for success."