Prior to co-founding POETIC, Dr. HaeSung Han was hired to build out the treatment program at the Letot Girls Residential Treatment Center (Letot RTC) at Dallas County Juvenile Department. Dr. Han saw how youth would spend up to nine months surrounded by intensive support, be successfully discharged, only to go back to a home, a community, ill-equipped to support her. In a matter of months, the youth would run away from home, be truant from school, be exploited, trafficked and incarcerated. The need for POETIC, for an in-community, evidence-based and family-focused solution, was identified.
In 2017, Dr. Han joined forces with Jennifer Tinker, an award-winning communications and marketing executive, philanthropist and champion for women’s rights, to co-found POETIC.
POETIC continues to meet every program outcome goal. Ninety nine percent of girls complete their probation successfully and 95% of girls do not return to the juvenile justice system.
