This concept if known as Community Protection. Residents are assumed to have the capacity for positive action. The theory is that residents learn best by doing. The objectives are the active demonstration of competent, conventional behavior through completion of productive service or work with community benefit, a significant increase in measurable competencies, and improvement in decision making and other cognitive skills. We serve a population of residents so damaged by the trauma of their lives, and so damaging to their victims, that they need counseling that is more than just supportive.
Counseling is seen as a major intervention, as important as competency development.
This is especially critical in specialized populations such as sex offenders, chemically dependent adolescents, emotionally disturbed residents, and victims of significant physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The counseling issues faced by residents in these populations are seldom short-term and will require continued counseling or support efforts upon release, sometimes a lifelong effort at lifestyle change. While counseling issues may not be fully resolved during a resident's commitment, there can be time limited therapeutic interventions which, once accomplished, serve as the foundation for continued interventions upon release. In general, residents of our facilities are the most difficult in the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice system. They are more dangerous, more intellectually or academically challenged, present more mental health issues and require a much higher level of supervision to minimize risk to the community than residents in other settings.