Sexual Health Awareness and Relapse Education

Our Sexual Behavior Treatment programs are evidenced based, and multisystemic in nature. Community safety is our main concern, thus necessitating the need for timely communication with probation officers, social workers, and other stakeholders in the child’s success and avoidance of recidivism. Therefore, safety plans are crafted for each client based on their specific needs regarding supervision and behavioral constraints. The services described are utilized for relapse prevention/residential step down services as well as first time offender treatment. Children who fit within this category have aged 12-21 years and can be referred due to court involvement, suspicion of inappropriate sexual acts, or displays of poor sexual boundaries within the community. Likewise, those who have gone through residential treatment programs for inappropriate sexual behaviors (either within a mental health facility or through the Department of Juvenile Justice) are also eligible for step down/community reentry services.

Services are typically delivered within a group format once a week based on the client’s need. The group therapy consists of a Sexual Health Awareness portion of the group lasting 1½ hours followed by a caregiver group lasting 1 hour and running concurrently and separately from a social skills group which is facilitated for the youth with sexual behavior problems. Supplemental to the group therapy for Youth with Sexual Behaviors (YSBs) are individualized therapeutic interventions in the form of psycho-education, client processing, and family therapy centered on an evidenced based Cognitive-Behavioral approach to YSB treatment. The individualized services offered are typically performed within the home whenever possible. Both individual and group therapies are determined through the R-N-R principles of offender treatment, determined within the comprehensive psychosexual evaluation for risk, and is part of a best practices approach.