NCJ Number
94320
Date Published
1981
Length
11 pages
Annotation
Following a review of the background and purpose of the Boulder County Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Program (CSATP) (Colorado), this paper discusses the program's philosophy, staffing, funding sources, eligibility criteria, program procedures and components, treatment, consequences of violating probation in terms, and program statistics.
Abstract
In 1977, the Protective Servcies Unit of the Boulder County Department of Social Services created a Sexual Abuse Mini-Team. The team was first composed of two protective services workers who specialized in the investigation and treatment of incest in the Boulder Valley School District. The objectives of the team were (1) to preserve the family whenever possible, which involved prevention of the incarceration of the offender; (2) a treatment program designed to replace the incest behavior with more positive family interactions; (3) a comprehensive community-supported program for dealing with incest cases; and (4) cooperating with police to ease the family trauma of the disclosure experience. Monies from a Federal grant subsequently permitted the addition of three social workers to the team. The offender must acknowledge his guilt before being considered for the program, and prior sexual offenses are also a determining factor in selecting offender participants. The treatment consists of three general types of services: crisis, ongoing, and followup. Should an offender fail to cooperate and comply with treatment requirements, the district attorney, probation officer, and sexual abuse team worker meet to determine how to handle the problem. The sexual abuse team received 220 referrals from June 1979 to June 1981. Seventy-one percent charged pled guilty, and of these, 62 percent participated in the treatment program along with their families. There has been no recidivism among those families who completed the program.