NCJ Number
89266
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 47 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1983) Pages: 26-32
Date Published
1983
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The Ocean Tides Residential Education Program (Rhode Island) provides a comprehensive network of services for serious juvenile offenders, including a residential center, group homes, and an aftercare program, and a diversion program emphasizing community-based services was recently established.
Abstract
Ocean Tides is located in a religious complex operated by the Christian Brothers, a teaching order of the Catholic Church, and it is housed on the former estate of the Newberry family, overlooking the Narargansett Bay, providing a dignified and beautiful setting. The program is limited to males aged 13-17, all of whom have been adjudicated delinquents by the family court. Generally, the only children barred from admission are those who pose a substantial threat to the safety of the other residents or whose behavior demonstrates firesetting, severe mental illness, or overt homosexual behavior. Treatment is based in the traditional concepts of reality therapy developed by Glasser, including involvement as the foundation of therapy, responsibility for one's own behavior, critical self-evaluation, development of and a commitment to planned responsible behavior, and the rejection of excuses for irresponsible behavior. Treatment services are provided through the interrelated program components of education, group living, and social services. The total living experience is viewed as part of the treatment process. Upon completion of the stay at Ocean Tides, averaging 6 months, some clients will be returned to their own homes while others will be placed in a group home to ease the transition to home placement. Ocean Tides expanded its services in 1979 by creating a nonresidential juvenile diversion program that coordinates social services for clients in the community. Fourteen footnotes are provided.