The Juvenile Resource Center is a multi-agency collaboration providing juvenile offenders with an alternative to incarceration. There are two levels within the JRC: Levels III and IV. The program is designed as a step down model with the majority of students entering at Level IV, progressing to Level III, and then transitioning to services in the community. Level IV is a full time program in which students are either in the custody of the Department of Youth Services (DYS), or have a DYS suspended sentence, and are allowed to live at home with electronic monitoring. Students attend school on-site, engage in clinical groups, and perform community service. Students in Level III attend either a Boston Public or alternative school, report for four clinical groups per week, and perform community service on Saturdays. Because many of the young people referred to the JRC have histories of drug and/or alcohol use, there is an emphasis on the issues of substance abuse, and students are screened for drug use.

Students range in age from 12-17 and have been identified by the courts as individuals who have the potential, when given additional supports, to make positive changes in their lives outside of a correctional facility. Supports offered by the program include:

• Small class size
• Groups on substance abuse and addictions, anger management, and life skills
• Behavioral intervention and monitoring, and modeling of appropriate coping skills
• Assessment, crisis intervention, and individual counseling
• A supportive transition to the student’s next school placement
• Referral services for aftercare
• 24 hour monitoring services
• Random supervised testing for drug use

The program is a therapeutic milieu providing opportunities to practice skills in day-to-day interactions. Students have the ability to earn additional privileges and responsibilities as they progress through the program. Students in the Level IV full time program attend the program for a minimum of 90 days. Students at Level III attend for a minimum of 30 days before transition. Students may attend longer, however, upon the recommendation of the providers and courts. Our goal is to provide students with skills they can use in any environment.

ADMISSIONS REQUIREMENTS
In order to be eligible to attend the JRC, students must be court involved and referred to the program by either the Department of Youth Services or the Department of Probation. Referral, termination, and extension decisions are made solely by the courts.