SOUTHERN OAKS GIRLS SCHOOL

The Short Term Reentry Program for Juvenile Females at Southern Oaks Girls School offers a shorter institutional option for adjudicated youth.

The program initiative offers the courts the option of placement at Southern Oaks Girls School for a commitment period not to exceed 120 days. The Juvenile Cognitive Interventions Program (JCIP)—Phases One and Two is the primary treatment group offered to youth committed to the Short Term Reentry Program for Juvenile Females.

This program is formatted to assist youth in reflecting upon their thought processes via a skill-building curriculum. The facilitation of JCIP Phase One specifically addresses "Choices." The treatment program content focuses upon thinking cycles and guides youth through the completion of thinking reports. These reports assist youth in the identification of how their personal beliefs, thoughts, and feelings directly influence choices they make in day-to-day life. Youth discover how these thinking patterns may lead them into troublesome situations. Students also learn to distinguish the difference between their thoughts and feelings, and how their thoughts/beliefs and feelings can lead them into problematic or unhealthy scenarios. Gender-specific concerns are addressed as juvenile females work through the JCIP program. Girls may disclose a variety of common situations that have led them to react impulsively. Many adjudicated female youth have had similar past experiences, including physical and sexual abuse, neglect, drug and alcohol abuse and addiction, unhealthy relationships, and a pattern of fleeing or running away when problems arise. These common themes are often disclosed in JCIP Thinking Reports and are subsequently discussed and processed by Treatment Social Workers facilitating the JCIP program.

JCIP Phase Two focuses upon application of Phase One concepts and is called "Changes." This curriculum allows youth to learn about the processes of change, how to set positive goals and objectives, and how to recognize their individual high-risk situations. Counter Thinking lessons emphasize the importance of replacing anti-social thinking patterns with more pro-social thinking. Youth further identify and learn about their internal and external reactions to situations, identify strategies to assist them in calming themselves down, and learn steps to logically solve problems.