Juvenile Alternative Residential Facility

As part of Spurwink's Casco Program, the Juvenile Alternative Residential Facility is designed to serve eight adolescents within two four-client homes. These facilities offer residential services coupled with a three-fold program of activities:

Milieu Therapy

This traditional psychotherapy modality focuses on day-to-day events and interactions between staff and clients, as well as the overall nature and quality of the overall environment or milieu. The purpose of milieu treatment is to assist in the development of internal controls and the acquisition of new skills.

Adventure-Based Programming

The intent of the Adventure-Based Program is to enhance the group's functioning through activities sequenced in three levels: orientation, low challenge and high challenge. Adventure-based activities include: year-round wilderness camping, orienteering, climbing, canoeing, rope courses (high and low) and mountain biking. Considerable creativity and attention are focused on empowering clients so they can exercise "control" in order to enhance confidence and esteem using ways that avoid unreasonable risks or demands.

Adventure-Based programming helps clients:

• Experience success
• Complete organized tasks
• Take constructive risks
• Develop trust in others
• Be trusted by others
• Become more physically fit
• Acquire new skills and interests

Learn and Earn

Production-Oriented Workshops offer youth who are 15 years of age and older the opportunity to enhance their self-esteem while developing valuable and marketable skills. These skills include: carpentry, wood treatment and finishing, joinery, engine repair, electrical systems and repair, working from plans and accepting and following directions. Workshop participants also learn work-related support activities such as: bookkeeping, time keeping, advertising, marketing and sales. Job-seeking skills and a transition plan are developed to assist in the process.

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