A pilot state program intends to use holistic approaches and one-on-one guidance to rehabilitate troubled teens.
Sixteen girls, ages 15 and 16, will have the opportunity to take part in the program, administrated at the Samarkand Youth Development Center in Moore County. The program will initially target teenage girls with drug-related problems, in hopes that they will stay drug-free.
The Holistic Enrichment for At-Risk Teens program, which will begin Nov. 4, is the result of a $1.3 million federal grant and years of planning on the part of the Schools of Social Work and Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Samarkand staff. The program will provide the girls with 24-hour care, based on a holistic rehabilitative approach. Additionally, the HEART program will boast new residence facilities and a staff of 17--a ratio of less than one-to-one--nearly unheard of in rehabilitative and correctional facilities.
Judy Julian, a Youth Development Division Special Projects planner, has high hopes for the program's success.
"One of the most important things about this program is that this is a life plan program," she said. "Mental health, education, vocational and spiritual aspects of treating are all priorities."
Julian added that a typical day for a girl in the HEART program might include classes in women's studies, personalized treatment from a psychologist or rehabilitative counselor and other activities aimed at developing self-knowledge and spirituality, including yoga.
HEART facilitators have been training in preparation for the girls' arrival. Martin Pharr, clinical director of the state's youth centers, said the staff--which includes 12 substance abuse counselors, a rehabilitative therapist, a special education teacher and a teacher's aid--is crucial to realizing the aims of the program. "Relationships [between the staff and the girls] allow learning and growth and behavior change to happen," he said.
Leigh Hines, Samarkand communications director, said she envisions the HEART program as a new and necessary approach to treating troubled youth. "This is cutting edge for the state of North Carolina," Hines said. "This is a system we are moving into because we know that the therapeutic model is the way to deal with our youths."
Because the program is in its trial phase, girls will have to apply for a limited number of spaces in the program. Julian said renovated facilities, which include new computers and classrooms, will greet the girls when they arrive. She added that girls already at Samarkand have painted "healing affirmations" on the walls that aim to provide a positive girl-power message.
"Girls need role models," she said, contesting that the program's perspective may proliferate idealized gender roles. "Studies have shown that gender-specific works."
Pharr added that the juvenile justice system has not kept pace with the needs of females and contemporary societal roles. "The juvenile justice system has been very male-oriented, and research has revealed that girls face different approaches and require different approaches, particularly girls who have penetrated the juvenile justice program," he said.
Specifically, Julian cited the results of a 1998 U.S. Department of Justice report on women in the criminal justice system that showed a lack of concern for the needs of girls in juvenile justice programs. The study also found that many female juvenile offenders have self-esteem problems either contributing to or resulting from their delinquency problems. It said that current programs, geared more toward the treatment of boys, do not properly address the gender-specific problems that girls face--a vacuum the HEART program hopes to fill.
Pharr and Hines hoped that a successful trial-run for HEART could bode well for the future of therapeutic approaches to juvenile institutionalization.
"This is a new way of doing things, and each day we are moving forward," Hines said. "We think this is going to bring a lot of attention to the state of North Carolina."
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