Stetson School

President: Kathleen Lovenbury

School Type: Residential Treatment and Special Education

Founded: 1899

Ages/Grades: 9-21

School Setting: Residential Treatmet

School Size: 120 students

Classroom Size: 10 students

Student/Teacher Ratio: 3:1 staffing ratio.

Tuition: $415.80 includes residential and educational cost

Financial Aid: NA

Curriculum:

Alligned with Massachusetts curriculum

Support Services: Stetson School Inc. specializes in the treatment of Children and Youth with Sexual Behavior Problems. Specialized services include a 10 week Psycho-Social/Psycho-Sexual Assessment, Sexual Abuser Treatment, Sexually Reactive Treatment, Healthy Sexuality Treatment, and Youth Extended Services. Stetson School Inc. accepts students with IQ’s of 55 and above.

Admissions Requirements:

Students with sexual behavior problems who require a staffed secure environment.

Mission Statement:

Stetson School maintains the belief that every child can succeed. We believe that every child deserves the opportunity to become a confident, capable adult, and a productive member of the community

Philosophy/Belief Statement:

Our philosophy encourages moral development, an inner sense of compassion, and personal and social responsibility. Such growth and development begins in a safe environment in which the child's life experience has positive meaning and purpose, and where nonviolence and treating others with dignity and respect are primary values.

Stetson School treats children and youth with sexual behavior problems. Preventing further sexual victimization is the primary purpose of placement. One of the primary goals of treatment is to provide each child the opportunity to resign from a lifestyle of abusive behavior in a safe, rehabilitative environment. In order to accomplish this, we believe in treating the "whole" child, not just his sexually reactive or sexually abusive behaviors. Children are more than the sum of their behaviors. Therefore treatment must focus on a range of behavioral, social, familial, and cognitive domains.

School History: Stetson Home was founded as an orphanage for boys in 1899, by Henry Augustus Pevear of Lynn, Massachusetts. The Home was a tribute to the strong Christian upbringing given him by his late mother, Mary Anne Stetson Pevear. During the early years, special consideration was given to boys from Lynn and Barre, Massachusetts. By the 1960's, Stetson began treatment for emotionally disturbed boys, often from broken homes, who had suffered some form of abuse or neglect. During this time, education legislation was passed, and Stetson became a Chapter 766 program approved by the Massachusetts Department of Education. In 1990 Stetson began to admit juvenile males with a history of sexually abusive behaviors. Over time, we began to see that there was a profound need for this type of program. As our services evolved, Stetson earned a reputation of expertise in the juvenile sex offender field. By 1994, Stetson had become a specialized program devoted specifically to treating children and youth with sexual behavior problems. A five-year campus expansion program was instituted in 1998, which resulted in the construction of three new residences Connington Lodge, Palson Lodge and 2003's two-story Cutting Lodge, as well as the Robinson Education Center, - a 26,000 S.F. special education facility.

Notes/School Information:

 

STETSON SCHOOL
40-WEEK CORE FOUNDATION PROGRAM  
 
Specializing in the Treatment of Children and Youth
With Sexual Behavior Problems
 
Stetson’s 40-Week Core Foundation Program and the Continuum of Care
The goal of the 40-week Core Foundation Program focuses upon the completion of concrete elements of treatment, each of which serve as the building blocks for treatment to be continued beyond the foundation period in the least restrictive and most appropriate treatment setting along the Continuum. In addition, the foundation program provides a structured psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral program that teaches students and provides them with important ideas, insights, and behaviors related to the development and elimination of sexually abusive and sexually troubled behavior.
 
The core of the 40-week foundation treatment program includes:
•    The teaching and acquisition of ideas that specifically pertain to the development of and engagement in sexually abusive and sexually troubled behavior.
•    The completion of an interlocking series of short-term treatment groups.
•    The containment and stabilization of behavioral difficulties and the development of behavioral and emotional self-regulation.
•    The resolution of psychiatric difficulties that can be diagnosed and treated within this time frame.
•    Family psychoeducation that pertains to both sexually abusive behavior and a more complete understanding of the child in treatment.
•    Identification of and treatment to alter problematic patterns of family interaction and support healthy, supportive, and effective family interactions.
•    The identification of factors that are relevant to risk for sexual re-offense or continued sexually troubled behavior.
•    A focus on understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences upon psychosocial functioning. 
•    The development of a safe behavior/relapse prevention plan to help reduce risk for continued sexually abusive or sexually troubled behavior.
 
Discharge, Aftercare and Continuing Treatment Recommendations
As discharge is planned, Stetson School, along with the referral source and guardians will identify treatment elements that require continued care and focus as targets of aftercare treatment, and make recommendations regarding continued treatment and safety needs.   Such recommendations are intended to guide involved parties in formulating an aftercare plan for each student that will help them to retain and practice ideas and information learned in treatment.
 
At the completion of the 40-week Core Foundation Program most students will continue treatment often in a less intensive treatment setting.   In other cases, the referral source may decide that the student and his treatment will be best served by remaining at Stetson School. For those students continuing in treatment at Stetson School, length of stay will be individualized to fit the goals of the referral source, guardian and the needs of the student. Treatment will continue to build upon the progress shown during the foundation period, and will strengthen, deepen, and consolidate treatment gains in critical areas.
 
 
Recognizing the individual needs of children and youth with sexual behavior problems,
Stetson School has developed specialized groupings within the larger juvenile sexual abuser programming, allowing more effective care for target populations. These diverse services are:
 
10 Week Psychosocial/Psychosexual Assessment: Serves children and youth who display inappropriate sexual behaviors but undetermined treatment/placement needs. Psychosocial and Psychosexual Assessments are completed to address these issues and recommendations are offered. An initial treatment plan is developed for students who are recommended for continued placement at Stetson. Typical assessment duration is 10 weeks.
 
Juvenile Sexual Abuser Service: Serves adolescent males who have a history of sexually abusive behavior toward others. Goals of this treatment service are to prevent further sexual victimization, and to prevent further coercive, aggressive or abusive behaviors. In addition, treatment services teach and develop pro-social behaviors and replacement skills. When appropriate, treatment helps resolve personal victimization, trauma or the negative impact of disrupted development. 
 
Sexually Reactive Latency Service:Serves younger boys, ages 9-13, with history of sexual victimization or trauma and subsequent sexually abusive behaviors toward others may be appropriate for this service. Special residential structure addresses the developmental needs of this population including: behavioral incentive plans, specialized groups, and a focus on general behavioral stabilization and trust-building vs. emphasis on disclosure of offending behaviors. Staff receives special training and practice working with attachment issues, and the unique dependency/nurturing needs of this population.
 
Healthy Sexuality Service (Sexual Misconduct): Serves adolescents who are assessed to have a history of problem sexual behaviors such as sexual harassment and impulsive sexualized actions which may not be classified as sexually abusive, however, which may be coupled with a pattern of conduct problems and oppositional behaviors. Specialized group content focuses on social norms for sexualized behaviors, and aligning behaviors and attitudes with those norms.
 
Youth Extended Service (YES): Serves cognitively impaired young men, ages 17-21, who have mastered the concepts of juvenile sexual abuser treatment and are ready to work on vocational preparedness and community integration activities for a more productive and self-sufficient future. Participants still require a staff secure environment, but can safely manage more frequent routine contacts with the community for shopping, recreation, and community service. In addition, a Rehabilitation Specialist works with each student to map out functional and adaptive behavioral goals such as using a street map, ordering from a menu, and using the telephone appropriately and then provides supervised practice to support mastery of the goals. The YES program is a stand alone program with a separate rate due to the added costs of specialized rehabilitation, student salaries and work preparedness programming.
 
Alternative Learning Program Service (ALPS): Serves adolescents with serious learning problems and below average Full Scale IQs of 55 and up. This component shares the treatment goals of the Juvenile Sexual Abuser Program, however, the residential milieu, educational services, and clinical approaches are geared to the special learning needs and care needs of adolescents who function at a lower developmental level. ALPS clinicians use a specialized risk assessment tool, the CI/J-RAT to evaluate progress.
 

In closing, Stetson School offers a specialized, competitively priced treatment program for children and youth with sexual behavior problems. Please feel free to call on our Admissions Office (978-355-4541, ext. 104) with questions or to screen a referral over the phone. Keep in mind that we conduct pre-admissions interviews at the location of your choice and are always available to transport your client to Stetson on admission day.