The RFKCAC Programs Westborough
Westborough
The Robert F. Kennedy School in Westborough opened in 1976 as the first secure residential treatment program in Massachusetts operated by a private provider. The juvenile justice program serves 20 boys between 13 and 21, who are referred by the Department of Youth Services and spend an average of one year in the program.
At the Kennedy School, the boys are treated for crimes ranging from drug possession to assault to sexual offenses. They learn accountability by participating in daily school, individual and group counseling, and structured activities designed to promote responsibility and self-reliance. The boys engage in recreational activities, including Adventure Education, that enable them to have fun while learning healthy ways of interacting with others.
Among the many therapeutic and academic programs at the Kennedy School is the RFK Children’s Action Corps Restitution Fund. Each participant is required to write a $1 check to the person who suffered a result of his delinquent action. The money comes from the boy’s allowance and earnings from jobs within the facility. The check is not mailed but placed in the Restitution Fund and donated to charities selected by the youths. About $80 is collected each month.
Fay A. Rotenberg School
The Fay A. Rotenberg School is a long-term secure residential treatment program providing education, therapy, and counseling to 15 girls ages 13 to 20. At the Rotenberg School, the girls focus on acknowledging and taking responsibility for their behavior resulting from their traumatic past, which may have included sexual and physical abuse, poverty and homelessness, prostitution, and a family history of challenges with the justice system. The girls are referred by the Department of Youth Services. The average stay is eight months, during which time the girls learn skills designed to enable them to make positive choices when they return to their communities. While at the Rotenberg School, the girls attend academic classes and many earn their GEDs.
The Rotenberg staff combines structure and accountability with compassion and respect. Each girl is assigned an Advocate, a staff member who serves as her point person during her stay. Advocates work with the girls to develop individualized behavioral plans, track their performance, and serve as family member-caretaker-disciplinarian-mentor.
Program components include:
- Life skills training through dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT)
- Individual and family therapy
- After-school computer literacy courses and classes in clerical skills
- Activities such as cooking, yoga, art therapy, and exercise programs, including Adventure Education
- The “Young Women’s Lives” program, a 10-week course providing information on such topics as teen dating, violence, self-esteem issues, relationships, and the influence of the media on young women and their body images