Statement of Purpose

Cove PREP is a Secure Care facility that exists to treat adolescent males, ages 12-20, who have committed sexual offenses. Cove PREP’s vision is to provide state-of-the-art, research-based assessment and treatment for adolescent male sexual offenders. Cove PREP is guided by the following Mission Statement:

Cove PREP provides care in a secure setting with a commitment to:

• Protecting the safety of community, residents and employees
• Reducing the likelihood of future sexual offenses
• Addressing the individual needs of a complex and multi-problem population
• Providing accurate and understandable information to involved court systems, if any, to assist their efforts to protect community safety
• Preparing residents for reintegration into the community
• Helping parents or other caregivers to obtain the information and skills necessary to assist youthful offenders to achieve and maintain an offense-free lifestyle

Philosophy of Service

Cove PREP’s treatment philosophy is based on the belief that sexual offending results from a combination of biological, social, psychological and experiential factors. Sexual offenders are not all the same. Therefore, comprehensive assessment is required to develop an understanding the causes, contributing factors and what maintains each youth’s pattern of sexually abusive behaviors. Successful treatment is based on accurate diagnosis.

Treatment effectiveness is affected by a number of factors, including:

• The type of offender
• The frequency and length of time they have been engaging in sexually abusive behavior
• The type and severity of coexisting mental health and/or character pathology, if any
• The degree to which the individual views their behavior as a problem
• The individual’s capacity to understand the effects of their actions on others

The availability of structure and relationships to support a non-offending lifestyle

Treatment of sexual offending is not considered as a “cure”. However, with appropriate intervention and treatment, effective interventions can provide individuals with tools to manage their thoughts and behavior, and eliminate and/or control any deviant arousal patterns. These youth can learn to develop non-exploitive relationships and deal with triggering emotions and situations in appropriate ways.

Cove PREP operates from several basic assumptions and values regarding sexual offending:

• Sexually abusive behavior is learned behavior that occurs when the developmental course of normal human sexual behavior is disrupted by sexual victimization, physical or emotional abuse or neglect; premature exposure to sexually explicit behavior or materials, lack of appropriate knowledge or understanding of human sexuality; inappropriate use of sexual behavior as a expression of anger or other strong emotions; and/or, impaired ability to control behavior due to mental illness, mental retardation or profound deficits in social and emotional maturity.
• Individuals are responsible for their sexual offenses and the harm caused to others, regardless of how their pattern of sexually abusive behavior developed, i.e. past victimization may have contributed to the development of sexually abusive behavior, but does not excuse or justify victimizing others.
• Effective treatment focuses on improving an individual’s ability to control and manage thoughts, feelings and choices. Appropriate treatment of mental illness, if present, is foundational to enabling individuals to address their sexual offending. Identification and remediation of, or adaptation for, specific learning disabilities is also essential to the provision of effective treatment.
• Sexually abusive behavior patterns within an individual generally follow a predictable pattern of thoughts, fantasy, opportunity, victim selection, action and use of cognitive distortions to excuse offending. These patterns, the events that trigger offending behavior, and high-risk situations and behavior can be identified, understood and managed to reduce the likelihood of re-offending.
• Treatment must be based on the individual needs of the client; therefore, the length of stay should be variable and the treatment interventions utilized must be determined on an individual basis. Individuals should be served in the least restrictive environment that can effectively meet their needs while protecting community safety.
• Adolescents placed in secure care may have extensive histories of prior placements outside the home, and often have severely disrupted family relationships. To the extent possible, family, guardians or caregivers should be included in the adolescent’s treatment, unless prohibited by court order or child protective agencies.
• Cove PREP will work with representatives of the juvenile court system, child protective services or other concerned parties to facilitate effective planning and management of the adolescents served, both while at Cove PREP and to facilitate transition to step-down facilities or reintegration into the community.

*CARF Accredited