Additional Features

JRC’s additional features offer students and clients full and interesting days.

Facilities

All of JRC’s buildings and residences are attractively decorated and outfitted. Unlike many programs where little attention is paid to making the environment home-like, pleasant, and interesting, JRC’s policy is to create settings in which students, clients, and staff alike are able to feel comfortable and thrive.

School Facilities

Beautifully decorated school building. JRC decorates its school building attractively with colorful prints, sculptures, and so on, so that attending school will be a pleasant, desirable experience for its students.

“Yellow Brick Road” Rewards Street

In our 250 Turnpike Street building, there is a broad indoor street paved like a yellow brick road that runs the length of the building.

Off of this street are located all of the major reward areas that motivate good student performance, including the Big Reward Store (an amusement lounge for students with intellectual disabilities), a Contract Store (a retail store), a Health Club and a Gym, a Teen Lounge, an Internet Café, a Movie Theater, a Snack Bar and a Hair Salon. Some photos and further information on each of these rewards areas can be seen here on our Positive Programming website.

Full kitchen and dining room

JRC has skilled chefs who prepare healthy meals for our students in our fully-equipped kitchen. The students enjoy the meals in a large attractively furnished dining area.

Exercise and recreational facilities at JRC’ s campus at 240/250 Turnpike Street in Canton include:

indoor and outdoor basketball courts
cardiovascular exercise equipment
8 acres of woods with 1.5 miles of walking trails
swing sets and jungle gym, and
two shaded picnic areas.

Exercise and recreational facilities at the students’ residences include

swimming pools
recreation rooms with amusement games
picnic tables and areas with barbecue grills
swings
basketball backboards, and more

Residences

JRC students live in normal homes or apartments, rather than in dormitories. The residences are located in various communities within driving distance of JRC’s main campus in Canton, Massachusetts.

Unusually attractive residences. JRC decorates the students’ residences with colorful, attractive furnishings that are non-institutional. Every residence is decorated differently and staff members check daily to see that each is maintained in excellent condition.

Staff-secure residential treatment facility for higher level students with conduct disorders. High staff-to-student ratios and state- of-the-art security systems minimize the possibility of elopements. Motion detectors and window- and door-opening-detectors are employed to signal if windows or doors are opened by students without authorization.

Behavior-determined residential ladder. As students’ behaviors improve, the students advance to living in residences with fewer staff and students, and with more independence and privileges.

Awake overnight staff. Each residence is staffed with at least one awake staff member during the overnight hours and some residences have more, depending on the size of the residence. This helps to insure continuity of treatment, enhance safety and prevent unwanted runaways by students.

The awake overnight staff are monitored by the Central Monitoring Station at our 250 Turnpike building. From there, experienced supervisory staff monitor and supervise all staff members at the residences, in real time and throughout the night, using the internet and digital video monitoring/recording equipment.

Monitoring, Security, and Supervision

Qualified and skilled staff. JRC’s well qualified staff and consultants include doctoral and masters-level clinicians, licensed special education teachers, speech therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physical education teachers, registered nurses, psychiatrists, and physicians.

Central digital video recording/monitoring system 24/7, using the internet, adds a further layer of safety, supervision, and parent peace of mind. From a central monitoring station at JRC’s administration building at 250 Turnpike Street in Canton, a team of supervisors monitor what takes place in all classrooms and in all residences, in real time and on a 24/7 basis, using the internet.

This system uses state-of-the-art digital video recording systems that are located at JRC school buildings, in all of JRC’s residences, and in select vehicles. The system operates over a secure network environment. The supervision monitors use this system to make sure that student programs are implemented properly at all times.

Skilled, experienced, high level supervisors are available at all times, including evenings and overnights. Traveling School Supervisors visit JRC residences during evenings and overnights, and high level supervisors are on call 24/7 to answer questions and make decisions.

Elopement policy. JRC’s highly rewarding environment and planned, as well as earned, home visits minimize elopements. When appropriate, students can go home for four extended weekend/holiday visits each year.

JRC retrieves students immediately if they do elope, and calls for police help in an elopement only if JRC staff is unable to retrieve the student quickly. JRC does not terminate students who engage in repeated elopements.

Health Services

Wellness program includes highly nutritious menus, nutrition education, and daily exercise. The menu has been designed with nationally-known nutritionists and physicians. It emphasizes fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and tends to lower cholesterol levels and help prevent cancer.

The menu also helps those students who are overweight to lose weight and helps improve those who have pre-diabetic or diabetic conditions. Our own talented chefs prepare these delicious meals. There are staff and student tasting committees which constantly provide feedback to the chef and suggest new menu items.

Physician and dentist on site. JRC employs skilled nurses. In addition, JRC has a medical doctor who works on site one day a week, and an additional doctor who works one day per month, also a dentist who visits the school on a regular monthly basis. This saves valuable educational time for the students.

As a result of JRC’s ability to reduce problem behaviors, many students have been able to obtain medical services for the first time in years.

Staff Management

A well-managed staff. During the school day each classroom is directly supervised by a Teacher and a Teacher Assistant. Each Work Activities Center is supervised by a Workshop Coordinator and Assistant Coordinator.

In addition to the supervising teacher or Workshop Coordinator, a member of the education department, the Education Quality Control Officer, reports to each classroom throughout the academic day. This individual offers assistance to the classroom staff and redirects when appropriate.

We also require two (2) administrative staff to “rove” throughout the school each day in an effort to offer support, supervision, and guidance to all staff.

All areas of the school are monitored live via digital video recording and/or in person by a Monitoring/Quality Control staff member. While at the residence, each residence is directly supervised by anyone of the following supervisory trained staff, Residential Coordinator (RCA), Weekend Supervisor, or Mental Health Assistant (MHA)-Overnight supervisor.

Also all areas are monitored live via digital video recording and/or in person by a Monitoring/Quality Control staff member who can offer immediate positive or negative feedback.

Staff performance is measured in many areas, including:

treatment/education skills
self-training in behavioral psychology
attendance
supervisory potential
dress/hygiene
overall attitude
compliance with JRC policies
general level of ethics
creativity, and
professionalism

Staff members are evaluated after every shift with immediate feedback from a supervisor.

Staff dress code. Staff members are required to dress neatly and professionally, including a shirt and tie for male staff, and blouses, sweaters, dress pants, or skirts for female staff.

Student Dress Code

Students are expected to dress neatly and professionally when attending school. Male students wear dress pants, shirt and tie. Female students wear dress pants or a skirt and a collared blouse or sweater.

Support Services

Custom electronics design group

JRC’s electronics department has developed over 50 special projects and systems to meet unique needs of individual students, including:

a token-operated TV set
a remotely controlled MP3 player
remotely controlled head sets for listening to TV and/or recorded music
and “hand holsters” and “foot-boards” with audible alarms which sense when a student’s hands are improperly placed during training, to eliminate self-abusive behaviors such as head-hitting and/or knees-to-head.

Software development group

JRC has its own software development group that designs software for JRC’s behavior/academic charting system, self-instruction educational curriculum, and administrative needs.

Parent Services

Parent/Agency website for complete transparency in education and treatment

Parents can follow the educational and treatment progress of their child on a daily basis by accessing JRC’s private, secure, Parent/Agency website, where the charts for the students’ behaviors are posted and updated daily, and where other treatment and education documents for their child can be found.

Parent training. JRC offers and encourages training for parents, siblings, and other family members. JRC has at times also sent staff into the student’s home to train parents and siblings on how to carry out the student’s program.

The use of Skype and FaceTime help students maintain long-distance communication with their parents.

Calendar and visitation

JRC is open and in session 365 days per year. There is no requirement that parents must take the student home during holiday or vacation periods.

Parental visits are not limited to certain visiting days. JRC has an open door visiting policy. Every day can be a visiting day.

Facilitation of home visits. JRC encourages and assists students to make home visits and maintain their family ties. When needed and feasible, JRC makes staff members to accompany the student on a home visit. We also provide supervised bus transportation to and from the New York City area during four extended weekend/holiday periods each year.

Key Features of JRC's Program

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