The RAYS (Rise Above Your Situation) program is a stage-matched online program that integrates best practices from existing evidence-based programs for justice involved youth and substance abusers, and helps juvenile justice and social service professionals to set personal goals and interventions for their clients.
The RAYS program is a youth-driven intervention designed to:
- Serve as an adjunct to traditional juvenile justice programs to reduce recidivism and substance abuse
- Help juvenile justice staff to motivate youth to make behavior change using the stages of change model
- Give juvenile justice staff intervention ideas and other tools to help youth progress through the stages of change for stopping delinquent behavior and/or substance use
The RAYS program allows youth to:
- Complete an online assessment, in a multimedia-rich web-based environment
- Get immediate feedback on their stage of change and individualized guidance designed to facilitate progress through the stages
- Engage in the change process and develop goals to move toward long term behavior change
The RAYS program is a powerful tool for connecting staff with youth, and will allow staff to receive:
- Valuable training and skills
- Important information about their clients
- Individual youth and help-giver reports to guide youth through the stages of change and set stage-matched goals
- A convenient method for documenting one-on-one session activities and generating provider notes
RAYS was well received in a pilot test involving 60 juvenile offenders and their helpgivers (Levesque, Johnson, Welch, Prochaska, & Fernandez, 2012). A cluster randomized trial is currently underway to assess the efficacy of the program among 700 moderate- and high-risk juvenile offenders recruited by 54 probation officers assigned to treatment or control.
Results Published
Levesque, D. A., Johnson, J. L., Welch, C. A., Prochaska, J. M., & Fernandez, A. C. (2012). Computer-tailored intervention for juvenile offenders. Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions, 12(4), 391-411. Retrieved from PM:23264754
For more information about RAYS, or to schedule an online demonstration, please contact software@orbispartners.com.