The adolescents referred to Centerpoint have highly intensive psychological and clinical needs. With few exceptions, they have an extensive history of previous unsuccessful treatment in less restrictive settings. Almost every resident has experienced some form of serious abuse and/or neglect in his childhood. Behaviorally, most candidates for admission have great difficulty with impulse control and many have engaged in self abusive, aggressive behavior as a means of coping with stress.

Many of the Centerpoint residents also present with specific issues (ie: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, sex offending, substance abuse, fire setting) and require a highly individualized and carefully designed treatment protocol to address these specific clinical needs.

Given that the level of impairment of the residents referred to Centerpoint is so severe, most have more than one clinically significant psychiatric disorder. Referring diagnoses typically include Affective Disorders, Dissociative Disorders, Conduct Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorders and various Learning Disabilities. In addition to these diagnoses, a referral candidate must have demonstrable history of inability to make significant progress in a less restrictive setting.

All candidates for admission must be male, between the ages of 13-18, medically stable and potentially committable under Massachusetts General Law 7&8. There are no religious, racial or ethnic restrictions to admission. The intelligence range and the spread of academic grade levels of the residents is wide ranging and, although no arbitrary limit on cognitive capacity exists, a youth whose behavioral problem is thought to be primarily a result of mental retardation would be seen as an inappropriate candidate.

Residents must be committed to the Department of Mental Health on either a Conditional Voluntary admission or a Civil Commitment. Out of State residents must meet the same diagnostic criteria for admission. All referrals for admission must be directed to Carolyn F. Ingalls, Program Director, Centerpoint Program, P.O. Box 374 , Tewksbury , MA 01876 , 978-858-3776, ext. 204.