Middle Earth Programs

Middle Earth Programs

Middle Earth offers youth a variety of programs to meet their needs and ensure they develop into responsible and productive members of our community. Following is a list of our programs and a brief description of each. Click on the name of the program or scroll through the rest of this page to obtain more in-depth information about each program.

Community Youth Centers

Offers a safe and supervised place for youth to gather and to interact positively with their peers. Open to any youth.

Advantage Program

Comprehensive, therapeutic after-school program that provides a structured environment for adolescents who are involved in the Juvenile Justice system.

Advantage Plus

The Advantage Plus Program is similar to the Advantage program, but provides more intensive supervision and services.

Summer Expansion Program

Expands the Advantage and Advantage Plus Programs in the summer from May to September.

Linkages School-Based Program

Collaborative effort among local agencies designed to offer health services, life skills education, employment services, counseling, and safe recreational services to youth at the Somerset Vocational and Technical High School.

Outreach Program

Serves severely emotionally disturbed youth who are at risk of, or are returning from, an out-of-home placement or institutionalization.

Station House Adjustment Program

Provides an immediate consequence of community service to first-time offending youth that commit disorderly person offenses.

Employment Readiness Program

Provides services to youth on probation who are no longer attending school due to either graduating or dropping out.

More Detailed Information on Each Program

Community Youth Centers

Middle Earth's Community Youth Centers offer a safe and supervised place for youth to gather and to interact positively with their peers. The centers become a "home away from home" for many kids, a place to go instead of "hanging out" on the street.

These centers' purpose is to provide a support system to youth who otherwise would not have one, in the hopes of intervening prior to troubled or delinquent behavior.

The centers offer recreational activities, adult role modeling, crisis intervention, informal counseling, life skills education and information and referral to appropriate services. Youth who utilize the centers are primarily from Bound Brook, South Bound Brook, Bridgewater, and Somerville, but the centers are open to all youth.

Bridgewater Center
520 North Bridge Street
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
908-722-9908
Hours: Monday from 4pm to 9pm;
Tuesday and Thursday from 4pm to 7pm; and additional scheduled hours (call for times).

Bound Brook Center
405 East Main Street
Bound Brook, NJ 08805
732-469-0027
Hours: Monday and Wednesday from 3pm to 7pm; Friday from 3pm to 10pm; and additional scheduled hours (call for times).

In an effort to connect youth to their communities, they are encouraged to participate in volunteer community service that works to enhance the quality of life for the larger community. They are additionally encouraged to play a responsible role in the maintenance of Middle Earth facilities and programs.

All of the youth that visit our centers are given access to the many services provided by Middle Earth, the Linkages Program and the Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School. The Community Youth Centers provide a comprehensive community-based service center, providing an array of services to at-risk youth all in one location. Services include:

Recreation - The centers provide youth a chance to interact with friends and volunteers. The centers offer recreational equipment such as a pool table, ping pong table, TV, VCR, stereo, exercise equipment, board games, video games, couches, chairs and bulletin board of activities. The Bridgewater Center also offers a yard, basketball area and picnic tables.

Life Skills Center - Each center is a place to obtain the knowledge for becoming a responsible adult, such as independent living skills, job skills, GED materials, nutrition and cooking, obtaining a driver's license and much more. The centers include computer stations with printers, desks, and a full kitchen to facilitate the youth's learning.

Creative Interests - Every center provides opportunities for youth to expand and develop their creative talents, such as singing, painting, photography, music, and computer skills. The centers have a digital camera, video camera, camera and film, arts and crafts materials, keyboard, microphone, computer, printer, and sound booth equipment. Volunteers are invited to share their interests with center participants.

Community Service - Each center offers activities to link youth with community service and volunteer opportunities throughout Somerset County.

Group Meetings - Every center provides regularly scheduled meetings in the subject areas of education, substance abuse, health, dating, domestic violence, life skills education, and many other valuable topics. These presentations are provided by individuals from other local agencies, with whom we collaborate, that have expertise in the field of discussion.

Education - Each center provides tutoring and mentoring, adult role modeling, literacy, and academic training.

Quiet Space - The centers offer a safe place where youth can relax and enjoy time away and/or seek confidential support counseling.

The Bound Brook Community Youth Center.

In 2006, the Bound Brook Community Youth Center received 2,264 visits from 306 youth, and offered 449 life skills activities, including homework assistance, employment assistance, cooking, cleaning, and computer assistance. The Somerville/Bridgewater Community Youth Center received 1,135 visits during 2006 from 123 youth, and offered 530 life skills activities. Of the 429 total youth that visited both centers, 158 youth attended six summer trips, 43 youth attended group presentations on topics such as HIV and gangs, and 40 youth participated in community service activities.

Informal Counseling - The centers offer informal counseling to youth, or connect youth with formal counseling, in the areas of family conflict, substance abuse, health, domestic violence, crisis intervention, life skills education, personal issues, education, and other teen issues.

Information and Referral Services - Through interaction with the youth visiting the centers, our staff is able to identify adolescents at-risk or in need of services and provide them information and referrals to other services, of which they might otherwise not be aware.

The Advantage Program

The Advantage Program is a comprehensive, therapeutic after-school program that provides a structured environment for adolescents who are involved in the Juvenile Justice system. The program provides transportation, therapy (individual, group, and family), positive recreational activities, the Aggression Replacement Training curriculum, community service, character education, parent education, educational support, substance abuse education, case management and 24-hour response. Additionally, case managers advocate for the youth in the program and work with the involved agencies and schools.

Program participants meet twice weekly for program. Parents are expected to participate in regularly scheduled parent meetings, as well as any recommended family therapy with the therapist from Family and Community Services. A typical program day for the youth, which runs from 3 to 7 p.m., consists of the following:

In 2006, Advantage served 23 youth -- 83% did not re-offend, 78% attended school, 62% of those youth seeking employment found jobs, and 78% that owed fines made payments.

transportation to the program from the youth's school;
homework/tutoring;
healthy snack;
recreation/socialization/ meetings with Case Manager;
group time; and
transportation home.

Youth progress through the program by means of a ratings system with an anticipated "graduation" from the program in six months. In addition, each youth develops an Individual Program Plan with their Case Manager that identifies more specific goals that are unique to the youth.

The program is a collaborative effort with Middle Earth being the lead agency, utilizing the services of Family and Community Services and Somerset Treatment Services. Middle Earth staff is responsible for the supervision of all services to the program participants and provides the majority of the services provided to participants. Family and Community Services provides the various types of therapy (NJ licensed) needed and will provide clinical supervision as necessary. Somerset Treatment Services provides substance abuse education to participants, as well as other substance abuse services as needed.

Advantage Plus

In 2006, 8 youth were served -- 60% improved school attendance, 50% improved school behavior, 80% had clean urinalysis screenings, and 100% performed community service.

The Advantage Plus Program is similar to the Advantage program, but provides more intensive supervision and services. Advantage Plus provides an alternative for the Court’s consideration in selecting an appropriate disposition for adjudicated youth, ages 13 to 18.

This Program is a collaborative effort of five agencies: Middle Earth (lead agency), Family and Community Services, Somerset Treatment Services, Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School, and the Home Detention Program.

In addition to all of the services provided through the Advantage program, Advantage Plus, which is a longer-term program, offers participants the following: daily after-school supervision; more supervision of the Plus participants, including electronic monitoring and more individualized attention; and substance abuse assessments and monthly urine screenings.

Summer Expansion Program

In 2006, 15 youth were served -- 53% exhibited a positive change in antisocial behavior, 40% exhibited a positive change in family relationships, and 53% of youth's families reported program satisfaction.

Middle Earth received a new grant this year to expand the Advantage and Advantage Plus Programs in the summer from May to September. The goal of this program is to reduce the number of probation violations in Franklin Township during the summer months by offering a variety of activities that will assist program participants in making positive choices. The program offers employment and career related life skills in an effort to prepare and educate youth for entering the workforce. The Summer Expansion Program provided employment training through work placements. The program also provided team building and adventure training, community service, recreation, and mental health services.

Linkages' School Based Program

The Linkages' School Based Program recognizes that youth are often in need of social services but do not have access to them. The program is a collaborative effort among local agencies designed to offer health services, life skills education, employment services, counseling, and safe recreational services to youth at one site: the Somerset Vocational and Technical High School.

Middle Earth's role in this effort is to provide the recreational component. Middle Earth has established a Community Youth Center within the Vo-Tech building that offers recreation and outreach services to the students in order to identify youth at-risk or in need of services. Middle Earth also provides outreach to school dropouts and students who have problems with school. Once the youth's needs have been identified, they are referred to the appropriate service.

Middle Earth's primary activities include maintaining the formal recreation program using the school gym and running the Community Youth Center at the Vo-Tech. We schedule activities of interest to the student population, such as field trips and special events, in an effort to get to know the student population and to develop trusting relationships with the students in order to facilitate the sharing of needs.

Activities included community service projects, weekly gym league, sports tournaments, raffles designed to promote positive school behavior, life skills education and summer trips to places such as Great Adventure, Point Pleasant Beach and Hurricane Harbor. Pictured to the left is a recent field trip to visit the Amistad, a replica of the boat used to transport Africans to America for slavery.

In 2006, Middle Earth's recreation component of the Linkages program had 5,352 visits to its center.

Students are given the opportunity to meet and talk with staff who can serve as positive role models, provide information and referral to appropriate services, informal counseling, support and crisis intervention. This recreational component of the Linkages program helps youth to discuss their frustrations, issues and personal information in a safe place during a very stressful time of their life. It allows youth to participate in group activities, conversation, competition, and relationship building in a non-threatening way.

The Outreach Program

The target population for the Outreach Program is severely emotionally disturbed youth who are at risk of, or are returning from, an out-of-home placement or institutionalization and are in need of one-on-one support services. The overall purpose of the Outreach Program is to minimize the risk of institutionalization and keep families intact and offer them stability. The program provides the following services:

Mentoring
Case management
Outreach to youth and his/her family
24-hour crisis services
Basic living and independent living skills
Recreational activities
Counseling
Supervision
Transportation

In 2006, the Outreach Program served 40 youth, of which 83% were able to remain at home with their families and 80% showed improved school performance.

The services, which are tailored to meet the individual needs of the teen and their family, are provided at the client's home, Middle Earth offices, or any other convenient and comfortable place for the youth. Through our intensive mentoring services, we help the youth adopt the values of responsibility for their actions. The Program builds relationships with the families that are important and long lasting, and services are provided to them until they are either no longer needed or requested.

It is our role to act as a facilitator to help the youth take advantage of the resources available to them to prevent institutionalization, or if institutionalization is determined to be the best option for the youth, to act as a catalyst to speed up the treatment. We, many times, are still able to provide a continuum of services while they are institutionalized, which facilitates a more smooth transition for the youth back into the community upon their return from the out-of-home placement.

Station House Adjustment Program

The intent of the Station House Adjustment Program is to provide an immediate consequence of community service to first-time offending youth that commit a disorderly person offense, petty disorderly persons offense or who have been charged with an offense in the municipal court. This intervention will hopefully deter the youth from continuing their negative behavior and progressing further into the juvenile justice system. Middle Earth also runs a Franklin Station House Adjustment Program that offers the same services solely to youth residing in Franklin Township.

In 2006, Station House served 50 youth, of which 93% successfully completed the program.

The program offers Somerset County Police Departments the opportunity to implement a community service program for these first time offenders. In addition, the program identifies the needs of the youth and his/her family, allowing additional intervention by Middle Earth, if appropriate, in the hopes of reducing the number of youth entering into the juvenile court system.

Employment Readiness Program

In 2006, 11 youth were served - 100% showed improvement in their work readiness skills and 80% are now employed, attending school or both.

Middle Earth provides services to youth on probation who are no longer attending school due to either graduating or dropping out. The services provided included: enrollment in adult night school/GED programs; driver's permit preparation/written test; career searches through Coin3 (internet based computer program that allows youth to assess their aptitudes and career interests); TABE testing; tutoring; resume information/construction; employment application information/completion; County ID acquirement; and job searches.