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Agency began in 1982 with the purchase of a large historic ranch and the founding of a new home for very special
children. The lush forest, complete with streams, two rivers and a thousand foot mountain is an encapsulation of
the beauty of Oregon. The program was designed to give abused children a beautiful setting in which to grow and
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Jasper Mountain Center accepted its first child in 1982.
From the beginning, the children who came to live at Jasper Mountain talked of physical and sexual abuse. The common
denominator and the focus of the program has remained treating the young, abused child in a family setting, not
an institution. The program has combined traditional psychological and psychiatric interventions with innovations
in treating abused and emotionally disturbed children.
As patterns of behavior became better understood, the residential treatment program developed areas of clinical
specialization. Eighteen years of experience have produced effective treatment for the most challenging childhood
disorders such as: traumatic stress, violence, sexual misbehavior, and attachment issues. The program has been
nationally recognized for innovative treatment in each of these areas.
Treating seriously abused children is essential, but more had to be done in the community to prevent this terrible
problem. In 1983, a task force of community leaders considered the statistics, the complexity, and the magnitude
of the child abuse problem in Lane County. The seventeen member task force saw only one viable solution: the creation
of a new social service agency with a mission to eliminate child abuse. Springfield Child Abuse Resources (SCAR)
opened an office in December of 1983.
SCAR and Jasper Mountain remained separate agencies, working together, until their directors met in 1987 and developed
a plan to merge into a single, comprehensive, child abuse agency, with treatment, prevention, education and residential
programs. As needs arise, new programs are still being designed and implemented. A day treatment program began
in 1989 (Jasper Mountain School); and a short-term evaluation center (SAFE Center) and a
Therapeutic Foster Care Program started in 1995. SCAR/Jasper Mountain has grown to become one of Oregon's most significant
efforts to combat child abuse. |
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