Juvenile Fire Setter's Program

The Juvenile Fire Setter's Program is a 52 week program designed to discover what motivates a child caught playing with fire. The notion is that if we discover the motivation then the appropriate intervention can be planned and implemented.

In the past, fires attributed to juveniles were few and taken in stride. Over the years however, there has been a noticeable increase in the frequency of juvenile related incidents. Thus the need for a program to intervene in this fire setting behavior cycle became evident.

The Juvenile Fire Setter Program provides citizens of Worcester County a program in which juveniles involved in fire setting are evaluated, educated, and redirected at no cost to the individual’s family.

The purpose of this program is to reduce the number of juvenile related fires by interrupting the fire setting behavior of identified juvenile fire setters.

Program Outline

Week
1-2		Introductions; Overview of Program; Contracts; Confidentiality
3-6		Understanding Fire and Fire Setters; Questions About Fire Setting Behavior
7-10		Fire Setting as a Form of Control
11-12		Developmental Stages
13-14		Socially Typical Stages
15-18		Factors That Contribute to Fire Setting Behavior
19-22		Psychology of the Offender: Normal Fire Behavior, Pathological Fire Setters
23-24		Fire Setting and Juvenile Delinquency
25-28		Detailed Disclosure of the Fire Setting Incident
29-32		Cycle of Fire Setting and Charting
33-36		Rewards for Fire Setting / Motives
37-40		Social and Legal Responsibilities
41-44		Taking Personal Responsibility
45-48		Relapse Prevention
49-52		Termination

Aftercare and follow-up provided as needed.

For further information or to enroll in the program contact either of the following:

Jeff McMahon
Worcester County Fire Marshal
(410) 632-5666 x 1

Kathey Larger
Worcester County Health Department
(410) 632-4510 x 1009