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From Twin Cities.com

With olive oil facials and downward-facing-dog poses, girls on probation in Dakota County are learning new ways to cope with impulsive behavior, anger and trauma.

During two-hour yoga and art classes, the Twin Cities-based Purusha Project teaches at-risk girls how to make better choices, manage their anger, become accountable and find healthy emotional outlets, said Jennifer Mohr, 29, the group’s executive director.

“It’s a different type of therapy,” Mohr said.

The gender-specific classes are tailored for girls ranging from 13 to 18 years old. In the two years since the 16-week course began in Dakota County, 29 girls have graduated.

Next week, Dakota County Juvenile Services will begin its second year contracting with the Purusha Project, said Jim Scovil, the department’s director. Probation and court can order the classes as an alternative to anger management and community service.

“There are limited resources available to high-risk girls involved in the criminal justice system,” said Traci Pence, the county’s gender-specific senior probation officer, in a statement about the program. “This new curriculum has had an overwhelming response from the girls, their families and the staff within Dakota County.”

The Purusha Project tailored its classes after The Art of Yoga Project, a program that piloted its curriculum in 2002 and introduced it to the California juvenile justice system. More than a dozen groups

across the country, like the Purusha Project, have adopted the classes since.

But counties are finding it more difficult to finance the classes because of budget restraints, Mohr said. Scott County used to offer the classes for girls in juvenile detention, but after more than a year, the county eliminated the courses from its budget in March.

“We’re finding that the budget cuts at the county are causing us to lose our place,” Mohr said. “We have got ourselves established. We’re hoping to find a way to be sustainable.”

The Hennepin County Home School, a state-licensed residential treatment center, also orders the classes for its juvenile offenders through a yearlong program, Mohr said.

The Purusha Project allowed Dakota County to pilot the classes in 2009 for free. Scovil said the county wanted to be sure the classes had positive outcomes before buying them. This year, the county replaced its traditional therapy for girls with the yoga courses.

The poses and art projects give “the girls something else to be doing while they’re talking, as well as teaching them how to calm themselves through yoga,” Scovil said.

Dakota County did not reveal the identities of the girls involved in the program because of Minnesota Data Practices laws that protect their privacy, Scovil said.

The Dakota County classes meet weekly and cost $150 per session for up to 15 girls, Mohr said. The price includes art supplies, an instructor, worksheets and journals.

The classes include a trained instructor from the Purusha Project and require a county staff member – usually a probation officer – to help monitor the group.

Along with 40 minutes of yoga, the girls journal and create an art project that focuses on a theme for the day, such as nonviolence, gratitude or positive body image, Pence said. Girls sometimes create sculptures, jewelry, collages or other artwork.

They also learn about healthy hygiene and how to be kind to themselves and others with affordable self-care projects, such as pumpkin and olive oil facials and aromatherapy.

This year, 11 girls graduated from the class. In 2009, 18 graduated.

Girls “came really begrudgingly and they ended up enjoying it,” Mohr said. “Some of our toughest gals are the ones that don’t want to leave.”