Helping Children And Families Live Successfully.
Youth Villages has provided residential treatment for emotionally troubled children since 1980. All of our programs are accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO).
The open residential campuses offered by Youth Villages provide the setting for an intensive treatment program that combines a unique balance of structure and freedom. This enables children and their families to identify, understand and cope with their individual needs and develop the skills necessary to succeed in less restrictive settings.
Our residential treatment programs serve children with emotional and behavioral problems combined with other needs. The programs accept children with IQ scores of 45 and above of the following ages: boys, 7 to 18 and girls, 12 to 18.
Youth Villages' residential treatment campuses are:
Youth Villages' Residential Treatment campuses provide intensive mental health treatment based on the Re-Education of Emotionally Disturbed (Re-ED)Youth therapy model.
Children live in cottages with 8 to 12 children of similar ages and with similar problems. Cottages provide the setting for group and individual therapy. Family visitation and therapy rooms are available in the administration buildings. Each cottage is supervised by a professional group of staff, which includes a master's-level counselor, teacher-counselors and night monitors. Children also have access to a psychiatrist, nurses and other specialized staff.
A structured routine helps children settle into a regulated lifestyle with clearly set expectations and a system of rewards and consequences. Emphasizing accomplishments and competence-building activities, Re-ED reinforces positive behavior changes and allows children to build trusting relationships with their counselors, teachers and other adults.
Each of our campuses features a school where children with emotional and behavioral problems receive academic instruction in a therapeutic environment. A low student:teacher-counselor ratio allows our staff to fully focus on each child's individual needs to help propel each child toward academic success.
Our schools look like regular schools with regular classrooms, gyms, cafeterias and administrative offices. Our ultimate goal is to help each child return to the community and to public school as soon as possible. Our campus schools prepare students for the transition back to the community.
Joy plays an important part in treatment at Youth Villages. We believe that in growing up, each child should experience some joy in each day. Recreational activities, therefore, take on a crucial part in daily therapy.
Most recreational activities are guided by our recreational therapists who engage children in activities that focus on building specific skills - problem solving, working in teams, enhancing trust - as well as allow children to just have fun and release their energy.
Teacher-counselors also regularly plan outings with their classes. Outings may take them to the zoo, a park, a Vietnamese restaurant to learn about Asian cultures, the courthouse, townhall and other places and sights as they relate to the children's current studies. Good-behavior outings and home passes function as rewards for children's hard work at controlling their behaviors and making positive changes.
