Emily Thompson came to Youth Villages as an intern on a residential campus. She was completing her master's degree in social work and knew that she wanted to work with children. Our internship program gave her practical, hands-on experience and confirmed that she was on the right track to a fulfilling career.

Emily was drawn to our residential programs, to the idea of helping children so that they can move to less restrictive care and then back to their homes or communities.

"I like what Youth Villages stands for, the principles and values of the organization," Emily says. After graduation, she was hired as a counselor at our new Center for Intensive Residential Treatment.

"I may have been a little apprehensive about the children at first. I knew that they would have more severe issues, more intense needs than the children I had worked with earlier at Youth Villages," she says. "But when the center opened and I began to meet the children, it quickly became apparent that they were just like other kids. I love working with them."

She admits that helping Austin wasn't easy in the beginning. In a program filled with troubled children, he was the most challenging. Not a day went by without an angry, violent outburst that made Austin a danger to himself and others.

"The center provides a great atmosphere for helping children with these kinds of serious problems," Emily says. "It's safe. Children are supervised at all times, but it also has outside play areas, classrooms and plenty of open spaces. One of the principles of Youth Villages' Re-ED treatment model is that every child should experience some joy every day. Children must be allowed to be children."

Staff found that many things bring joy to Austin. "He loves movies and dinosaurs and history," Emily says. "He's very loving and enjoys positive attention." Austin's condition has always defied specific diagnosis. He has some symptoms associated with autism or Asperger's syndrome, but he doesn't meet all the criteria. He's just learned to tie his shoes and deal with buttons, but he can talk for hours about his favorite subjects, and he has an almost photographic memory.

In all of our programs, counselors look for strengths that can be used to help a child change course. Austin has many strengths. "He loves to give hugs," Emily says. "He loves to learn things." His greatest strength, though, may be his family. "His mother visits him several times a week; his grandfather comes to see him. He also has a very good relationship with an older sister. Lots of people care about Austin."

Part of the approach at the center includes daily treatment team meetings, where everyone involved in a child's care -- counselors, teachers, nurses, residential staff -- sit down and examine the child's case. "It allows you to see the child from all angles, to get different perspectives," Emily says, "to see what works with a child and what doesn't."

Over time, Austin's behavior began to improve. "In group therapy now, he wants to sit by my side," Emily says. "I have a great relationship with him. He's so funny and sweet." He's even managed to get his first job -- as an assistant in the campus school office.

No one is sure what the future holds for Austin. "We're working toward making it possible for Austin to step down to less restrictive care," Emily says. "He's made tremendous progress."