Youth Care is a home-like treatment center for troubled teens or pre teens. A place that offers intensive individual and group therapy from a very experienced and multi disciplinary team, but a place that feels nothing like a hospital. At Youth Care, we treat each teen with dignity and respect and help him or her grow academically, socially, emotionally and behaviorally. It is our goal to help each student return to the family home a healthier and happier person.

A Typical Youth Care Student

Youth Care specializes in the treatment of adolescents with behavioral or emotional problems. We do not require that your son or daughter consent to treatment at Youth Care, and we can assist you in finding an escort service.

A typical student at Youth Care exhibits/presents with one or more of the following:

• Alcohol or drug abuse
• Academic under performance
• Sexual promiscuity
• Extreme isolation
• Learning difficulties
• Running away or truancy
• Attention or learning problems
• Pregnancy
• Low self esteem
• Problems with attachment
• Self harm
• Depression
• Body image problems or body dysmorphia
• Asperger's
• Addiction
• PTSD
• Anxiety
• Bipolar
• Defiant (oppositional) disorder
• Many others

Therapeutics

Therapeutic services at Youth Care are:

• Tailored to the needs of each individual adolescent
• Based on a 2 week assessment and academic, behavioral, emotional and psychological testing period
• Delivered by a multi-disciplinary treatment team that includes psychologists, family therapists, chemical dependency counselors, recreational therapists, social workers and certified teachers
• Formalized in a treatment plan that is reviewed by the entire treatment staff and modified if needed once a week
• Integrated into all aspects of residential, recreational and academic life

There is no preset length of stay at Youth Care. The minimum stay is 30 days and the average stay duration is just over 100 days - and some students remain with us for well over a year. During a course of stay, each student will receive 3 individual therapy sessions per week with a personal therapist and participate in 5 group therapy sessions. Therapists use a variety of approaches, depending on the needs of each individual student, such as:

• DBT therapy
• Psychodynamic
• Humanistic
• Solution focused
• Behavioral
• Chemical dependency (12 steps based)

Academics

The Youth Care academic program is accredited and credits earned are transferable.

Youth Care aims to provoke academic excellence in each and every student. Each student will receive an individualized assessment and learning plan and follow a curriculum developed for their needs and cognizant of their learning style. The staff to student ratio is 1-4 at all times and educators are trained in the teaching of students with learning difficulties, behavioral problems and emotional difficulties.

Teachers are also supported on site by psychologists and support staff, who can assist in behavioral or emotional problems beyond the scope of a teacher's expertise.

With individualized hands-on learning, teachers with time available to focus on the needs of each student and a multi disciplinary support team, students at Youth Care have an excellent opportunity to excel academically.

Living Environment

Although Youth Care offers the services of a psychiatric hospital, the living environments are intentionally non-institutional. Each student will reside in a home like building (a large house) complete with bedrooms, a large family kitchen and living rooms. Students are supervised by residential coaches, who guide each teen through positive living with peers, through the completion of chores and responsibilities and through modeling prosocial behaviors.

Although the living quarters are intentional home-like, they are also secured and all students are under 24 hour a day supervision. If necessary, students can be placed under 1 on 1 supervision overnight. With only 14 students, staff knows where each student is and what they're doing at all times.

Recreational therapy is integrated into the living program, to provide each student with new opportunities for growth and experience, and also to provide an enjoyable outlet for all. Some typical activities might include:

• Snowshoeing
• Service activities (Such as volunteering with seniors)
• Rock climbing
• Sporting events
• Outings to the symphony or ballet
• Trips to national and state parks

The Level System (Behavior Modification)

All staff at Youth Care is trained in respectful but firm feedback. Staff treats students with respect and dignity at all times, and expects to be treated likewise. Students who exhibit appropriate behavior and responsibility earn points (assigned on an hourly basis, for continual behavior modification feedback) and those that behave poorly may lose points.

Students that earn sufficient points can progress to a higher level and higher level status earns a student increasing rights and privileges.

Family Involvement

Family members play a vital role in the success of any form of adolescent behavioral or emotional health treatment, and so at Youth Care, family members get very involved in the process.

Family involvement can include:

• Family therapy sessions, once weekly (on-site or over the phone, as is appropriate)
• Parents' days on site (for multi family therapy, parenting support group sessions and other therapeutic interventions)
• Free pass time spent with a son or daughter
• Frequent phone calls (informal) with a son or daughter in the program

Admissions Fees

The cost of the residential program is $495 per day. The cost of day treatment is $395 per day. Youth Care accepts insurance and in many cases, some or all of the costs of treatment are insurance covered.