Day Treatment Services (From Transitional Services for Troubled Youth, P 45-50, 1990, Bruce Wolford, Cynthia J. Miller, et al, eds. -- see NCJ-123481)

• NCJ Number: 123996
• Author(s): L Bowling; L Hobbs
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Eastern Kentucky University
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

Day treatment services are community based treatment programs for adolescents with social, behavioral, and emotional problems and their families. Defining problems behaviors in terms of the familial system, day treatments may be used in concert with more restrictive settings or as transitional services for youth returning to their families from restrictive environments.

Abstract

In Kentucky, the Division of Family Services of the Department of Social Services provides community casework and intensive family counseling including protective services, while the Division of Children's Residential Services (DCRS) implements a range of services including day treatment, group homes, residential facilities for delinquent and youthful offenders, and clinical settings. Whenever possible, DCRS provides individualized treatment in the State's 13 day treatment centers. The treatment program is designed to teach parents, agencies, and communities that problem and delinquent youth can be treated and maintained at home. The two main objectives -- client behavior modification and effective parental control -- are met through parent education and support groups, individual and group counseling, youth education programs, and vocational training and job placement. Programming is based on assessments of community and client needs which determine location, admission criteria, and treatments. Community assessment includes analyses of adolescents in the community, number of youths processed through district courts, and substantiated abuse cases recorded by the states as well as assessment of community resources. Treatment teams, consisting of a social worker, paraprofessional, and teacher, develop a plan that creates a positive environment and role models for the youth by resolving problem behaviors through measurable goals and objectives. Individual counseling that focuses on behavioral change and group counseling that deals with more specific common issues, conflicts, and concerns try to ensure that the youth return to a permanent, supportive, and nurturing family setting. Individualized education plans allow youth to work at their own level at a pace that ensures success. (Author abstract modified)