Programming to Meet Children's Needs: The Integration of a Comprehensive Service System for High-Risk Adolescents (From Group Care of Children: Transitions Toward the Year 2000, P 185-200, 1989, Edwin A Balcerzak, ed.)

• NCJ Number: 128730
• Author(s): D Droppa; C H Donnorummo; J S Michael
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 16 pages
• Sale Source: Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper describes the development, composition, and operation of an integrated, comprehensive service system to meet the needs of high-risk children in Pennsylvania called the Three Rivers Youth (TRY).

Abstract

The concept of integrated services for children and adolescents with social, emotional, and behavioral problems is of relatively recent origin. This paper presents one such case and discusses the matrix of services represented, barriers to successful integration and corresponding strategies, and program features that contribute to successful treatment of a high-risk adolescent population. The case presented is the Three Rivers Youth (TRY) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From 1970 through 1982, TRY, a non-profit agency, developed a network of eight community-based group homes, which were residential treatment programs for adolescents located in neighborhood residences. Each had a team of professional houseparents, a full-time supervisor, and a social worker. The current mix of services includes five residential and four nonresidential programs. Each of the programs are discussed, and the concept of multicomponent integrated planning is presented along with the development of the integrative structures and integrative processes/staff management. The strength of the program is shown in the statistic that over the course of 1 year, 70 percent of the TRY's participants are involved in programming with more than 1 component.