NCJ Number
230854
Journal
Residential Treatment for Children & Youth Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: April - June 2010 Pages: 127-148
Date Published
May 2010
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This articles explores the philosophical, cultural, and programmatic changes that occurred at a youth residential treatment facility in California.
Abstract
This article describes the organizational change effort that took place in a residential treatment facility for teenagers with serious emotional and behavioral challenges. The new service-delivery model is based on a nationwide effort to transform residentially-based services, which includes (1) short-term, intensive residential treatment with parallel community-based services to promote the youth's fastest possible return to a less restrictive setting, as well as to help parents or other primary caregivers to maintain or develop a connection with the child and prepare for the child's return; (2) aftercare services to support the stability of the child and family following reunification or transition to family-based care; (3) improvements in the service delivery decision-making pathway; and (4) better integration of residentially based services within a county's continuum of care. This new model requires programmatic changes, as well as an organizational systems and culture change, for agencies providing services to youth and families. The article documents the stages of preparing for change, the processes used to implement change and the organizational conditions that supported the change process, along with initial outcomes for the clients and their families, one year later. Tables, figures, and references (Published Abstract)