Life Experiences For Youth Placed In Residential Treatment Programs

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

A division of the Oakland County Executive’s Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Village is the County of Oakland’s residential facility for children and youths who are in need of detention services, structured residential treatment programs, or Shelter Care Services. Children’s village provides care and services for up to 244 children and youths who have been court ordered into the facility due to criminal behavior, delinquency, or through contract with the Michigan Department of Human Services due to abuse or neglect. Youth ordered to complete a Residential treatment program are transferred from an Intake unit to treatment cottage, based on their history of offenses, treatment needs, age, and gender. Residential Treatment Programs provide individualized structured treatment based on a four-level system. Treatment providers, referral agency, parents, and the youth develop goals and objectives for each level. Life Experience is a component of treatment programming that has been incorporated into all of the County’s residential treatment programs; it serves to provide hands-on learning experiences that incorporate social skill development into treatment programming. This opportunity for interactions with community-based partners have generated greater enthusiasm and investment for youth placed in residential treatment programming. “Teacher’s pet” provides a life experience that quickly became a favorite activity for troubled teens. Teacher’s Pet is a dog training program that allows youth to develop a nurturing relationship with a dog while providing training that will improve chances for pet adoption. More importantly, this dog training program has been successfully incorporated into Children’s Village treatment programs to provide real life interactions and learning experiences for the County’s youth.