When you are trained in trauma-informed practice, the goal is to create an environment where children feel heard and valued, free from judgment. However, this ideal was starkly contrasted by the experiences under the management of a unit manager at the group home where I worked. This stark contrast became evident in the story … Read more Leave Your Training at the Door
How can children in the foster care system know when his or her rights have been violated, especially if he or she is in a group home setting where they feel isolated and scared to speak out? Along with a variety of internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety or depression, this child isn’t in a … Read more 23 Things they don’t tell you about the foster system bill of rights
I learned a valuable lesson from one of the first residents I ever worked with. He was a friendly and cooperative child, who at the time was new just like I was. I later found out he would be a bit of an instigator and bully. Let me tell you about Juan. I have … Read more Learning to Verbally Display Fairness
In a short-term therapeutic treatment center, you will find a calendar where all the activities for the kids are posted every month in advance. The calendar sets expectations early and follows through at the end of the week and the end of the month. The idea is simple. By providing clear boundaries for each … Read more Lack of on-campus activities: What type of treatment center is this?
When I look around my fellow treatment counselors, I find two types of people: those who genuinely want to help the kids we work with and those who don’t. The type of people who choose not to help the kids we work with are usually the ones who have worked there the longest (though … Read more Darkside of Residential Group Homes: Working with Adult Bullies
Empowering Foster Kids for Future Success Let me share a story from one summer, just before high school. In our group home, we had three foster care children: Matthew (freshman), Johnathan (freshman), and Angel (sophomore), who were about to embark on a new chapter in a new high school. This new school was in an … Read more Lost Potential: Group Homes and the Struggle for Success
On the resident’s point sheet, you will find a section called program participation: therapy worth 5 points. As a residential treatment counselor, the older youth that I worked with who was around 13 through 16 years old, didn’t know who their therapist was—let alone the option to speak to one. Specifically, the one assigned to … Read more Why foster kids in residential treatment do not ask for help?