ABSTRACT

Examine ways to help prepare young people for a successful transition from group care to community living!

How can we best help young people in residential care settings prepare for life “on the outside?” The editors of On Transitions From Group Care: Homeward Bound are devoted to helping answer the question of how providers of residential treatment services can improve the transition process when children in their care are transferred to less restrictive situations. Chapters focus on the challenges of this process when working with sexually aggressive youth, adolescents with behavioral or conduct disorders, and the families of young people in residential care facilities. You'll learn about model transitional living programs, ways to integrate family work into residential care, and programs that focus on social/life-skills training.

On Transitions From Group Care: Homeward Bound examines:

  • a program designed to involve parents and caregivers in the residential treatment and transition process for sexually aggressive youth
  • diagnosis and placement variables that affect outcomes for adolescents with behavior disorders in an outpatient mental health clinic
  • the redesigning of an existing residential treatment program to allow parents, caregivers, and the community a much more integral role in each child's residential treatment experience
  • case studies of children who have participated in the transitional living program at Bellefaire/JCB—a large social service agency for children and families in the Cleveland, Ohio area—with both successful and unsuccessful outcomes
  • the role of social skills training programs in facilitating successful transitions from residential treatment to community life