| KHK staff wroteSimilarities to Straight ,Inc. The ways in which we are similar: We use a five phase model and make use of host homes in the evening as did Straight, Inc. I have no first hand knowledge of how Straight operated the program. A very important way in which I know we differ is that Kids Helping Kids has a local, policy making board of directors. Our directors are community minded individuals who volunteer their time. They are the governance authority unlike Straight, Inc which was governed by the National Office. Information on Board Members is readily available and they live within the community. Board terms are limited so that we have a number of individuals in the community who have monitored the policies and procedures. Most are very active. The board always includes past program parents and presently a graduate sits on the board. If the program used abusive practices these people would eventually become informed. Kids Helping Kids has always been a much smaller program with a higher staff to client ratio and more clinical involvement. We are organized into teams. Each team is headed by a certified or licensed professional who oversees their clients' treatment including the family counseling. All but one has a master's degree. Each professional supervises a 2 ? 3 peer counselors on their team and each peer counselor is responsible for three or four clients. Each client has a treatment plan and goals. The peer counselors help the client with the formation of their goals. Client's rights are clearly written in language they understand, given to them when they enter and are posted on the group room wall. Under the Rights Poster is a Grievance Procedure with contact information to external authorities. That grievance procedure is also given to the client in writing in their handbook. Staff also includes a psychiatrist who treats the dually diagnosed and is available to all clients. An LSW conducts home surveys, does background checks on all parents who will be hosting and also driver's license checks on parents who will be hosting clients. The peer staff are required to attend a weekly two hour inservice training which continuously addresses clients rights and safety, as well as other issues. No program is perfect but we take many steps to make sure that Kids Helping Kids is a healthy, therapeutic environment in which our clients can grow. Our emphasis is on helping empower the client, not perpetuating the motion that events or other people have power over them. Twenty one years ago, this program was opened by a group of parents who transferred kids from the LIFE Program in Florida, a program which used the model (5 phases, host home). Kids Helping Kids has never had any direct affiliation with Straight, Inc. and has never employed any of their Executive Staff. George Ross, who may have at one time been involved with Straight was hired as the Director but quickly left before KHK began treating clients. We did employee a Straight Graduate as a peer staff for a short period of time. Neither of these people greatly influenced the culture of the program. Our program is dynamic and has changed over time to meet the needs of the families we treat. I think our culture must be very different. In 1993 we purchased the building that Straight built in 1982 and left in 1986 or '87. |