Youth Care Behavior Modification

[Anonymous]

Behavior Modification

Our behavior modification boarding school program is based on accountability, responsibility, and respect. Boys and girls at Youth Care are expected to treat staff and peers with respect and in return they can expect to be treated with respect. Staff members are trained to apply consequences and provide feedback for students in a respectful manner without demeaning or belittling the adolescent.

Students at Youth Care boarding schools in Utah participate in a level system. Students are rewarded with points given for proper school performance, appropriate social interactions, a good attitude, and compliance with rules.

The immediate feedback helps to reinforce appropriate behaviors and helps the students correct poor behaviors. When sufficient points are earned, students progress in the level system and receive extra privileges.

The students’ level determine the number of activities away from the center the students can participate in, number of passes with parents, extra privileges, etc. One of the purposes of the level system is to help students take responsibility for inappropriate behaviors.

-------

So basically, the child can lose privileges like seeing their parents for non compliance with rules.  That is a recipe for disaster, IMO.

[AuntieEm]

No credible adolescent mental health program or practitioner uses access to family as a punishment or a reward.

Some months ago, I described my niece's situation and treatment at BCA to the head of family and children's mental heath for a major university. "That does not comport with any standard of mental health care that we teach or practice here in the State of [REDACTED]," he responded firmly.

AuntieEm

[Deborah]

You will only see that at "parent choice" programs. In the rest of society contact between parent and child can't be severed without a court order, and only after it's been determined that the relationship is not in the child's best interest. It wouldn't happen in the "parent choice" warehouses either if parents didn't comply. Listen to the many parents who wish they had followed their gut feeling on this. Parents are the only outside contact these kids have for reporting abuse or inconsistencies in stated policies. Don't ever sever contact with your child. If they won't take your kid under those circumstances, best move on. No legitimate, evidence-based treatment would require such a demand.

[TheWho]

Guest wrote:

So basically, the child can lose privileges like seeing their parents for non compliance with rules. That is a recipe for disaster, IMO.

I think you might have read thru it too quickly.  They never said the children would be restricted from their parents.  They indicated they could lose their off campus privileges.

My daughter lost her privileges to go off campus, one time, and it was difficult because we had made plans but it was a good lesson in consequences for ones actions.  It in no way restricted us from seeing her, we just had to visit her on campus which turned out to be much more fun.  We got to speak to and meet more of the council staff and other students who my daughter had made friends with.

[Anonymous]

Look WHO, just because you had no problem complying with restrictive policies controlling visits with your own child, doesn't mean it's right.

Bottom line is if the kid misbehaves in some way, shape or form, the program can take it out on them by any number of ways, including not allowing them to see or talk to their parents AWAY from the program.

Think about it.

Going off campus ALONE with your parent just might be the only way a child is comfortable talking to the parent about the program.

Anyway you look at it, this is just plain wrong.

[TheWho]

Look WHO, just because you had no problem complying with restrictive policies controlling visits with your own child, doesn't mean it's right.

It doesn’t matter if I had a problem with it or not………, just because a kid is restricted to campus because they violated the rules doesn’t make it abusive.
  Think about it.

 The kids know what the rules are, if it is important for them to speak to their parents off campus they will make dam sure they don’t get the privilege taken away.  You don’t give the kids enough credit, they know they will lose the privilege for what they do or maybe they are testing the boundaries.

A person doesn’t have to leave campus to feel comfortable talking to their own parents.  There were 400 acres or more of places we could go to to chat.  We spent time in her room, alone, ate in the cafeteria one time after the other kids had left.

Again, I see your point in allowing the kids to see their parents, but I think you are making this into something it is not.

[Anonymous]

Giving kids enough credit isn't the issue.

It is the program who has all the power.

You, WHO, grossly underestimate this power among other problems you have, such as viewing children as rats who can be trained.



 :flame:

[TheWho]

Giving kids enough credit isn't the issue.

It is the program who has all the power.

You, WHO, grossly underestimate this power among other problems you have, such as

You lost me.



...

[Anonymous]

Informal Phone Calls Two Times Weekly.

If student is not on the lowest level, the students will be given phone time two times per week. Students will get a 10-minute phone call home to discuss happenings at home. This is not the time to discuss therapeutic issues but to discuss happenings.

So ... a kid has to be higher than a Level 1 to be "given" (program speak for awarded")  phone privileges.  

Therapeutic Leaves of Absence (Pass Times).

Students are given pass times with their parents. The length of pass times is related to the student’s performance in treatment as indicated by their level.

Again, it appears the child's earned level of performance dictates the length of time with their parent.

Question:

How is restricting time with a parent therapeutic?

This level system appears to me to be punitive-based, not rights based.

[Anonymous]

How is restricting time with a parent therapeutic?

It's not, IMO.  Children should be allowed to communicate with their parent regardless of whether they made their bed correctly, ate all their peas, or ran 20 laps.  There are other ways to teach children responsibility than restrict communication with their parent. Remember, these children are already isolated from their family unit.

[TheWho]

How is restricting time with a parent therapeutic?

This level system appears to me to be punitive-based, not rights based.

I don’t think the restricting time is designed to be therapeutic.  In the case of my daughter it wasn’t considered therapeutic.  The restrictions were in place to insure compliance to the various rules the kids had to follow.  Whether a school calls itself therapeutic or not, it needs to have rules and ways to enforce them the same as parents do at home (i.e. restricting access to friends, loss of phone privileges etc.).  

Parents don’t consider these to be therapeutic, at least I didn’t.

[Anonymous]

One of the first things an abusive program does is restrict access to the parents. The second thing is to interfere with the parent child relationship, such as by telling the kid something bad immediately before the parent shows up to visit. Abusive programs want the parent-child relationship to be bad in order to keep milking as money as possible from the parents.

[ZenAgent]

How is restricting time with a parent therapeutic?

This level system appears to me to be punitive-based, not rights based.

I don’t think the restricting time is designed to be therapeutic.  In the case of my daughter it wasn’t considered therapeutic.  The restrictions were in place to insure compliance to the various rules the kids had to follow.  Whether a school calls itself therapeutic or not, it needs to have rules and ways to enforce them the same as parents do at home (i.e. restricting access to friends, loss of phone privileges etc.).  

Parents don’t consider these to be therapeutic, at least I didn’t.

PV wouldn't even let my step daughter's attorney speak to her in private, until the attorney growled at the idiot therapist to get out, client confidentiality and all that.  The DCS and the TN Dep't of Mental Health went to speak with my step daughter, asking questions with a PV staffer present - how freely do you think she spoke to those people?  There was NO unmonitored contact with parents, from phone calls to letters to the rare face to face visits.

[TheWho]

One of the first things an abusive program does is restrict access to the parents. The second thing is to interfere with the parent child relationship, such as by telling the kid something bad immediately before the parent shows up to visit. Abusive programs want the parent-child relationship to be bad in order to keep milking as money as possible from the parents.

I am sure you are right but it doesnt mean all programs and schools are abusive.  Non abusive schools have rules also.

[Anonymous]

Parent Days are held every six to eight weeks at Youth Care. Parents are encouraged to attend these programs. The program starts on Thursday mornings with a variety of activities:  conferences, on-site family therapy, parent support groups, and multi-family groups.  Parents will have time to visit with the members of the multi-disciplinary team that is treating their child.  If the student is on the appropriate level, there will also be time for therapeutic leaves of absence (passes).

Yep, that's right.  Therapeutic leaves of absence.  

What is this mumbo-jumbo really saying?

Visits with parents are therapeutic?

Jesus Christ, why can't these programs let children see their parents and leave the therapy to the "therapists"?