Your ideas are just fine. Hiring kind people and not taking in kids with serious psychiatric problems.
You have to keep training, training, training staff. Staff culture and treatment milieu are the most important things. I believe the power of these places has to do with physically removing a kid from places where he is getting into trouble - neighborhood, friends, etc.
Also, you will want to make sure and keep communication with parents open and often. You want therapists supervising everything. I would not suggest having a set amount of time for the program. Make it individual by kid.
Have a consulting psychologist who is not invested in the business AT ALL to assist in treatment decisions. The problem with these places is that they often do not do this - or if they do, the psychologist is too much involved with them. They might claim that they use the consulting services of the psychologist, but they actually do not - not really. Many of these schools offer too much of an incentive to keep the kid there.
Also, use the angry nature of many of these posts as a guideline - you don't want your kids that angry. Conduct REAL outcome studies. Follow the kids 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years after D/C. Have a neutral, third party conduct the study. Graduate students are perfect for this. If you can get a university faculty member on board, it can be a project they are involved in.
I see a lot of wounded persons on these posts. I've read accounts of poorly-educated, power-hungry staff. I've seen posts here about terrible disrespect for feelings and claims of manipulation. One of the biggest problems with these schools is "manipulation." It seems that often times, kids who are genuinely in pain and want to talk to their parents are labeled as manipulating. Staff education will help eliminate this. When they are ignorant, the word, "manipulate" covers anything they don't like. As administrator of several facilities, I struck that word from our vocabulary. Staff was not to use it. In my professional experience, use of that word has a direct, negative correlation with staff education and sophistication. The less educated the staff, the more they say that a kid is manipulating.
One caution - people who want to work with kids often do have many issues. Teach them about boundaries - educate your staff as to what is appropriate and what is inappropriate self-disclosure. Teach them about development and what behaviors are to be expected. And for heaven sake, keep the education going! I have been administrator of several facilities - I found that educating the staff was one of the most important things I could do. Otherwise, they just go on their own stuff. They may look good in an interview, but when it comes down to it, they might be horrible.
Make sure your staff education always includes role-play. They might look like they understand, but that doesn't mean anything. One thing I did at my facilities was to act really horrible and have them intervene. They were to be kind, empathetic, respectful of my feelings, and NOT condescending. I found this to be a real problem at some of these places. I've served as a consultant, placing kids. The only place I felt completely comfortable about was Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch. I've sent several kids there and they have all told me that it saved their lives. I spoke with one last week - I had sent her there five years ago - she said the same thing. The problem with Yellowstone is that it's religious - it's Christian. I am a Jew, so I understand that some people wouldn't want this! However, as far as I'm concerned, it's the best place that I'm aware of.
Arrive, unannounced, at all times of day and night to see what's going on. Sit in on groups. Actively intervene. Train, train, train. I cannot stress this enough.
Write a mission statement and make sure all staff know it. Post it all over the place. Have the words, "respect" and "empathy" in it. Be aware, always aware, that some people who want to work with kids have many issues. They include their own drug history and other acting-out histories. Some kids have abuse issues - coming from abusive homes. If they are not trained like crazy, these problems leak into their work. They see everyone through their own histories. You must train this out of them, as much as possible.
I've seen therapists who had significant issues that leaked into their work and rendered them really inappropriate. I have seen licensed therapists on power trips with kids. I will never, ever understand this - but so many persons who want to work with kids are on power trips. Many seem to be deeply angry and this comes out. Some staff have what I can only describe as a "smart-ass" attitude with these kids. This only serves to escalate the kids' anger.
Beware of staff splitting. Staff splitting is blamed on the kids. This is utter rubbish. Staff splitting is on the staff - always! Strong, emotionally healthy staff don't allow themselves to be split! Staff must feel like a team - you accomplish this with fun staff activities and lots of training. Gee, did I mention training already?
Be ever so careful with admissions. Many of these schools have the wallet admission criteria. Fact is, many of the kids in them don't need to be there. However, I'm a child psychologist. I've seen kids die from their own poor choices. Huffing and club drugs, and gang activity are the main culprits. Some kids are on a path to self-destruction that must be interrupted.
Be aware that after residential, there is a significant period of adjustment. You need a good aftercare program. You need to make the stay as short as possible - you don't want your clients to be completely unable to function afterward.
It's okay to use peer support - that is a very powerful intervention. However, you want to make sure that it's not inappropriate. Don't set up things to that kids are rewarded socially only for coming up with confessions of terrible activities. Such a culture encourages fabrication. You want positive support for positive behaviors.
I would recommend a cognitive/behavioral approach. It has been shown empirically to be the most effective. Add some Carl Rogers and you can have a good program.
Look at the pain and anger in these posts. You are aware, I'm sure, that people who are satisfied with something don't take the effort to go to these bulletin boards. The people here are hurt and angry. Respect their feelings. I've looked at some of your posts and they concern me. You have put a lot of effort into arguing with them, and they have said that you are condescending. I have to agree with that assessment. The apparent effort you put into arguing with them does look like you have a boundary problem. Please take this as it is intended ? to be helpful. If you are in school to be a psychologist, you have been learning about the importance of boundaries. You have looked far too emotionally involved here. Arguing with someone is the least effective way to get them to see things your way. I do hope you seek superior supervision and work on boundaries in your own therapy. Good luck in your endeavors.
