Closer to Home Community Services delivers a variety of programs designed to meet the needs of vulnerable children and their families. Closer to Home professionals have developed effective programs that address a broad spectrum of issues relating to Child Welfare, Adult Services, and Early Intervention. A strong emphasis is placed on delivering a full continuum of consumer driven, community based programs guided by an organizational commitment to quality assurance, accountability, and measurable outcomes. Staff training and professional development play a critical and important role in our approach to program delivery. Closer to home is fully integrated with community, municipal, and provincial support systems in order to maximize resource funding and provide expanded programs. By maintaining collaborative relationships with formal and informal support systems, the full power of available resources can be harnessed to meet unique children's needs within their own community. CTH is a strategic partner with Calgary and Area Child and Family Services Authority.
Our mission is to create the best possible solutions for individuals, families, and communities that are vulnerable or at risk.
Closer to Home community Services strives to meet the various needs of troubled children, youth, and their families with programs that embrace the values of respect and dignity for each person. We believe that children are our future, and are entitled to save, secure and nurturing environment. We strive to be sensitive to each individual, adapting all program and treatment strategies in ways that respect and affirm each person's particular culture, traditions and beliefs. Every effort is made to promote individual independence and self-determination, and to create a healthy environment for children.
Closer to Home treatment programs adhere to an innovative approach to children's issues called the Teaching Family Model. The model provides a revolutionary approach to providing high quality care for troubled youths and families. The Teaching-Family Model represents an organized approach to providing humane, effective, and individualized services that are satisfactory to consumers from introduction through to treatment. The Closer to Home Teaching Family Model is the only program of its kind operating in Canada.
Download a TFA bibliography here
Findings
In the late 1960’s, psychologists Elaine Phillips, Elery Phillips, Dean Fixsen, and Montrose Wolf developed an empirically tested treatment program to help troubled children and juvenile offenders who had been assigned to residential group homes. These researchers combined the successful components of their studies into the Teaching-Family Model, which offers a structured treatment regimen in a family-like environment. The model is built around a married couple (teaching-parents) that lives with children in a group home and teaches them essential interpersonal and living skills. Not only have teaching parents' behaviors and techniques been assessed for their effectiveness, but they have also been empirically tested for whether children like them. Teaching-parents also work with the children's parents, teachers, employers, and peers to ensure support for the children's positive changes. Although more research is needed, preliminary results suggest that, compared to children in other residential treatment programs, children in Teaching-Family Model centers have fewer contacts with police and courts, lower dropout rates, and improved school grades and attendance.
Couples are selected to be teaching-parents based on their ability to provide individualized and affirming care. Teaching-parents then undergo an intensive year-long training process. In order to maintain their certification, teaching-parents and Teaching-Family Model organizations are evaluated every year, and must meet the rigorous standards set by the Teaching-Family Association.
Significance
The Teaching-Family Model is one of the few evidence-based residential
treatment programs for troubled children. In the past, many treatment
programs viewed delinquency as an illness, and therefore placed children
in institutions for medical treatment. The Teaching-Family Model, in contrast,
views children's behavior problems as stemming from their lack of essential
interpersonal relationships and skills. Accordingly, the Teaching-Family
Model provides children with these relationships and teaches them these
skills, using empirically validated methods. With its novel view of problem
behavior and its carefully tested and disseminated treatment program,
the Teaching-Family Model has helped to transform the treatment of behavioral
problems from impersonal interventions at large institutions to caring
relationships in home and community settings. The Teaching-Family Model
has also demonstrated how well-researched treatment programs can be implemented
on a large scale. Most importantly, the Teaching-Family Model has given
hope that young people with even the most difficult problems or behaviors
can improve the quality of their lives and make contributions to society.
