For the times, they are a ’changin’.
This theme holds particular relevance for therapeutic facilities…inpatient
psychiatry units, residential facilities, group homes, therapeutic schools, and
juvenile detention facilities.
Leadership and staff in many such facilities have come to recognize that
contingency management programs – points, demerits, levels, and the like –
don’t meet the therapeutic needs of their residents, aren’t useful for reducing
recidivism, often interfere with assessment (by causing residents to look
“artificially good” or “artificially bad”), and frequently precipitate the most
extreme resident behaviors, setting the stage for high rates of chemical,
physical, and mechanical restraint and locked-door seclusion. They’ve also
recognized that helping a kid “look good” inside the facility is the easy
part…setting the stage for the resident to be successful after discharge is the
hard part. And this requires that a facility focus less on motivating kids to
look good and focus more on identifying and teaching the skills that have been
making it so difficult for kids to handle life’s social, emotional, and
behavioral challenges.
Moving things in a more productive direction often requires major shifts…in
perspective, culture, roles, focus, mission, staff training and supervision,
and communication structures. Doing the right thing is very hard work.
Many facilities and systems have found the Collaborative Problem Solving
approach to be the missing link. And that’s where Think:Kids can help.