THE ECKERD MODEL FOR RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT
... providing help and hope for at-risk youth
Jack and Ruth Eckerd, searching for a different approach to help troubled kids turn their lives around, decided in 1968 to found the first Eckerd Youth Alternatives (EYA) camp near Brooksville, Florida. Almost forty years later, the organization has helped tens of thousands of children become productive and successful members of society.
More than 70,000 children have experienced the EYA program, which accents building self-confidence, accepting responsibility for personal choices and redirecting behavior. The results prove what the Eckerds believed all those years ago: Given the proper encouragement and a caring approach, people can and will change. From its humble beginning, the program now works through 40 residential and community-based programs in nine states. In 2004, EYA served more than 9,925 children.
What makes the difference? In 2003, EYA embarked on a unique undertaking. It defined its residential treatment model, a model to follow and measure against. The Eckerd Model is more than a treatment model and more than a business model. It’s the way to help youth be successful in life.
There are three essential elements to the Eckerd Model for residential treatment. These three elements are dependent upon each other and are equally vital to the program’s success:
GUIDING PHILOSOPHY: IS IT GOOD FOR KIDS?
Everything Eckerd Youth Alternatives does, whether in a program or at the corporate office, has one purpose: to help children. The people of EYA are committed to the principles that guide how we work with youth:
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EIGHT ESSENTIALS OF THE THERAPEUTIC PROGRAM
EYA maximizes the therapeutic potential of all activities for learning and personal growth. Every experience, discussion, meal and routine helps youth develop personal responsibility and self-accountability, acquire new skills and experiences, and improve their emotional well-being. The eight essential elements of EYA’s Therapeutic Program are: Safety, Therapeutic Environment, Strength-Based Focus, Therapeutic Alliances, Therapeutic Group Living, Individual Treatment, Education & Instructional Approaches and Family Services.
Safety
Physical and emotional safety considerations prevail in all aspects of EYA’s therapeutic program. Safety measures are in place for all physical activities. The program offers a safe environment to address problems as opportunities for growth, not as weaknesses or personal faults.
Therapeutic Environment
EYA residential treatment programs offer a therapeutic environment based on a helping relationship between youth and staff. They also offer a stimulating, activity-rich environment, a strong positive group culture, a focus on the natural and logical consequences of behaviors, and an emphasis on youth taking responsibility for their own behavior. It is a natural success and solution-focused process without artificial interventions like point systems or artificial consequences for poor choices.
Strength-Based Focus
EYA programs work to empower at-risk youth to focus on their strengths and their ability to overcome rather than on pathology or what is wrong. Emphasis is placed on youth uncovering past methods that have been successful and build upon these successful strategies.
Therapeutic Alliances
At EYA, youth are treated with dignity, respect and fairness. This unconditional positive regard by appropriate adult role models improves self-worth, fosters personal growth and helps develop a therapeutic alliance between youth and adults.
Therapeutic Group Living
EYA believes youth in our care can achieve therapeutic benefits by living in small, family-like groups who eat, live, play, learn and solve problems together. Youth learn from fellow group members who may share similar challenges. As members of a team, they develop a sense of personal responsibility for their contribution to the success of the group. This experience extends to their family and community.
Individual Treatment
EYA treatment is based upon an understanding of the youth and his or her family situation. After assessing a youth’s needs and strengths, a plan is derived that guides the ongoing treatment process and focuses on attainable goals. It is reviewed and modified throughout treatment based on feedback by youth, family and EYA staff.
Education & Instructional Approaches
Each EYA residential treatment program provides an on-campus school, fully licensed and accredited by the appropriate state education authorities. Teachers are state certified and trained to meet the needs of youth with academic and behavioral challenges. Education programs focus on each child’s individual needs and incorporate the treatment process into the instructional process. While enrolled in the EYA program, youth can earn transferable educational credits. EYA youth have documented individualized academic goals that address their learning needs. Individualized academic goals are intended to move youth toward successful transition to school, graduation, GED preparation, employability exploration, or career placement, as appropriate.
Family Services
EYA involves families in treatment to help improve family relationships and to improve the likelihood of long-term success. EYA staff members invite each family to partner in the youth’s treatment, support family members during the youth’s residential stay, offer education about effective parenting, and if needed, provide access to family-system interventions. When possible, home visits provide opportunities to practice transferring the skills learned in the program into the youth’s family and community situations.
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ORGANIZATIONAL ASSETS INTEGRAL TO THE ECKERD MODEL
EYA’s success is due in part to the synergy of the organization’s people and distinctive culture. These assets are as essential to the Eckerd Model as are our philosophy and our therapeutic program.
EYA believes that services for youth are best provided by competent, caring trained staff. Significant energy and resources are devoted to attracting, selecting, developing and retaining people who hold EYA’s values, are committed to the mission, have genuine concern for the welfare of youth and are qualified for their work.
Everyone in the organization creates the EYA culture of participatory leadership, where the responsibility to think and behave as a leader is not limited to people in leadership or supervisory positions.
Other key organizational assets include
Measurement Helps Improve Performance
EYA believes strongly in measurement and evaluation. The organization as a whole embraces a performance improvement approach that includes establishing plans, and measuring and evaluating performance against those plans. This is true both at the organizational level and at the therapeutic level.
Measurement and evaluation supports decision making, facilitates organizational improvement, and substantiates effectiveness and efficiency to stakeholders.
At the therapeutic level, specific outcomes of individual elements of the therapeutic program can be identified, observed, measured and evaluated. An agency, parent or guardian sending a youth to EYA can confidently expect an EYA program to actively seek these outcomes: