Whether you are a parent, a guardian a caseworker or a corrections officer, the decision to place an adolescent in residential care is always a complex and challenging one. We hope the information provided in our material will help you decide if Copper Hills Youth Center is the right fit for the young man or woman in your care.
As the CEO at Copper Hills and as a licensed LCSW, my passion and vision for our facility is driven by a commitment to the best programming we can create for the youth entrusted to our care. In that pursuit I am joined by a team of clinical leaders who are exceptional in their expertise and shared vision and commitment to that goal. Let me tell you about who we are and why you should consider Copper Hills as you make your placement decision.
Recognizing the profound role of trauma and attachment wounds that shape so much of the behavioral problems that result in residential placement, Copper Hills has embarked on an ambitious trauma initiative to create a true ‘trauma informed’ care model that provides the blueprint for our approach to treatment. There are four key elements to our model: building a trauma informed treatment program that is evidenced based; using pre, mid and post measures to objectively assess treatment effects and gains; creating a competency based awareness about the effects of trauma for all staff who provide care at Copper Hills; and providing resources, support and tools for staff to care for themselves as they work in this challenging environment.
Recognizing the need to enrich the treatment experience and touch the minds and hearts of our resident’s in powerful and transformative ways, Copper Hills has developed a recreational therapy program that has resiliency building as its core theme. In our program, through adventure, service and team activities our youth are challenged to grow, expand and adapt to life’s problems with new skills and abilities. In concert with our trauma program the Challenge RT program opens new doors for our residents.
Through our accredited and innovative school at Copper Hills our residents are introduced to our Life Skills program; a program that uses visual and kinesthetic strategies to help residents with cognitive deficits and learning disabilities adopt new skills that improve their ability to manage stress, frustration and daily life challenges.
In addition, through our RT and school program every resident at Copper Hills goes through our anti-bullying program to intervene with peer on peer aggression and targeting.
Through canine therapy, art and music therapy and a fulltime PE instructor and program we offer an enriched expressive arts and wellness program to treat the ‘whole person’. Working with a dietician and an exceptional dietary service manager we constantly strive to balance healthy diets, manage adolescent obesity and create variety for our residents’ meals.
We are always listening to our stakeholders to improve our care and services and this includes our residents. At Copper Hills, residents who maintain their high levels in our behavioral program are invited to attend the Resident’s Advisory Council where they meet with the CEO and a faculty advisor every 2 weeks to discuss problems, develop initiatives and learn leadership skills.
At Copper Hills we are constantly evolving, growing and developing our programs and measuring their success. It is our mission to create an enriched treatment experience where our residents have the best chance to change destructive behaviors and learn new skills for success. We can only accomplish these goals in partnership with our parents, guardians and placement officials and we regularly evaluate our success in that arena with surveys, site visits and treatment team reviews that you are invited to participate in. We embrace a culture of authenticity, transparency and respect and a program of service excellence that sets the blueprint for every department. Our quarterly newsletter to our parents and guardians will keep you informed and up to date on this evolving landscape of offerings.
We hope you will give us serious consideration as a treatment center of choice and we invite you to contact or visit us for a more in depth orientation to our program and treatment team.
Phil Sheridan
CEO, Copper Hills Youth Center