Services & Programs

Residential Services

Structure, nurturing, and a unique approach to treatment

For kids with complex emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs, NCYF’s residential programs provide quality care in a comfortable group setting. Clients come to us in a variety of ways: some on the heels of a hospital stay, others from family, foster or group homes, and all with a history of destructive behavior that interferes with day-to-day functioning. Informed about a child’s past—and inspired by their potential—our professional teams use a proven approach to give troubled youth the skills, support and stability they need to get back on track.

NCYF offers 24-hour supervision in six residential programs in Western Massachusetts. With a two-to-one client-staff ratio and milieu team approach, we offer young people age 8 to 22 and their families a highly individualized, intensive treatment option. Our psycho-educational model of behavior management supports traditional medical and psychiatric interventions with strategies designed to instruct and engage. Through activities that foster collaboration, cooperation, interpersonal connection and problem solving, kids who’ve relied on negative behaviors to cope with crisis are, instead, taught vital and sustainable skills to help them succeed in less restrictive settings.

Some Residential Services Highlights

  • Multi-disciplinary leadership team that includes Residential Manager, Program Clinician, Psychiatrist and Registered Nurse, providing comprehensive treatment and education in the areas of health and hygiene, nutrition, problem solving, relationship building and independent living.
  • A nationally recognized behavior management system of ongoing teaching and feedback regarding behavior.
  • Trauma informed care, understanding that every aspect of client care from nursing to staffing to treatment must embrace and transform histories and experiences of trauma.
  • Therapeutic activities, offering residents alternative ways to learn social and life skills through creative arts, team building exercises, field trips and more.
  • Tailored treatment plans, building on a client’s strengths, aptitudes and interests; dangerous behaviors are viewed as maladaptive rather than sick.
  • An emphasis on family work, developing support networks for families and guardians and encouraging caregivers to participate in residential activities.
  • Centralized communication, providing each client with a masters level clinician who serves as case manager from intake to discharge. Most residents also attend NCYF’s Tri-County School and many utilize our Foster Care and After School programs, strengthening the flow of information.