The interface cool home program : an innovative approach to temporary shelter care

Includes bibliographical references (pages 62-63)There are a variety of services available for troubled youth\ud and/or their families from public and private agencies. One such\ud service is providing temporary alternative living arrangements\ud when adolescents and their families reach a point where staying\ud together intensifies the problems that have arisen between them\ud and spending a short time apart may allow a solution to develop\ud with the help of counselors.\ud In these situations, short-term foster care residences are\ud appropriate for adolescents who are not in need of intensive\ud treatment and whose behavior is not so destructive that permanent\ud alternative arrangements are necessary.\ud Such a service is designed to give adolescents and their\ud families some breathing space while solutions are being worked\ud out, but provides a family atmosphere for the youth involved.\ud This project examines one such program carried out by \ud Interface, a private non-profit organization in Ventura County.\ud Interface termed the short-term residences "Cool Homes" in\ud reference to the fact that they offer everyone a "cooling off"\ud period during which the immediate problems are worked out and\ud longer-term solutions are explored.\ud The examination of the Cool Home program entailed reviewing\ud placements over the last five years, interviewing key members of\ud the organization, and surveying past and present Cool Home\ud families.\ud The results offered here include a history of the agency, a\ud description of the program itself, data offered by Cool Home\ud families and the review of how "successful" placements have been\ud over the last five years