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About Our Services
Other Programs - Apartment Living Program
Program Description
The Apartment Living Program is attached to our Tom Roy Youth Guidance
Home to serve older adolescents placed in the foster care system
who need to learn transitional living skills for emancipation. The
issues that these young people face may range from failure to find
permanence in a family to chemical abuse to emotional turmoil or
just a higher need for help in moving out of care and into independence.
What they get is support in establishing themselves in the adult
world of apartments, checking accounts, real jobs and lifelong learning.
For each youth, the staff creates an individual plan for school
or work and apartment living, complete with a comprehensive budget.
In the apartment setting, the young people are helped to continue
or discover healthy interests, develop life skills, improve interpersonal
communication and problem solving, and cultivate support systems
to ultimately become a healthy, adult member of the community. Staff
visits the youth at their new home and provides support, a sounding
board, and help in adjusting to situations as they arise.
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| The Apartment Living Program gives
successful kids a jumpstart, with support, to living independently |
Program Structure
Within the Apartment Living Program, residents receive:
- A caring and helping relationship with staff of our organization;
- A safe, reasonable and affordable apartment that they help
locate;
- The chance to keep that apartment once they are “finished”
with the program;
- Weekly appointments with their case worker to set individual
goals;
- Life skills groups;
- Trained and skilled staff to provide individual mentoring and
tutorial for accomplishing individual goals;
- Access to an employment network, work placement agencies and
evaluation of career interest for development opportunities; and,
- Access to community services, including education, employment,
recreation, culture, therapy and health care
Placement Criteria
Youth are referred to the Apartment Living program through Child
and Family Services, Youth Court Probation, Youth Drug Court Services,
Mental Health Case Management, Juvenile Parole, and Turning Point
Drug and Alcohol Services. Appropriate referrals include youngsters,
ages 16 to 18 who are approaching emancipation without benefit of
a stable family situation or family placement and/or need to develop
skills for their pending emancipation into adulthood. Youth may
be facing legal, emotional, social, learning or economic issues.
While many of our placements will be from among successful residents
in our group homes, we will accept referrals of youngsters directly
into the apartment living program where such placement has a good
prognosis for success.
Contact Information
Sally Stansberry, Director of Operations
PO Box 7616
Missoula, MT 59807-7616
Phone: (406) 721-2704 ext. 225
Fax: (406) 721-0034
sstansberry@youthhomes.com
Melissa Arno, Program Director
2824 W. Central Avenue
Missoula, MT 59804
Phone: (406) 728-8127
marno@youthhomes.com
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