Mills Group Home, It’s a “Group Home” but different . . .
Residential Manager, Christy Osentowski
It is a new program, a “hybrid” with two different components; a Long-Term Group Home portion consisting of five beds and a Short-Term Assessment side with five beds.
Long-Term Side:
Children are residing here for three to four months. This is typically a shorter length of stay from a “Traditional Group Home.” Clients are involved in Day Treatment Services or they are taking part in the local GED program. They will also have weekly family therapy and start on home, foster home, etc. visits fairly quickly.
Goals: To help stabilize children and get them started with Individual and Family Therapy weekly as well as prepare them for movement to the next placement with visits home, to foster home, etc.
Short-Term Assessment component:
Children will be in this part of the program for one to two months. Within the first weeks, they participate in numerous assessments to help professional staff members decide the appropriate placement for them. This placement may be one of the following: returning home, Day Treatment Program, Foster Care, Treatment Group Home, Group Home or Independent Living. During their stay, we help children meet their educational needs with resources and curriculum provided through the Epworth Village Learning Center.
Goals: To help stabilize children, complete assessments and establish their needs. We then make an application if they need further treatment level of care or help prepare the family for them to return.
Overall Mills Group Home Program Goal:
We want to help children get to where they need to be on an individual basis. We provide routine, structure and set expectations so the children can experience success on their level, wherever that may be. Our daily work is focused on accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time to help children leave our program with the tools they need to live more productive, happy lives.
Residential Manager, Christy Osentowski
“I love Guillermo’s New Life”
Epworth client finds hope in new Mills Group Home Program
He is a young man, a father, working on his GED, making plans for his future. He has embraced the art of crocheting and he says he would like his main hobby to be, “helping people.”
Not long ago, Guillermo said this about his future “goals,” “My whole life I thought I was going to be in and out of jail and eventually end up in the penitentiary.”
“But now, I think to myself, ‘how can I leave my daughter and get to the penitentiary and think about all that nonsense,’” he said.
Guillermo did not come to this realization overnight. His journey began with serious issues, third degree assaults on family members, time in juvenile detention, severe depression and suicide attempts.
“Then I told my case worker I wanted to go to a group home. At first that was not a possibility. Then I was able to come. I use this place as a place for hope,” he said.
As a resident of Mills Group Home, Guillermo is being held accountable for his actions. However, he is also in a safe environment where he can have the room he needs to grow, make mistakes and move on.
“There are great staff members here and great therapists. I am not afraid to talk to them. . . . I call them my ‘uncles and aunts’ because I really think of staff members as my family. If there is any point in time in the future when they need help, I hope I can help them. Also, here (at Epworth), when someone gets angry with you they do not get physical with you,” he added. “I have learned to walk away and to use self-talk, not in a negative way, but now have switched to using it in a positive way. I keep thinking, ‘I’ve gone this far and I don’t want to toss it all in the gutter over one little thing.’”
At Epworth Village, family-centered therapy is the key to many clients’ success. In Guillermo’s case, he admits it was difficult at first to face his mom and dad.
“I remember the first family therapy, I know I was thinking and they were thinking, ‘Why are we here?’ Then it just started to roll off their tongues. When I heard their perspective it was really hard. It was really crazy to actually hear how I had made them feel. My mom said that she had to draw the line with me, that she had other children to take care of. My dad and I eventually broke down together and cried and cried. He told me he is worried about me. He is protective of me and wants us all to be together again,” he said.
Guillermo said that time and family-centered therapy is helping to build the broken relationships in his life.
“When I was starting to go on TLD’s (therapeutic leave days), I know at first my parents were wondering how they were going to go. I understand that because I used to be really selfish, even after my daughter was born I was still selfish. I would even steal from my own mother. But I am trying to build that trust back up and I think they can see a difference. It is also great to be able to go home and see my girlfriend and my child,” he said.
Although Guillermo has recognized life on his own is not going to be easy always, he does recognize that he has family support and that he needs a new, positive peer group. “My goal is to be done at Epworth before my daughter’s birthday. I want to finish my GED and get a job. I would also like to learn more about auto-mechanic work. I really want to be involved in Isabella’s life.”
Guillermo said he is ready to commit to his role of father and caregiver and said that he plans to “put the ring” around his girlfriend’s finger very soon. In the meantime, he has work to do to complete his treatment at Epworth and has the final touches to be made on a pastel-colored blanket he is crocheting for his daughter. With a broad smile across his face and renewed hope in his eyes he said, “I love Guillermo’s new life.”