McQuade Children's Services

Who We Help
The children we serve are at-risk of not reaching their life's full potential. This may be a result of family crisis, educational issues, severe emotional or behavioral problems that are affecting their lives at home, in school, and in the community.

Community Based Preventive Programs
Across Orange County McQuade offers a Community-Based Preventive Program. Caseworkers travel to clients who are still living in their own homes and attending their own schools.

Placement Diversion Program (CRYPS)
Location: Caseworkers based in Newburgh, Clients throughout Orange County

Profile of Children Served: Excessive truancy, acting out behavior at home, school and community, youth returning home from residential placement or hospitalization. The child and their parents must express a willingness to cooperate with caseworker and meet program requirements. The child must exhibit a desire to amend behavior. Parents must express a desire to have their child remain in the home, as opposed to wanting him/her in placement.

Age Range: 9-16

Program: Intensive counseling and case management to re-focus troubled youth who still live at home with their families and are enrolled in public, private, or special education schools, but are at risk of being placed in a residential treatment program.

Goal: To prevent placement or re-placement of the child in a residential facility and instead keep children together at home with their families. This program has an 85% success rate.

Treatment: Crisis counseling, liaison with community, courts (if involved), school, family, the teen and the referring agency. The caseworker is involved daily, on call 24 hours a day and provides intensive counseling twice weekly. This community-based program advocates for the well being of each child, promotes individual and cultural identity and is child-centered and family focused.

Program Length: 6 months

Referrals Sources: Orange County: Department of Social Services (Preventive, Child Protective Services, Intake Unit), Probation Department, Family Keys, and Family Court

PINS Plus
Location: Caseworkers based in Newburgh, Clients throughout Orange County

Profile of Children Served: Adjudicated PINS (Person In Need of Supervision) due to serious difficulty in school or in the community. Youth must express a willingness to cooperate with caseworker and program requirements. Youth must exhibit a desire to amend behavior. Parents must express a desire to have their child remain in the home, as opposed to wanting him/her in placement. Parents must be willing to cooperate with the caseworker and program requirements.

Age Range: 16-18

Program: Intensive counseling and case management to re-focus troubled youth who still live at home with their families and enrolled in public, private, or special education schools, but are at risk of being placed in a residential treatment program.

Treatment: While he/she lives at home and attends school, each PINS Plus teenager has his/her own caseworker who is involved daily, provides intensive counseling twice weekly, collateral contacts with the school, probation, counseling and other service providers, 24-hour on-call crisis intervention, hands-on monthly independent living workshops and monthly parent meetings to foster communication and understanding between the youth and his/her parents, round out the program. This community-based program advocates for the well being of each child, promotes individual and cultural identity and is child-centered and family focused.

Goal: To prevent placement or re-placement of the child in a residential facility and instead keep children together at home with their families. This program has an 85% success rate

Program Length: Depends on the needs of the child and parent

Referral Sources: Orange County: Department of Social Services (Preventive, Child Protective Services, Intake Unit), Probation Department, School Districts, Family Keys, and Family Court

Emergency Diagnostic Assessment Center
The Emergency Diagnostic Assessment Centers of McQuade Children's Services address the needs of 17 children whom are in need of short-term emergency residential placement, supportive services, and/or diagnosis/recommendation for further treatment.

Location: The Emergency Diagnostic Center is located in Newburgh. McQuade's Newburgh Emergency Shelter is the only shelter on the eastern side of Orange County serving children in need of emergency residential placement and diagnosis.

Profile of Children Served: The children who are served by the shelters have some degree of behavioral or emotional problems, many have experienced abuse and/or neglect, a history of chronic problems in the community or other placements, are juvenile delinquents, are Persons in Need of Supervision (PINS), and/or are experiencing a residential crisis in their home environment. The shelter is NOT equipped to accept children who are severely handicapped or severely mentally retarded, require hospital or psychiatric placements, and/or require secure detention.

Gender: Male

Age Range: 8-18 years old

Goal: To give children a safe environment, the opportunity to stabilize, and high quality treatment and care. To give our referral sources an immediately available short-term care option, and a comprehensive assessment featuring realistic recommendations.

The Shelter's structured program includes the following comprehensive services:
* Immediate admission available 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week with a centralized intake (one call)
* 24-hour awake staff
* Weekly psychiatric consultation
* Medication management
* Basic medical care with medication management
* Social work services including individual, group and family counseling
* Behavior modification milieu
* Crisis intervention
* Routine case review
* Average length of stay - 45 days
* Varied in-house and community recreational activities
* Supportive atmosphere of accountability and responsibility, which motivates each child toward positive change.

Written Assessment
Within 30 days of each child's entry to the shelter, a treatment team compiles a comprehensive assessment including psychological, psychiatric, psychosocial, behavioral, substance abuse, and educational evaluations, a summary of the needs of the child and recommendations for follow-up services. A representative from the referring agency is invited to meet with the team to discuss the recommended strategy for the child's future.

Referral Sources: Regional Departments of Social Services or Family Courts generally refer children.

Community Based Therapeutic Group Homes
Teens aged 13-21 without viable family resources can live in our Cornwall (10 girls) or Washingtonville (10 boys) group homes, receive therapy, and gain independent living skills until they graduate from public high school. The homelife atmosphere enables the residents to make a fresh start in a safe, supportive environment. Therapeutic support from a MSW social worker and round-the-clock supervision by childcare staff complement each youth's behavior modification program.

All residents attend public school, and are encouraged to become involved with after-school, church and community activities. Opportunities for vocational apprenticeships and part time jobs are emphasized by McQuade, as is the importance of learning independent living skills. College scholarships are also available to qualified residents. Group Home residents usually live at the group home for an average of 22 months.

In recent years, youth in our Group Homes have made the Honor Roll, attended the prom, participated in sports teams and ROTC, graduated from High School and gone on to College.

Recreational Program
All children in McQuade's programs take part in McQuade's Recreational Program. Children entering McQuade have been placed into an environment unknown to them. During this time, recreation helps the children reduce depression, stress, and anxiety, builds their confidence, allows them to socialize, and reduces the effects of their crisis. Because these children's lives have been a collage of uniformly negative experiences, they don't strive, they just accept. For our staff, breaking through, gaining trust, personally empowering them to take responsibility is at the core of McQuade's work. To this end, recreation, vital to the human spirit, has proven to be remarkably effective, providing a positive outlet for energy and a way to learn life skills. Participation in community sports, cultural, religious and recreational activities, as well as development of hobbies and vocational skills round out each child's behavior modification program.