Bridge House

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Bridge House provides a safe, consistent, and supportive environment that focuses on the strengths of the girls and utilizes positive role modeling and skill building to implement positive changes for their future.

Bridge House is one of seven residential treatment programs offered by the Wittenmyer Youth Center of Family Resources, Inc. The Bridge House Program is unique in that it is the only program serving up to 16 adolescent girls between the ages of 12-17. Residents of Bridge House have been adjudicated either a Child in Need of Assistance or Delinquent, and have experienced behavioral difficulties either at home, school, and/or in the community. Bridge House is also able to provide private pay admissions for adolescent girls experiecing similar behavioral difficulties but who are not court invovled. Our goal is to assist the girls in establishing and sustaining positive relationships in their lives with family members, authority figures, peer groups, and their community.

The Bridge House program works with the Gender-specific task force in order to ensure quality programming. Components outlined by the task force are reviewed by the Bridge House team regularly. These components include: providing emotional and physical safety, being culturally appropriate, being relationship based, providing positive female role-models and mentors, addressing the abuse in girls’ lives, being strength-based, addressing sexuality, providing equitable educational and vocational opportunities, addressing the unique health needs of females, nurturing the spiritual lives of girls, and involving individual family members of girls’ families.

Bridge House uses an integrated group model of treatment, utilizing components of a motivation system and cognitive restructuring, along with a highly individualized treatment plan that is based on each of the girl's needs. A group model is utilized to address the issues that resulted in each girl's placement. Weekly groups are held to teach social skills, life skills, women’s issues, recreation and self- esteem. As other issues arise in the program, spontaneous groups may also be used throughout the day in order for the girls to receive or give feedback and support within the peer group. As a Family Resources, Inc. program, Bridge House is able to offer girls a wide range of specific and individualized groups as deemed appropriate such as: Sexual Abuse Survivors Group, Individual and/or Family Therapy, Delinquency/Gang Prevention, Independent Living Group, Domestic Violence/Rape/Sexual Assault Counseling, Anger Management Group, Victim Empathy Group, etc.

A system of phases is utilized within the treatment program as motivation for the girls. These phases involve certain privileges and restrictions based on the individual resident's ability to meet specific behavioral, cognitive, and emotional criteria.

We believe a youth’s family is an integral part of treatment. We believe healthy family relationships enhance a young person’s sense of support. Staff encourages family involvement by engaging families in the treatment process. Each resident and their family are assigned a Case Worker at the time of admissions that follows the resident and their family through all services provided by Family Resources. The Case Worker is the main contact person for all family members and professionals associated with each resident. She is responsible for keeping all involved parties informed of the resident’s progress as well as gather information to meet the needs of each resident.