Teens Learning Choices (TLC), our group home for young people ages 16 to 21 who identify as female, operates in Malden, MA. In this residential program, we strive to support young women who are transitioning out of foster care and need a safe space where they can live, learn, and grow. With our guidance, our residents strengthen their relationships with family members and committed adults as they pursue their education and employment.

2020 has been a year of great change for everyone at CFCS, but especially so for TLC. Coincidentally, right before we went into lockdown in March, TLC came under new leadership: Karlah Paul became the new Program Director and Maddie Summers became the new Clinical Case Manager. Together, Karlah and Maddie saw huge opportunities for TLC to improve its practices and the way in which the program serves its residents. Today, we want to share with you some of the changes that have been made at TLC in 2020 and the positive results we’ve seen in the program.

The change that has had the biggest impact on the program is working to decrease staff turnover. Karlah has focused on including and involving all employees at TLC, from part-time counselors to members of the house’s leadership team, in the program’s decision-making process. From creating consistency in counselor shift assignments to allowing space for open discussions where staff can express themselves and provide their opinions on TLC’s practices. Staff have become more involved on different levels of operations at the group home thus strengthening their relationships with each other and their leadership team. Creating a caring and warm, more collaborative environment in the home was essential. As staff have better understanding of their roles and better work lives overall, they stay at TLC longer. The residents can expect to see the same faces they recognize each day while they’re at the home. The consistency helps our residents feel much safer in the group home, knowing they can count on the same staff to be there for them.

This year, Maddie and Karlah have also worked to revamp TLC’s intake and referral process. TLC is working to actively understand potential residents’ backgrounds, histories and needs before they come to TLC. This is to ensure that our group home will be the best environment for them to succeed. This starts with TLC’s leadership communicating with the Department of Children and Families, Ascentria, and each resident’s clinical team and supports from the moment we receive the client’s referral. We’re asking questions and digging deep with providers to discuss each youth’s growth and challenges, to make sure TLC is the right match. When clients are accepted into TLC, we center our work with them around their needs and strengths. From their first days at TLC, we make sure residents not only are aware of our treatment plan for them but they have the opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions about their treatment.

The house leadership team has implemented strategic training and coaching for staff at TLC, which has resulted in positive mindset shifts for our counselors! TLC staff are provided trainings in classroom-like and hands-on situations. We’re also providing more side-by-side trainings for staff, where they learn a new task or skill by collaborating with their supervisors. The goal is to instill a sense of purpose, provide a space where staff can identify their strengths and challenges (individually and as a team), and develop a space to challenge the whole team. This stimulating professional environment helps staff avoid complacency, and encourages them to grow and do great work.

To further elaborate, we’re expanding TLC staff’s skillsets so they can help improve each other’s practices when interacting with residents. Maddie and Karlah have encouraged the Attachment, Regulation and Competency (ARC) Framework and training, a trauma-informed caregiving framework, which has resulted in counselors approaching their work with residents from a more positive standpoint, and residents in turn exhibiting improved behaviors! Furthermore, residents going AWOL is no longer a constant concern at the house. By February 2021, it will be one year since the last AWOL incident. We’ve made this progress by focusing on creating a safe environment that residents feel they can return to, even if they have decided to make a wrong choice. In these instances, staff provide correction and redirect the resident so that the same mistake isn’t repeated, but rather becomes a teachable moment. Plus, there have been no major crises or incidents that required police intervention at TLC in 11 months! All these great changes have been made possible by our team’s willingness to collaborate and put in the effort.

We look forward to seeing how TLC continues to change and improve in the coming months. Our new-found collaboration and open communication has created an environment of strong support in the home during this pandemic!