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Quality Services
Alternative Living Solutions
Alternative Living Solutions
Alternative Living Solutions is a 501 (c) 3
non-profit program for adolescent males and females ages 15 1/2 to 21.
We
embrace gender-specific concepts. We are committed to Best Practice
Concepts and the BARJ principles
including the competency development skill sets. At Alternative
Living Solutions, a young person can
transition seamlessly throughout a range of individualized services with
responsible living as a outcome.
Programs offered include:
Community Based Responsible Living Residential and a
Supervised Interdependent Responsible Living and Aftercare Model
Alternative Living Solutions
approach to youth services is to provide a family oriented and mission driven
program. Through creating a positive therapeutic community culture, the purpose
of the program is to advance youth competencies in an effort to enhance
pro-social skills, emotional and behavioral stability, and the youth’s
opportunity for becoming responsible and productive members of society.
Alternative Living Solutions
is committed to a competency development
approach of focusing a youth’s skill sets in the five principle domains:
·
Moral Reasoning Skills
·
Academic Skills
·
Pro-Social Skills
·
Workforce Development Skills
·
Independent Living Skills
Ideal candidates are young men and women who have the
ability and desire to succeed beyond their current situation. They may not be
realizing their potential due to negative peer and community pressures. They
may be first time placements, or youth who finally understand their former or
current placement reasons. They may be experiencing the aspects of a disruptive
adoption, or just aging out of the foster care system. For some youth,
Alternative Living Solutions is a
great resource as a step-down from a RTF. Most importantly, they are youth who
now realize and understand that running away, hurting themselves, and
aggressively acting out are ineffective behaviors for their approaching young
adult years. The youth who succeeds best is one who just needs the opportunity
to rid herself of the negative peers who wish to pursue institutional behaviors
rather than behaviors that permit them to excel.
Unlike many traditional IL programs,
Alternative Living Solutions
offers a UNIQUE look at interdependent living. All too often, youth view
interdependent living as
total freedom from authority and responsibility. We stress that the closer a
youth comes to interdependent living, the more responsible they need behave. Upon entering the
program, we begin teaching the youth life skills necessary to successfully live
independently. From their first day in the program, they practice daily entries
into a checkbook registry as they begin learning the concepts of deposits and
withdrawals and money management in general. Other life skills taught include:
budgeting, shopping, pricing and content, menus, diet, recipes, housing,
maintenance, painting, cleaning, laundry, utilities, bill paying, banking,
safety, sanitary means, and many more.
The advantages of the ALS in Greensburg:
·
Easy access from PA
Turnpike Exit 91
·
Numerous employment
opportunities (part and full time all season long)
·
Intergenerational
setting
·
Wide variety of
community service work projects and volunteer sites
·
Public school
enrollment; school activities & sports participation (based on individual
behaviors) including community college and other learning settings
·
Access to many
community resources (library, AA, colleges, historical,…)
Shakila J.
states, “Without the guidance and encouragement from ALS I would have
never graduated from high school. ALS has also helped me with coping skills
that have allowed me to maintain a job and have money in my own savings account.”
Jamie R. states,
“Completing the IL program at ALS let me put my life back on track. By
learning to respect myself and others, I became a better person.”
Susan L states,
“ALS has taught me money management, how to be more independent and to take
accountability for my actions. Thank you for helping me.”
Alternative Living Solutions
We expect a youth’s experience with the juvenile
system to end with us. Through providing an array of programming
opportunities through discharge for our youth, Alternative Living Solutions-Greensburg Youth
Initiative believes that we can be their last
placement. Our comprehensive approach offers a seamless transition for our
youth within the community. We believe that stability and consistency creates
an atmosphere of trust that our youth need for successful development. With the
Starfish as our corporate symbol and story of the StarThrower by Loren Eisley as
our guide, we believe, in a metaphorical way…
That we teach our youth how to swim, learning and living the skill sets they
need so they do not wash helplessly ashore again; and then returning them to the
sea to carry on full and productive lives.
Alternative Living Solutions-Greensburg Youth Initiative utilizes a social/behavioral
management program utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Aggression
Replacement Training components as a
foundation for long-term healthy living. Each youth involved in the program
receives an initial assessment to determine their individual needs. Based on the
assessment, the youth is able to measure their success within the program
through our Five-Wave Behavioral Management Program which focuses on their
orientation, cognitive and emotional growth, educational success, vocational
interests, independent living skills, and the experiential exchange of
learning.
Throughout the
waves, the youth works on a Competency Development Check List focusing on each
of the individualized domain areas. When a youth is ready to advance to the
next wave she is tasked with writing an essay citing examples of her progress
within her program. As the youth advances through each wave, they earn more
privileges with the added responsibilities that accompany a more independent
lifestyle.
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