The Group Home – Admissions/Intake

The Group Home considers minors for placement ages twelve through seventeen from any County Referral Worker. These children end up at The Group Home through a complex chain of events. All minors who enter into the program will be screen by county mental health and will have to be mental health certified before entering into the program. If a child IQ is under 60 upon entrance then the child should also be a Regional Center client.

Once The Group Home has received a referral from a County, THE GROUP HOME sends its Intake Director to interview the child. Our Intake Director talks to the child for approximately forty-five minutes, reviews the child’s court file and probation file, makes a determination whether the child is appropriate for our setting and whether we can meet the needs of that specific child. A pre-placement visit is then schedule. Once the pre-placement visit is completed and it is determined that the minor is appropriate for the program, the Intake Director will ensure that all certifications are approved before entrance into the program

The Intake Director’s duties are as follows:

  1. Review all referrals received from the various probation departments. Insure that appropriate materials are received, i.e. Social History, psychiatric report, psychologist report, and court reports.

  2. Schedule interview at designated facility e.g. Juvenile Hall or shelter.

  3. Consult with current pertinent staff members.

  4. Review with medical and/or psychiatric staff.

  5. Recall probation officer or social worker, either accepting or denial with appropriate justifications.

  6. Request other relevant dates i.e. psychological, immunization, IEP, etc. The above process should occur within 2 to 5 working days.

Target Population:

The program is designed to treat and provide services for at risk youth (including but not limited to) who have multiple placement failures, who are mental health and regional center certified. Minors who are in need of intensive therapeutic, community integration, socialization, personal awareness, self help skills and academic assistance. Minors not accepted include developmental disability (profound), active/chronic psychosis (non medically treated), non-ambulatory, deafness, infantile autism (full strength), cerebral palsy (severe), and epilepsy uncontrolled by current medication.

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