About Us
Overview
Grandfather Home for Children is a mission-driven, multi-modal treatment program which has developed a specialization in meeting the needs of children who have been physically, sexually, and/or emotionally abused. Typically, the children served at Grandfather Home are characterized by a wide range of dysfunctional behaviors including sexual reactivity, aggression, severe oppositionality, basic and profoundinability to trust in adult relationships, etc. Because of the extreme needs of the population served, a large percentage have experience multiple treatment and placement failures prior to admission to Grandfather Home. Grandfather Home for Children is committed to sustaining treatment efforts and pursuing success with each child as long as we are able to meet the safety and security needs of the children we serve, the staff who support them, and the surrounding community. In order to satisfy this commitment, Grandfather Home has developed and continues to develop a wide range of treatment and support services.
The treatment program at Grandfather Home for Children is defined by two broad components: The Residential Treatment Center and Community Services for Children. The Residential Treatment Center has six cottages on our Banner Elk campus. In addition to providing residential treatment to our children, the Residential Treatment Center includes an innovative program whereby families come on to campus for weekends or longer periods to work intensively on preparing for the child’s return home. The Community Services programs includes a transitional living program for our children from the Residential Treatment Center, as well as Therapeutic and Family Foster Care. These programs may prepare the children to return to their own homes, or may provide adoption opportunities based on the individual child's needs, as determined by CSC together with local Departments of Social Services and LME's. Community Services for Children at present consists of two group homes surrounded by clusters of foster homes, as well as foster homes in Eastern Tennessee.
Additionally, a campus-based, independent North Carolina public charter school, Grandfather Academy, has been established to meet the educational needs of children served by Grandfather Home. Treatment staff associated with the residential treatment program work in the school to ensure continuity in treatment programming and to assist school staff in maintaining a focus on educational activities. Many of the children served in Grandfather Academy qualify for Exceptional Children programs and have Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs); children who do not need these services have Individualized Educational Goal plans (IEGs) to insure that their individual educational needs are met. In both cases, there is considerable effort expended to ensure that the development and implementation of IEPs, IEGs, and Service Plans are coordinated.
The Residential Treatment Center
The residential treatment program creates an environment in which children can experience unconditional acceptance. Prior to admission to Grandfather Home, most children now in our care have sensed or experienced the requirement to withhold or hide emotions caused by sensitive traumatic experiences. We provide safety in all its forms, and freedom to share emotional burdens through expression of hidden or pent-up feelings. When children discover consistent safety and freedom, they can move toward self-acceptance. Self-acceptance enables children to confront painful and confusing feelings about themselves and others while maintaining behavior appropriate for family living. The treatment philosophy of Grandfather Home for Children asserts that the need to belong within a family is a basic human need, satisfaction of which is crucial to successful adjustment to life. This is of particular importance to the development of children. People develop their self-concept and attitude toward the world around them through their relationship with those with whom they belong.
The residential treatment program, although practiced in a group setting, focuses on the needs and abilities of each resident. We believe the sense of belonging is critical for children who must live away from their own home. The longer children are placed outside their home, the less likely they are to develop a healthy sense of belonging.
Therefore, permanency and belonging are crucial and should be preserved within the family if at all possible. Where this sense of belonging is at risk, is in doubt, or has broken down, the treatment goal must be to reestablish it and to strengthen the family. When belonging with the birth family is not possible, the goal must be to establish belonging within a new family through adoption.
Grandfather Home for Children’s residential treatment program is based on the following tenets:
1. All children are of equal value.
2. Behaviors exhibited have a purpose and are controlled by feelings. Children have a right to experience and express the feelings they have.
3. Children can learn to express their feelings appropriately, without being destructive to themselves or others, if their environment is emotionally healthy and safe. Children develop responsibility and independence in a setting that consistently provides safety, respect without rejection, and freedom to disclose fears and confusing, painful feelings.
4. The need for family living does not disappear from these young people just because they are not successful in family placement. Development of the ability to communicate feelings in a less destructive manner can enable these young people to enter a family setting and function successfully.
Funding
Currently, custodians are asked to pay $218.69 per child/per day. ($6560.70 per month). With a current budget of approximately $8,000,000.00, Grandfather Home receives approximately 60% of budgeted revenues from governmental sources and 40% from private sources, including Memorials and Honoraria. To maintain services at our current level, Grandfather Home for Children must rely more and more on private funding. To make an online donation to Grandfather Home please click online giving.Accreditation
The State of North Carolina, Department of Health and Human Resources, Division of Facility Services has licensed Grandfather Home as a residential treatment center. The on-campus educational program, Grandfather Academy, has been approved and granted status as a North Carolina Public Charter School by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
Grandfather Home for Children is accredited by the Joint Commission as a provider for child and adolescent mental health services. Grandfather Home is also accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) as a residential treatment center.
