Youth residential rehabilitation

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The youth residential rehabilitation facility provides a 24-hour staffed residential treatment program to young people aged 15-20 years whose established use of licit and illicit drugs causes significant harm and who may be experiencing concurrent issues such as homelessness, serious health or psychiatric problems, psychosocial issues, legal issues and physical safety issues. The average length of stay will be 4 months.

The service provides a range of interventions that aim to ensure lasting change and assist reintegration into community living. Staged programs incorporating orientation, intensive therapeutic program participation and community reintegration phases are inherent in the model. Peer involvement and flexible re-entry to the service are key features. The service is provided from a setting embedded in the local community and will comprise small, home-like domestic units grouped on-site. An aftercare program is also provided to clients who have completed the residential component.

The service provides a holistic treatment program, comprising a range of interventions that aim to ensure lasting change and assist reintegration into community living. These include: behavioural treatment approaches; social and community living skills; vocational, educational and other training relevant to the young person’s needs; recreation; counselling; group work; active family involvement and family-focussed counselling and relapse prevention.

Longer-term issues are addressed through inter-service linkages and supported referral post-release. The aftercare program provides a period of follow-up support which comprises non-residential community-based group work programs, outreach to a young person in their own environment, work with families of the young people and ensuring young people are effectively linked with treatment and support services in their own community. The service provider is required to seek a voluntary commitment of time and involvement from the local community, so that the young person has a model of local community connectedness, which incorporates active community care, concern and partnership.

The service operates State-wide, accepting referrals from youth drug treatment services across the state.

Target group

The youth residential rehabilitation service is provided to young people aged 15-20 years, who have undergone a drug withdrawal program or other alcohol and drug treatment/rehabilitation program and who have not been successful in reducing or overcoming their drug use problem and are not suited to attend an outpatient program. Clients include young people whose established use of licit and illicit drugs causes significant physical, psychological and social harm. These young people may also be experiencing concurrent issues such as family breakdown, homelessness, criminal involvement, serious health or psychiatric problems, psychological issues, serious behavioural issues including offending, and physical safety issues, such that their home setting or social circumstances are not supportive of non-residential treatment options.

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Services are provided to these young people regardless of their age, gender, cultural background or legal status. It is a matter of clinical judgement whether young people at either end of the 15-20 year age range are considered developmentally appropriate for the youth residential service. Older clients may be more suited to a general adult residential rehabilitation service.

See also: Residential Rehabilitation

Key service requirements

• To provide an intensive residential rehabilitation program to young people aged 15-20 years who have undergone an alcohol and drug withdrawal program or who require such treatment to manage their alcohol and drug use problems. The average length of stay in the residential service will be 4 months.
  
  
• To provide a stable and secure drug free environment where young people can best work on managing problematic behaviours, improving their lifeskills and interpersonal skills, learning alternative habits to develop personal resilience and confidence, building social networks and reintegrating into the community.
  
  
• To provide a holistic treatment program, comprising a range of treatment interventions which aim to increase protective factors, decrease risk factors and correct developmental delays, including: behavioural treatment approaches; social and community living skills; vocational, educational and other training relevant to the young person’s needs; recreation; counselling; group work; active family involvement and family-focussed counselling and relapse prevention.
  
  
• To offer a program that is structured in progressive incremental stages, which are flexible and offer different levels of intensive support depending on the needs of the clients and their length of stay. The residential component of the program will include an orientation component upon entry to the program and a community reintegration component towards the end of the residential period, with the grouping of the living units on the site designed to reflect this. Pre-entry programs may be provided for clients awaiting entry to the residential component of the service. A period of follow-up support will also be provided to the clients. In cases of relapse, a flexible re-entry period is provided.

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• To provide a period of aftercare and follow-up support, which comprises non-residential community-based group work programs, outreach and work with families of the young people.
  
  
• The service provider will be required to seek a voluntary commitment of time and involvement from the local community, so that the young person has a model of local community connectedness which incorporates active community care, concern and partnership.
  
  
• To incorporate a peer support program and encourage peer role models within the service.
  
  
• To provide case management for clients including a negotiated Individual Treatment Plan with a community reintegration component. The Individual Treatment Plan should be based on assessment and identification of risk factors and the setting of goals and objectives to develop and enhance protective factors. This plan will be developed in consultation with the young person.
  
  
• To facilitate processes for longer-term issues to be addressed through inter-service linkages and supported referral. Supported referrals for ongoing support should be appropriate to the holistic needs of the young person. Such agencies may include other alcohol and drug, youth, health, welfare, vocational, housing, recreational and educational services, which are located in either a metropolitan or rural setting, as appropriate for the young person.
  
  
• To locate the service within easy access of public transport, where clients can be visited by family, in an area that is fully resourced by other mainstream health, welfare, and educational services.
  
  
• To support young people in obtaining safe, secure and affordable accommodation.
  
  
• To provide information and referral services for clients’ carers, families and significant others, and where appropriate, involve these significant others in the treatment of the young person.
  
  
• To ensure that the service is effectively integrated with the drug treatment service system and that effective linkages and working relationships are developed with other service providers, including Child Protection, Juvenile Justice, housing, education and mental health services, where relevant.
  

More information

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