MonticelloLive

“The Centers For Youth & Families” held their “open house” recently, with nearly 100 people attending.

After the ceremonial “ribbon cutting”, tours of the new facility were given to those attending.  Our guide was the Monticello unit’s program manager, Roger LaFleur.

The heart of the facility is the client area, which is built into 3 wings, each containing 8 rooms, branching off from the nurses desk.  The nurses desk is centrally located so that staff can see any movement in and out of clients private doors.  The building is designed with an electronic card reading security system, as well as audio and videio documentation, as another security feature.

Four day rooms are also centrally located, each containing a flat screen TV and a wii, for entertainment.

Individual living quarters, as seen from the hallway, look like this, with private bedrooms.

The Dining area has removable tables that fold into the wall, to create a small, indoor, gymnasium area.

Outside recreation areas are built next to the dining area, which include a basketball court, and a playground area with climbing, swinging, and sliding equipment.

Multiple classroom areas are also included in the facility, like this one showing Judge Damon Lampkin and Mayor Joe Rogers, who both took part in the tour of the building.

An impressive industrial kitchen is also housed in the facility, to provide meals for the up 23 clients that the facility may serve, as approved by the state.

“The Centers” facility has a medical exam room, where Monticello Medical Clinic has contracted to provide services, as needed.  They also are starting their program in Monticello with an up-to-date Electronic Medical Records system.  “The Centers” will have a 6 to 1 patient to staff ratio during the day, and 8 to 1, during night hours.

They should complete their state appovals early in the week, and plan to accept clients as early as Thursday.

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The following story posted on August 22, 2008.

Jim Kimsey, board president, welcomed the crowd, which was followed by remarks from board member Dave Dickson and CEO Doug Stadter.  The phrase that has followed the organization is “it’s all about the kids”.

The Centers offers residential treatment programs, and has been providing services to children and families since 1884, and offer services to children, ages 5-17.

The facility will bring with it to Monticello approximately 30 new full-time jobs, according to Dave Dickson.

Many of the visitors stayed after the ceremony to take a tour of their state of the art psychiatric residential treatment center, where they hope to start taking clients on Thursday, August 28.

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Here’s the press release, as submitted by “the Centers”.

The Centers for Youth & Families (The Centers) held an Open House to show off the new Southeast Arkansas Residential Treatment Center. The facility is expected to open its doors this week, and begin offering residential behavioral treatment services for children ages five to 18. The facility is licensed for 23 beds.

“Although The Centers has been providing some behavioral services in the Southeast part of the state for years, accessibility to behavioral health in a residential setting for children and adolescents presented challenges for families in this part of the state, ” said Doug Stadter, The Centers’ president and CEO. This new facility signals our strong commitment to make services more convenient to parents in this area,” said Doug

The Centers offers a complete continuum of behavioral care in Arkansas focuses on prevention and intervention services. The Centers has been in existence for more than 124 years.

“With the challenges of our recent economic environment, this facility is a welcome addition to the community of Monticello,” said Dave Dickson, president of Union Bank, Monticello. “We expect approximately 30 new full-time jobs and several part-time positions to become available here in Monticello. Our community investment of $50,000 to fund the purchase of property for this project will be an excellent long-term investment.”

The facility will employ a psychiatrist, registered nurse, licensed mental health professionals, certified special education teachers and mental health technicians.

The Centers’ residential program concentrates on providing structure with a more intensive psychiatric treatment plan for children who have not responded well to outpatient therapy and cannot function in a home environment. Once residential treatment is successful, children are returned to their homes with on-going outpatient support needed for their care.

For more information about The Centers for Youth & Families and the programs it offers for Arkansas children and their families, visit www.youthandfamilies.org or call 501-666-8686.