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General Description
 The SOAR Intensive Residential Treatment Program provides residential care, supervision and treatment services for youth with challenging behaviour and emotional difficulties. A youth's residency in the Program is generally from six months to a year in length, depending on the needs of the youth and family participating in the Program. All youth are in the care of the Ministry for Children and Family Development, either through an Agreement with the family or through a Temporary or Continuing Care Order. The program provides residential care in two facilities, each a 2-bed staffed resource. There is a SOAR facility in Penticton and Oliver communities. The program also provides Transition Services (follow-up/after-care) to youth leaving the program facilities. The youth receiving Transition Services may be in MCFD foster homes, or returning to their family's care, and continue to be supported for an indefinite period by the SOAR Program.
The program provides intensive group programming and individual counselling to address the youth's presenting behavioural issues and build new skills to improve their functioning in the community and their family. Many youth will not be attending a school program upon admission, and during the initial phase of the program they may participate in a Day Program on-site in the facility. For those youth, the program will cooperate with the School District, in assessing the youth's needs and developing recommendations for an individualized school program for the youth's return to school. The school district may provide an Outreach teacher to support those youth in a home-based school curriculum. If youth admitted to the facility are in school, the programming schedule will be adjusted so that each youth has the optimal exposure to program services while maintaining their school program. An Individualised Service Plan (ISP), or Care Plan, will be developed in cooperation with the referring Social Worker and each youth and family, based on the preliminary Goals established through the admission process to the program. The youth is assigned a Keyworker upon admission to the Program, who provides individual counselling to the youth, as per the ISP, and the Transition Support Worker would work with the family through out the youth's residency in the program and during the follow-up/after-care period.
Following discharge from the facility, the Transition Support Worker assists the youth to adapt to the return to a family care environment and resume\increase independent participation in community services and programming. The Transitional Support Worker would continue to work with the youth on the goals and plans established in the ISP and Discharge Plan for each youth, and provide support to the youth in coping with the adaptation process. Hopefully, by this point, the youth will have returned to a community school program, as per the plan established with the School District. The worker will work closely with the family if the youth has returned home following Discharge from the facility, to support the youth's re-integration with the family. If the youth has not returned home and continues to be in care by agreement; the youth would increase family visitation, in frequency and duration, until the return to the family's care is completed. If the youth is not returning home, the program will provide support to the long-term care placement for the youth until the youth has stabilised in the home. The youth would be supported in engaging in community services, which are identified to meet the needs of the youth and family, for continued support or treatment.
Services Description
ARC Residential programming utilizes a comprehensive mix of services to influence the behavior and functioning of referred youth, and achieve the treatment outcomes expected for the program. The continuum of services is adjusted to meet the individual needs of residents, and has a collective/accumulative impact on their presenting issues. ARC places a strong emphasis on assisting youth to be accountable and responsible for their own decisions and behavior (and the consequences for their decisions); while supporting the development of interpersonal skills and new strategies to meet their needs. Youth and families are empowered to find their own solutions to their difficulties through the service planning process and in counseling sessions. Our programming seeks to promote a Positive Peer Culture within the facility, through group-based activities, staff interventions, and daily routines; our experience has demonstrated that youth respond well to the positive influence of their peers. The following array of proposed service components represent the core services of the SOAR Intensive Residential Treatment Program:
| a) |
Basic Care and Supervision; is provided in the facility on a 24 hour/day basis, to meet the individual needs and circumstances of residents. |
| b) |
Assessment and Integrated Case Management; will be provided for all youth admitted to the program. |
| c) |
Positive Peer Culture Group; is an integral component of the routines of residents in the facility. |
| d) |
Skills Group; is the core component of the day program for youth residing in a SOAR facility. ARC has identified and developed extensive resources for providing skills-development programming for high-risk youth. |
| e) |
Educational programs; will be supported on an individual basis for each youth. |
| f) |
Behavior Management; is a critical aspect of this program for youth with challenging behavioral issues. |
| g) |
Recreational Programming; is provided on a regular basis for all residents of the program. There are scheduled recreational activities included in the daily routines of the program and special programming on a seasonal basis (camping, down-hill skiing, etc), and spontaneous rec activities as residents are motivated to participate. |
| h) |
Life Skills; or daily living skills, are taught and reinforced through the daily routines of the program. |
| i) |
Individual Counseling; is provided by the assigned Keyworker for each resident during Phase One, and the Transition Worker in Phase Two, as per the goals and plans of the ISP. |
| j) |
Individual Projects; for residents may be supported as part of their individualized program. |
| k) |
Family Services; of the program are provided primarily by the Transition Support Worker position. The core services provided are; individual support to parents, strategic parenting training, family counseling and mediation, and After-care support. |
| l) |
ARC Strategic Parenting Information and Support Group; this service is available to all parents of youth participating in any ARC program |
| m) |
Service Provider Liaison; is provided by program staff in relation to meeting the needs of residents. |
SOAR Wrap Component
As mentioned in the general description above, the SOAR Wrap component was designed, within the SOAR Intensive Residential Treatment Program, to support the transition of referred youth from The SOAR Program facilities, or foster home, to the family care setting identified in the MCFD Care Plan for each youth. The SOAR Wrap component has been expanded to serve youth in care, and their foster parents, that have not been involved in the SOAR treatment facilities.
There are four Transition Support Workers in each SOAR facility to work individually with the youth and their families/caregivers. The Transition Support Worker, in cooperation with the youth, the family, referral agents, and other involved service providers will work to assess the needs of referred youth and caregivers, develop an Individual Service Plan to address the identified needs, and develop identified strengths, interests and abilities.
The Program will provide the following services for referred youth, as applicable to the youth's Individual Service Plan:
- The development or involvement of the youth with natural and community supports
- Social skills development
- Individual counseling
- Academic and life skills support
- Community activities
- Recreational opportunities
The program will provide the following support services for foster caregivers, the natural family, or other caregivers of referred youth; these may include:
- Parenting education or training
- Behavior management consultation
- In-home behavioral intervention
- In-home respite
- Other supports as identified in the Individual Service Plan
The Transition Support Workers also provide case management support services, and cooperate with referral agents and other involved services providers to coordinate services for referred youth and their caregivers, such as psychiatric or psychological counselling, alcohol and drug abuse treatment, educational, or vocational programs, or other specialized services identified in clients' Integrated Case Management Plans.
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ARC Programs Ltd. 513 Bernard Avenue, Kelowna, BC V1Y 6N9
p: 250.763.2977 f: 250.763.6060 e:
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