Therapy
The boys at Christ Child House all receive intensive therapy focusing on topics such as anger management, conflict resolution, grief and loss, and sexual development. The agency’s clinical therapists, all of whom possess a Master’s of Social Work degree, use a variety of behavior modification methods and strategies including play therapy, music therapy, and adventure therapy. The methods to be used and the frequency of sessions are determined on an individual basis.

Psychiatric Services & Specialized Nursing
Christ Child House benefits from the on-site services of both a nurse and a psychiatrist. The agency’s psychiatrist prescribes all medication and completes medication reviews weekly while the agency’s nurse oversees the medication distribution and assists with the weekly medication reviews. Both the psychiatrist and the nurse are available 24 hours for consultation.

Adoption & After-Care
Christ Child House operates under a permanency planning perspective. This means that Christ Child House’s treatment program works to prepare each child to live and function successfully in a permanent family environment. Because many of the boys do not have a family to return to, Christ Child House offers a unique adoption program limited to boys who have been treated and served at the agency. While the boys are undergoing treatment, Christ Child House is working hard to identify potential adoptive families. The agency makes use of a number of methods to recruit families based on the special needs of each child. When a family is found for a child who is ready to be adopted, the child’s clinical therapist utilizes a number of intense, comprehensive services that focus on both the child and the adoptive family to ensure the adoption will be a success. Once the child has been placed in an adoptive home, the agency provides follow-up counseling and therapy and emergency support, psychiatric consultation, and respite care is available 24 hours a day. Thirty-one children have successfully been adopted since Christ Child House began its adoption program in 1995. If you are interested in adoption and would like more information, please visit the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) at www.mare.org.

Educational Support
Due to their traumatic pasts, the majority of the boys at Christ Child House present severe learning disabilities, developmental delays, and/or behavioral problems that require intense academic support. Christ Child House strives to provide the boys with the support they need to help them overcome their educational deficits and achieve to the best of their ability. The agency provides comprehensive educational programming that includes a homework room and a small computer lab, individualized tutoring, two school liaisons, and enrichment activities both on and off campus.

Speech and Language
Christ Child House benefits from the services of Master’s degree Speech Pathology students through an internship program with Wayne State University. This is an on-going program in which the interns work with children who suffer from speech deficiencies such as lisps, stuttering, slurring, and articulation and phonology.

Specialized Field Trips
Field trips are an integral part of the child-focused treatment milieu at Christ Child House. The agency offers frequent specialized off-campus outings through a program called Cultural and Educational Outings, better known as CEO. Outings include trips to both formal and informal settings such as libraries, community centers, parks, theaters, museums, and sporting venues, and more. Outings are carefully planned by the agency’s Recreational/Educational Coordinator based on weather and accessibility issues. Individual developmental needs and group dynamics are also factored in when deciding on appropriate and healthy outings.

Recreation
In addition to field trips, Christ Child House also places great emphasis on physical recreational activities as part of the agency’s treatment milieu. Coordinated by the Recreational/Educational Coordinator, the agency offers specialized activities that provide new experiences. Recreational activities take place both on- and off-campus. The agency’s large basement provides space for the boys to exercise and play games (i.e., roller skating and basketball). In addition, the agency’s backyard has been developed into a two-acre field with a built-in sports complex containing a running track, a baseball/football field, a basketball court, a volleyball court, a sandbox, and a separate playground area. The backyard is used for small and large organized group activities as well as for individual free play activities.

Christ Child House also encourages the boys to participate in organized sports through leagues offered by the Detroit Police Athletic League (P.A.L.). Through P.A.L. the boys participate in tennis, baseball, golf, basketball, football, and soccer. Christ Child House believes that children need such exposure in order to develop healthy

Camping
In addition to the recreational activities above, Christ Child House takes the boys on an annual camping trip. Most of the boys who reside at Christ Child House have never had the opportunity to go camping. In fact, most boys have never had a vacation and many have never left the Detroit area. The boys look forward to the trip as it gives them a chance to be free from the structure of the treatment center. Moving out of the usual treatment environment provides them the opportunity to explore new things and develop new patterns of thought and behavior. Planned activities for the trips include nature hikes and ecology learning activities, scavenger hunts, swimming, and more.

Vocational Skills
Christ Child House offers a small vocational skills program called Work Wonders. The program teaches the boys the value of money as well as good work ethic and job skills. Jobs, which include gardening, cleaning the agency vehicles, washing walls, sorting and folding laundry, and vacuuming, are often done in small groups to learn teamwork. Through Work Wonders, the boys also learn the process of maintaining a timecard and keeping an on-campus bank account for their earnings.