Heritage House: A New Location and Broadened Mission
Contact:
James Gemmell
Director
of Communications
207-523-5014; jgemmell@yimaine.org
What: Youth Alternatives Ingraham Residence Moves Location
Where: South Portland, ME
Heritage House: A New Location and Broadened Mission
SOUTH PORTLAND— On June 22nd, Girls Transitional Program leaves its current location in Falmouth and combines with Heritage House. The new combined program will be housed in the building that is now Reardon’s Place. According to Program Director Sherri Stockwell the new Heritage House program will be an integration of the strengths of both GTP and the current Heritage House programs. The current staff will, for the most part, remain intact. The program will continue to incorporate the principles of High Fidelity Wraparound and the Resiliency Model (now used at GTP) throughout programming and treatment. Heritage House will also continue to maintain a Gender Responsive Environment, reflecting an understanding of the realities of women’s and girl’s lives and responding to their needs and strengths. And, the program will continue to offer the GTP service of 24-hour admission of girls from the Department of Corrections for a 7 day stay.
But there will be differences to the new Heritage House program. For one thing, it will be larger (from 6 beds to 10) with expanded capabilities. “We will now be able to serve teenage girls with no legal involvement from Children’s Behavioral Health Services,” says Stockwell. In its new location, Heritage House will be able to serve:
• Girls for a short term (7-day) period from the Department of Corrections.
• Girls from Children’s Behavioral Health Services
•
Girls from the Department of Corrections through the ITRT process.
Another major difference in the new program, as Stockwell points out, will be its treatment focus. “We want to focus much more on the intensive mental health treatment and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)” than the current criminogenic risk reduction (CPR). “It is huge that Youth Alternatives Ingraham is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, via the Children’s Initiative with Community Counseling Center.”
There are a few challenges to the move, not the least of which is the new facility. While Reardon’s Place is roomier, it is less homey, more institutional. The girls, says Stockwell, are worried that the birds they’ve been feeding won’t follow them to the new location, and they are sad that they won’t have a front porch. But our facilities crew is on top of this problem. Jeff Crawford, Facilities Coordinator, is painting the rooms warm colors; Crocus and Mellon, and the Heritage House staff is looking for donated items that might make the house seem more like a home; rugs, comforters, and mirrors.
For more information on Heritage House, contact Program Director Sherri Stockwell: sstockwell@yimaine.org
