Our Approach

About Our Approach

Charles Hall Youth and Family Services is a Qualified Residential Treatment Program (QRTP) and is licensed for residential foster care placements for adolescents and teenagers needing out-of-home care. QRTP placement is more intensive than family-based foster care, but less intensive or restrictive than care at a Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF). Charles Hall is not a correctional facility.

Our program provides a structured milieu with trauma-informed supervision and therapeutic treatment intended to promote self-esteem/self-respect, teach appropriate social and independent living skills, and strive to overcome the trauma of abuse and neglect. Charles Hall uses a team approach that includes group home living, clinical services and case management, educational services, experiential learning, and recreational activities.

Our goal is to assist youth and families in developing healthier relationships and build hope through connection. Specific for youth in care, our goal is to help them develop emotional stability and psychological resiliency. We believe that all children have worth and that trauma can heal given time and connection.

Our work and philosophy are anchored in an understanding of social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care and practice, child development and family systems. Our guiding philosophy and practices are grounded in:

ONE

Vocational Call

(Reverend Louis Eduard Nollau, German Missionary, St. Louis, MO – mid-1800s)

  • “. . . we have the children.”

TWO

Fundamental Beliefs

  • Creating connection is imperative.
  • Building hope is crucial.

Essential Life Skills

(Essential©)

  • Empathy
  • Introspection

THREE

Science-Driven Principles that Help Families Thrive

(Center on the Developing Child • Harvard University)

  • Support Responsive Relationships
  • Strengthen Core Life Skills
  • Reduce Sources of Stress

Capacities Significant for Healthy Development and Well-Being

(Risking Connection/Restorative Approach®) 

  • Inner Connection to Others (Healthy Attachment)
  • Feeling Worthy of Life (Self-Respect/Self-Esteem)
  • Feelings Management (Self-Control and Social/Relational Skills)

FOUR

Characteristics of RICH Relationships

(Risking Connection/Restorative Approach®)

  • Respect
  • Information
  • Connection
  • Hope

Principles of ESSENTIAL©

  • Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow. Turning mistakes into positive learning experiences is one of the best ways a person can grow and become better, stronger, happier and more fulfilled.
  • Self-control: It’s important to recognize and properly use the differing roles of “emotion” and “reason.”  Emotions are internal signs, which tell us of our well-being according to the values we hold, but they are not always proper guides to action.  Emotions can trick us into behaving in ways that we may later regret; thus, our thinking brain (rational thought) often must override our emotional thoughts or feelings to avoid potentially harmful actions or behaviors.
  • Responsibility: It’s important to fulfill the things in our lives for which we truly are responsible.  Distinguishing between those which are not, is crucial.  Responsibility can be defined as “something one ought to do.”  Responsibility can and should change with maturity and circumstances.
  • Rights of others are important, as well as our own rights. Respect for one’s own rights and an equal respect for the rights of others is basic to feeling positive and good about oneself.  If something is truly a right, then it should be equally available and accessible by all members of the group, as a right is universal.

The above are four key principles of behavior that build the integrity, self-respect and authentic self-esteem that all persons need to feel capable, responsible and worthy.  Knowing, teaching and helping children and parents deal with these four principles is essential.  They can be taught to all individuals, no matter how young or how old.

FIVE

Basic Psychological Needs

(Circle of Courage®)

  • Belonging
  • Capability/Mastery
  • Independence/Autonomy
  • Fun/Excitement
  • Generosity

SIX

Principles of Partnership

Appalachian Family Innovations/Appalachian State University

  • Everyone desires respect.
  • Everyone needs to be heard.
  • Everyone has strengths.
  • Judgments can wait.
  • Partners share power.
  • Partnership is a process.