Support Us
Support Us
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Youth Residences
AWARE’s youth residential program offers care for boys and girls ages 5-17 with mental health or developmental disabilities and autism. ​Our youth homes are located in Anaconda, Billings, Butte, Great Falls, and Missoula.
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Homes for youth with mental health and/or developmental disabilities
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AWARE community-based youth residential group homes are for boys and girls who experience severe emotional disturbance and/or developmental disabilities. Safe, supportive environments, each home provides supervision with a two-staff to one-child ratio. Combined with natural, logical interventions, children experience relationships that foster trust, forgiveness, availability, emotional stability, and fun.
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Treatment is based on each individual’s needs:
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Therapy is available for co-occurring mental health and developmental disabilities.
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Wraparound approach always includes each child's natural support system.
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Interventions are developed through natural and logical learning opportunities.
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Community-based outings and interactions create opportunities to naturally learn skills.
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Services are based on long-term success outside of a treatment facility.
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Clinical Oversight
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AWARE offers clinical oversight as part of its residential youth program including:
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Treatment plan development.
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Individual, family and group therapy.
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In-house psychiatry.
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Connection to communities and specialized collaboration.
* Clinicians use evidence-based practices and interventions based on each child.
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Admission Criteria
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Children admitted to AWARE group homes are those diagnosed with a severe emotional disturbance (SED). They’re unable to function in a less restrictive environment. Most often, they demonstrate:
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Impaired interpersonal/social functioning.
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Impaired educational/occupational functioning.
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Impaired judgement/impulse control.
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Lack of family/community networks.
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Also, as a result of SED, youth may exhibit:
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Inability to perform daily living activities in a developmentally appropriate manner.
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Behaviors that result in the inability of the caregiver to safely provide care and structure in a family setting.
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Severe or persistent symptoms requiring more intensive treatment and clinical supervision than can be provided by outpatient or in-home mental health services.
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Significant risk of placement in an acute or psychiatric residential setting.
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Referral Process
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To refer a child to AWARE, please provide:
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Clinical or psychiatric assessment with current mental status exam from the last 30 days.
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Education records, including IEP, 504, or CST.
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Any psychiatric/clinical evaluations from the last year.​
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​​​​For more information contact:
Jennifer Wihlborg, Service Director
406.529.1357
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Ask about the Lawrence P. Noonan Center for Excellence, a school in Anaconda for kids who require more intensive mental health and school services.
"I've learned that home isn't a place, it's a feeling." – Cecelia Ahern
Homes for youth with autism
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AWARE’s autism youth homes opened in 2009. These homes are an extension to AWARE’s traditional residential programs for boys and girls with developmental disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders. Our homes are located in Billings, Missoula, and Anaconda. In our clean, well-cared for four-bedroom homes, youth are offered:
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State-of-the-art behavioral attention.
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Individualized care.
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Trusting relationships.
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Interventions for natural and logical learning opportunities.
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Social and community activities.
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Group, individual, and family therapy.
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Safe and comfortable living environment.
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Schooling at a community school.
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