Foster Family-based Treatment

Abstract

Pressley Ridge Youth Development Extension (PRYDE) is a foster family-based treatment program for troubled and troubling children and adolescents. PRYDE represents a movement away from treating youths in groups within institutions to treating them individually within the context of a normal family. Highly qualified parents attend 25 hours of preservice training, successful completion of which results in placement of a troubled child in their home. These "treatment parents" are required to document their use of a variety of treatment and relationship-building behaviors and evaluate the youth's performance each day. In each PRYDE home, the youngster earns or loses points for engaging in specifically targeted appropriate or inappropriate behaviors, respectively. The accumulated points for each day result in a certain level of privileges for the next day. Frequent in-home training and supervision and 24 hour on-call services are provided to each PRYDE family. Since its inception in 1981, PRYDE has served over 100 youngsters. During 1984 (as of September), 82 % of the youth discharged from PRYDE successfully returned to a less restrictive setting within their communities (e.g., their families, regular foster care, independent living). Of the 28 youth successfully discharged from PRYDE since 1982, only one had returned to a more restrictive placement within 6 months of discharge. Thus, PRYDE represents a viable treatment alternative to institutionalization for extremely difficult to treat youths.