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New Perspectives -
Apr, 2000 Issue #68
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TURNABOUT
Salt Lake City, Utah
Lee Caldwell, Director
801-484-9911
Turnabout is a Day Treatment Program for teenagers and their families that
helps youth identify and resolve the underlying issues that are driving the destructive acting out behaviors being witnessed. “Turnabout’s
mission is to combat juvenile delinquency by providing families in the community with the resources they need to help themselves.
Turnabout embraces the idea that education, awareness, intervention, treatment and aftercare are services necessary to promote the
mental and social well being of the community. Turnabout’s mission is to deliver excellent mental health care in a cost effective
manner to improve our clients’ quality of life and maximize the dignity and self-respect of each individual client.”
Clients move through a six-tiered level system with treatment goals tailored
specifically to meet their individual needs. ”Behaviors for particular individuals may vary considerably, depending on the child’s
issues.”
Day treatment takes place in an out-patient setting after which time clients
return either to their own, or a host family’s home every evening. Turnabout also provides services to families who live outside the
Salt Lake City area. Such students are placed in the Turnabout host home network, and if appropriate, a permanent host home is arranged
for them. Parents of out-of-town students are encouraged to visit Turnabout on a regular basis to participate in weekly parents group
and family counseling sessions.
They use an “eclectic approach towards treatment…with the idea that no two
youth or families are the same, therefore we cannot generalize treatment for all involved.” Instead they implement a treatment plan
based on individual information.
“Turnabout values and relies on our resources in the community to help meet
the needs of today’s troubled youth. As children and families are referred to Turnabout, our counselors and staff stay in close contact
with the referring therapist/professional in order to ensure the best quality of care possible. When the child/family is at the appropriate
level, we encourage and help facilitate the process of that family returning to the referring therapist/professional for the continuum
of care.”
They have also developed a private school in order to meet the educational
needs of clients during treatment. Upon entering the program, clients are evaluated, tested, and placed accordingly. “Our teachers
and counselors work closely to ensure the quality and consistency of teaching, learning, and growth within our classrooms.”
“Parents are required to come to a Weekly Parent Group that is tailored to
help families work on issues. We ask that parents become an active part of the treatment team…parental involvement in Turnabout is
our key and secret to success.”
Turnabout also has a partnership with Rising Sun Ranch, in Lehi, Utah which
“enables troubled youth to have an opportunity to experience the day to day operations of a working horse ranch. A group of clients
are transported to the ranch on a daily basis to work, train, raise, and draw upon the treatment parallels between youth and horses.
The ranch experience combined with therapy, family counseling, and education, make for a powerful and successful treatment experience.”
(Note: Turnabout is in no way associated with the Turn About Ranch in
Esclante, Utah that was recently purchased by Aspen Youth Services.)
Copyright © 2000, Woodbury Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without
prior approval if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution accompanies the copy.)
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