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New Perspectives - June, 2001 Issue #82
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SAFEGUARD Adolescent Services, LLC
Transition Support Program
Carmichael, California
Dana Cox, M.S.W – President
Jay McDonald, M.S. – Director
866-814-0283
safeguardas@earthlink.net
Safeguard Adolescent Services, LLC offers individually tailored
escorted transportation of children to schools and programs throughout the United States. They also offer an extensive transition
and aftercare support system to help families who reside in Northern and Southern California.
Offering 22 years combined experience in the transportation field,
they provide “quick professional services.” They “recognize the importance of professionals in the transport field and employ several
fully insured M.S.W. and B.S.W. transport agents.” Director of Safeguard Adolescent Services, Jay McDonald, has a Masters in Education,
is a PART-R (Professional Assault Response Training – Revised) certified instructor and has worked in Human Services field since 1989.
He has extensive residential treatment and non-public school experience” and is currently employed as a behavior analyst for the county
as well as the city school district in California. Safeguard President, Dana Cox, has a Masters in social work and is currently a
social worker for a non-public special education program in California. He has worked in human services since 1990. He is a certified
PART-R instructor with extensive training in counseling, behavior management and the substance abuse field, both in private and public
agencies. He was also a therapist in a residential treatment facility.
Safeguard uses a transition TEAM consisting of the: family, case
manager, transition counselor, and family therapist. Together they create a transition support plan that offers an assessment of the
child’s needs based on interviews with parents, reviews of records and phone interviews with the case manager at the current residential
facility. The outcome of this process is to “clearly define target transition support strategies,” which include referral for weekly
family therapy services and consultation with the entire transition “TEAM.” The duration and intensity of the program varies depending
on each individual family’s needs.
Safeguard case managers, who present the transition plan to the
family and transition counselors, are Masters level professionals with five or more year’s experience consulting and implementing
transition and behavior plans with families. They consult with the family to help them change their environment and interaction strategies,
providing weekly in- home consultation, as well as phone consultation as needed.
Two counselors who are professionals with extensive experience implementing
transition and behavior plans, are assigned to each case. The family will have the opportunity to meet these transition counselors
prior to transition. The counselors provide supervision of the child during skills training and recreational activities. In addition,
they provide transport to and from support group meetings as well as crisis consultation with the family. The transition counselors
“shape, model, and cue appropriate problem solving, goal setting and conflict resolution skills. Parents are asked to fill in their
work book assignments according to schedule to assist Safeguard professionals in devising an effective transition. The Safeguard Family
Therapist provides a referral to a local licensed marriage and family therapist if no one has previously been involved.
The transition support program is designed to be flexible in meeting
specific needs to enhance each family’s success.
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