To Our Caseworkers

Below you will find in-depth information that covers all aspects of our exceptional group home program. We accept children from the entire DC metropolitan area, and are well equipped to successfully manage a wide range of behavioral and emotional problems. Please take your time explore the site. Should you have any further questions about our program, feel free to contact MFP clinical director Dr. David Hackney: dhackney@kobainstitute.org

COUNSELING AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES

Our purpose is to use goal-setting and positive reinforcement to improve the mental, educational, physical, residential, and social well-being of our residents’ lives. For a detailed list of the services we provide, please click here.

Individual Service Plan
The Individual Service Plan (ISP) is the Mansion’s unique method of identifying the emotional and therapeutic needs of each resident. It focuses on setting specific treatment goals in five fundamental areas (mental, educational, physical, residential, social) and then tailoring the program to help the resident achieve those goals. The ISP is designed to keep both the counselors and the resident focused on an attainable goal, as well as to provide a yardstick with which to measure progress. In accordance with his or her ISP, each resident receives treatment through a combination of in-house clinicians and out-patient clinics. Koba utilizes several different clinics, based on both youths’ needs and authorizations provided by their caseworkers and placing agencies.

A meeting is held every three months to evaluate the ISP and, if necessary, to make adjustments. This is a cooperative effort involving the resident and his or her parents, caseworker, teachers, and therapist.

Individual and Group Counseling
Individual counseling generally occurs once a week (or more often if necessary, depending on the ISP) with a certified psychologist, psychiatrist, or counselor. Group counseling is held with a social worker twice each week. During these counseling sessions, residents are encouraged to discuss their personal problems and receive advice from their peers. This builds a sense of community and also helps to resolve any inter-personal difficulties that may exist.

Other Counseling and Educational Services
MFP provides substance abuse education and/or counseling, along with transportation to and from local narcotics anonymous and alcoholics anonymous meetings, to any resident who needs it.

A special aspect of our service offerings is our life skills program. We spend two sessions each week equipping residents with the information and emotional support that they will need to successfully transition out of the group home environment. These life skills classes cover such topics as sound decision making, money management, personal hygiene, time management, personal safety, dating, marriage and family planning. Residents also have access to our academic programs through our Accelerated Achievement Academy and to recreation therapy. With this unique and practical aspect of our therapeutic program, our residents are being prepared for life in the “real world.”

POLICIES
Maintaining Contact with Caseworkers
The staff at all of our group homes keeps in regular contact with all case managers, providing detailed monthly and quarterly reports, in addition to incident reports and telephone calls when necessary. As a case manager, you will be intimately involved in formulating the ISP when the resident is first admitted. You will also be an important part of our regular evaluation of the resident’s progress. Once you and our counseling staff both agree that a resident’s treatment goals have been met, we will then work with you to help plan for his or her discharge from the Mansion.

Staff to Youth Supervision Ratio 
Our staff provides comprehensive supervision for each resident not participating in a program outside the group home:

  • During hours that children are awake and in the group home, at least one staff member is present for every four children.
  • During children’s sleeping hours, at least one staff member is awake and present in the group home unless the environment and status of the children dictate the need for two or more. This determination is made in consultation with the Residential Director, the Group Home Manager and the Social Worker.

 

 
  • At all times, at least one staff member is available, if requested by the on-duty staff, to arrive at the group home within one hour to supplement the on-duty staff.

PROGRAM RESULTS

Advanced Self-Evaluation System
All group homes undergo a rigorous self-evaluation every three months. A team consisting of a social worker, a nurse and a representative from Koba’s administrative staff rates the program in the following categories:

  • Child Care Services
  • General Health Services
  • Documentation (grievance reports, staff training, medical log, etc.)
  • Personnel
  • Administration
  • Physical upkeep and sanitation

If any problems are identified in any category, steps are immediately taken to rectify the situation. As a final check, the residents are also periodically encouraged to offer their feedback on various aspects of the program.

Achieving Success
Once a teenager has completed the MFP program and achieved the goals outlined in his or her ISP to the satisfaction of the staff and the case manager, there are a number of possible success outcomes. Residents can be reunited with their families, make the transition into a less restrictive home environment, live independently, and/or pursue further educational opportunities. Whatever outcome is chosen, our residents can take the lessons they have learned while in the program and apply them successfully in a larger, more complex world.

ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

The Mansion program is primarily targeted to meet the needs of adolescents who are experiencing emotional or other problems that have hindered their developmental pathways. We serve hospital transition clients, including difficultcases returning from out-of-state, and adolescents needing interim placements. The Mansion can also serve as an alternative to RTC or unsuccessful foster home placement.

Many adolescents come to the Mansion with a high rate of recidivism. Some may have secondary problems with substance abuse and/or learning disabilities. We embrace teenagers who face these difficulties, and we find that many of our residents benefit by relocating away from their home communities and away from significant negative peer influences. At the Mansion, we recognize that “place matters,” and so we strive to provide a supportive, family-like atmosphere for these relocated adolescents.

The admissions criteria for our group homes, as they relate to residents’ age and sex, are as follows:


Group Home

Sex

Age Range

Capacity

Special Criteria

Clinton

Male

13-17

8

Fort Washington

Male

15-20

8

Oxon Hill

Male

15-20

8

Silver Spring

Female

13-20

8

Upper Marlboro

Male

15-19

8

DSS Residents Only

Except for the differences noted in the table above, the specific admissions criteria for all five of the Mansion’s group homes are identical. To see a detailed listing of the admissions criteria we use and other related points, click here. (If you have trouble opening the link, try http://www.kobainstitute.org/mfp-admission.pdf , or download Adobe Reader.