Therapeutic Residential and Secure Care sit within the Out-of-Home Care system continuum for young people in care in WA; that is, the care arrangement options for young people who cannot live with their parents. Young people who enter the Out-of-Home Care system and who are considered to require therapeutic support have some of the most complex care needs in the State. For these young people, the care they receive needs to create and sustain a safe and home-like environment capable of healing the traumatic impact of abuse and neglect, and the disrupted attachment that ensues.
Young people entering Therapeutic Residential and Secure Care have often experienced significant adversity, previous care arrangement breakdowns, and face the challenge of overcoming their complex trauma histories and wariness of forming connections with safe adults. They likely have experienced neglect and/or abuse, and may not function at their chronological age in terms of their physical, social, emotional or cognitive skills. It is therefore critical that the services they are provided are aware of the effects of complex trauma and are able to consider and respond to the care needs that may underlie complex or challenging behaviours.
The Therapeutic Care Framework articulates the Philosophy of Care as the core of practice for both services; and outlines the evidence-based theoretical models and essential program elements that must be embedded for both services to deliver high quality consistent therapeutic care to young people in care, irrespective of their age and location.
Practice in Therapeutic Care is underpinned by the principles of therapeutic care and guided by two complementary trauma-informed models. An overarching practice model, for which Communities uses the Sanctuary Model with certification by the Sanctuary Institute, and a practical crisis prevention, de-escalation and resolution system, for which Communities uses Therapeutic Crisis Intervention system from Cornell University. These models all work in synergy to provide a comprehensive template for workers to progress towards the visions for Therapeutic Residential and Secure Care.
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