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Hearts & Homes for Youth is a nonprofit organization, headquartered in Burtonsville, Maryland. The organization offers many programs to help abused, neglected, homeless, and troubled children in the state of Maryland, striving to make each child feel loved and cared for. Their tagline sums up how they treat the children that come to them for help, “As if They Were Our Own.”

History
Founded in 1964, Hearts & Homes for Youth began in the attic rooms of a psychiatric hospital, serving four at-risk boys. The idea for the organization was to provide alternatives to placing troubled adolescent boys into jail, juvenile homes, prisons, or other institutions. Established originally in Rockville, Maryland, Hearts & Homes was founded by an attorney, two juvenile court judges, and others individual with diverse expertise in treating and assisting troubled and delinquent youths. Since 1964, the organization has served over thirty thousand youths in treatment programs across the area.

Today, Hearts & Homes operates several programs to assist children in finding their voice and their path. Programs such as group homes, therapeutic group homes, and independent living apartments, assist at-risk youth, help them deal with their emotional turmoil, and teach them how to live independently and care for themselves. A workforce development program teaches valuable job skills to teens, and the organization’s therapeutic foster care program works to provide stable and loving homes for the children in its care. The Teen Mothers and Homeless Mothers program, focus on assisting young, single mothers, who often lack family care themselves, learn how to care for a child and provide a proper home for them.

Structure and staff
Hearts & Homes for Youth operates as a private, non-profit with locations in the Baltimore/Washington corridor. They are supported through federal and state funding, along with donations from the private sector. As a non-profit, Hearts & Homes is guided by a board of directors and relies heavily on volunteer efforts from the local community.

Office staff consists of three, full-time positions: the president/CEO Mr. Rex Smith, the Therapeutic Programs Administrator Mr. Stephen Liggett-Creel, and the Residential Services Administrator, Ms. Chloe Perez. All of them have extensive experience working with troubled and at-risk youth.

Mr. Smith was a co-founder of the organization in 1964, returning to act as president in 2006. During his hiatus, he worked extensively as an advocate for youth through juvenile and criminal justice program operations. Mr. Smith has also founded and operated other programs, and services, such as the Maryland Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also founded the American Justice Institute, Inc. an advocacy and counseling agency.

Mr. Liggett-Creel served Hearts & Homes as Assistant Director of the Therapeutic Programs and as a program coordinator for their therapeutic foster care. Prior to his service with Hearts & Homes, he worked for over seven years as a social worker for children and youth with medical illnesses and emotional issues. He has also run support group and conducted home-based therapy sessions. Ms. Chloe Perez provides therapeutic services in schools, homes, clinics, and group homes. She specialized in adolescents with severe emotional trauma, helping the teens and their families work through and overcome the trauma. Before working as an administrator, Ms. Perez served Hearts & Homes for three years as a rehabilitative counselor. Today she oversees the residential group homes operated by Hearts & Homes.

Group homes
Hearts & Homes operates four group homes, three for boys and one for girls. All group homes are run by professional staff, on duty 24 hours a day. They provide a structure and support services, and offer programs tailored to the needs of their residents such as therapy sessions, educational advocacy and support, work skills development and employment placing, case management and resource coordination, and life skills training to support self-sufficiency.

The John C. Tracey Boys’ Group Home in Rockville, Maryland is a residential; community- based home for boys aged 13-17. The staff of this house is trained specifically in how to work with delinquent and at-risk young men. Through consistency, discipline, and structure, the program at this home promotes the child’s personal growth and enrichment. Some clients can reside in the home for up to two years, learning vital life skills.

The Kemp Mill Boys’ Group Home, located in quiet, family oriented community in Silver Spring, Maryland, is designed to help young men build appropriate life skills for a successful transition into adulthood. The residents attend community schools, hold part time jobs with local merchants and are encouraged to take advantage of the support services offered by the program and the local community. This is one of the boys’ group homes, serving young men aged 13-17, who typically stays 9-24 months.

The Jumpstart Semi-Independent Living Program for Boys, located in Hyattsville, Maryland, provides a rigorously structured program for young men ages 17-20. This program is designed to provide consistency and continuity for young men, while working on building valuable life and work skills. The professional staff acts as role models for the young men, working with them through obstacles and providing 24-hour support.

The Helen Smith Girls’ High Intensity Group Home, located in Takoma Park, Maryland, is Hearts & Homes only group home for young women. The program in this home is designed specifically for young women, ages 13-17. The girls receive guidance from a consistent, professional staff to build life and work skills. On top of the programs offered at all group homes, the Helen Smith home also offers psychiatric consultation, medication assessments, and art therapy.

Therapeutic group homes
In addition to traditional group homes, Hearts & Homes offer therapeutic group homes that specialize in providing services required by youths with mild to severe emotional issues. These homes provide a nurturing environment and individualized treatment regimens for residents. The children attend local schools, participate in sports or other extracurricular activities, and work part-time for local merchants. Currently, the organization has two therapeutic groups homes, the Redl House, for young men ages 13-17 and Mary’s Mount manor for young women ages 13-17. Both homes offer therapy, on-site psychiatric and medication evaluation, anger management training, educational advocacy and support, case management and service coordination, life and work skills, and therapeutic recreation.

The Redl House located in Poolesville, Maryland, a rural location, which allows residents to learn how to manage emotional problems and come to terms with their dysfunctional backgrounds. The home features 24-hour professional staff, trained to deal with children suffering from severe neglect or abuse. The program is geared toward supporting residents as they develop a sense of the life they want and build the skills necessary to achieve that life. Residents typically stay here for 6-24 months.

Mary’s Mount Manor, located in the semi-rural community of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is a tailored towards young women, aged 13-17, with mild to severe emotional issues. The home provides a nurturing atmosphere where residents learn coping techniques, life skills, and how to work through complex life issues. Many residents stay here for 9-15 months.

Therapeutic Foster Care
Hearts & Homes works with The Family Ties Therapeutic Foster Care Program (TFC) to place children, ages 0-21 with foster families that have been recruited, screened, trained, and licensed to help youth with emotional and mental health needs. Most children in the program are between 13-17.

The TFC Program is a family and community-based program for youth, offering intensive care and treatment, along with a nurturing foster family. This program provides youth with a loving home, individualized attention, positive role models, loving guidance, and therapy. The foster parents work together with social workers and clinical staff to provide a therapeutic environment to help children achieve greater emotional stability.

Teen mothers
Hearts & Homes utilizes the Damamli program to assist at-risk teen mothers. Damamli is a foster care and independent living program for pregnant and parenting young mothers, ages 16- 20, who are in foster care or in Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services System. Damamli accepts young women who are pregnant or who have no more than two children. The program focuses on providing three key services: intensive care management, foster family support, and parenting and independent living preparation. It provides these services through a three-step support system, which allows the mother to successfully progress from foster care to independent living.

Phase one of the program is foster home placement. Young mothers and mothers-to-be are placed with carefully screened and trained foster parents, who provide a safe, nurturing home. The foster parents work with the mother to assist her in developing parenting and life skills. The mother, her foster parent(s), and her case manager all work together to develop a plan for her future and work towards accomplishing her goals. Phase two of the program is placement in a supported, independent living apartment. Here young mothers are placed in a furnished apartment with support staff available when needed. The young mothers continue to work on building their parenting and life skills, while working toward the goals set in phase one. If a young mother ever feels overwhelmed or needs more support, she can return to her foster family from phase one.

Phase three is placement of the mother and her child into an independent living apartment. This usually happens when the mother has shown extreme progress toward her goals, displayed the skills to maintain their own apartment, effectively parents, and attends school and/or maintains consistent employment. This phase is to prepare the young mothers for aging out of the foster care system, with the hope that it will assist clients in maintaining their apartments and reaching their goals.

In addition to the three phases of independence and growth for young mothers, Damamli also provides services such as parenting classes, stress management classes, training in pregnancy prevention, money management and household management, employment preparedness, support groups, a financial stipend, daycare referrals, educational assistance, and regular home visits.

Homeless mothers
Hearts & Homes for Youth also offers a program for homeless mothers, the TLP Program. For the purposes of the organization, a young homeless mother is defined as, “[a person] currently without permanent housing.” The TLP Program offers comprehensive community-based services to homeless mothers, aged 18-21, with only one child. Mothers must apply for housing to be eligible for this program.