Frequently Asked Questions

Behaviors

Q.    What kind of teens attends these schools?
A.       Teens just like yours with family values in place, from homes like yours.  You love your child but there seems to be no love returned anymore, your child is not adhering to rules and authority.  Your child is angry, explosive, confrontational and argumentative.  This once loving child has turned into someone you do not know, nothing is working and your lives are out of control.  Sound familiar?  There are no accidents -- you have come to the right place.

Q.     What if my child learns more bad behaviors?
A.    There is very little down time initially or other until upper phases to be alone to share negative information; there is no time to tell war stories.  Besides, after your child's first seminar, the desire is to be honest and of integrity.   The need for sharing yesterday's news is a non issue.  They learn to make a new working choice every day.

Q.    What form of substance abuse counseling do you use,  NA/AA?
A.    Yes.   Understanding what is the driving force behind your teen's poor choices is what many parents do not get.   When a teen has emotional issues, they resort to substance use, alcohol, sex or all the above and then some.  These are emotional outlets.   Once the inside issues are addressed (this is an inside job, parents), the substance abuse workshops will augment all components of their Program.

Q.    What part do parents participate in within your programs?
A.    Parents are a vital link in the process of healing the family.
    The triangulation (mom, dad and your teen) is expansive into the issues, therefore are part of the Soulution.  You will develop a close relationship with your School and your Family Representative at the School.  Your seminar component will allow you to have a common thread of continuity and your family will then come from a standpoint of alliance.  We feel comfortable in prognosticating your family's success if you work your Program as well.

Q.    Can a teen get kicked out?
A.    In extreme cases and usually if they are not a match for any of our Schools or for continual endangerment to themselves or others.  Or, parents not supporting the Program.

       More Questions?  Ask here.

      

  General Questions


Q.    How long will it be before a teen is allowed to speak with or see their
parents?
A.    Typically a teen may speak with their parents at phase three which could be anywhere from three months on.  It is usually the same for seeing the parent.  The Program is results based, however, three months is probably the average time for either.   

Q.    Are home visits allowed?
A.    Usually when the teen reaches phase five.  In some cases, parents may visit the child at phase four (depending on school).  A parent/child seminar is attended by you at phase three so seeing your child is not that far off.

Q.    How many students in a dorm room?
A.    The Schools vary.  Some are four in a room (bunk beds).  Some dorm situations are set up like military barracks where eight to fourteen share one extremely large barrack style room comfortably.  Separate bathrooms and shower stalls.

Q.    What if my child will not go willingly?
A.    Ninety plus percent of our students do not go willingly.   Therefore, professional teen escorts will transport teens to the Programs (the escorts have their own fee structure).  But we have many suggestions for you for the "master manipulator" who has his/her own agenda.

Q.    Are you a religious-based program?    
A.    No.   However, the Schools will incorporate into the student's curriculum the faith component of their choice.  It is written into their curriculum based on desired studies requested.  The Educational Director at the School will work with you, the parent, directly.  

          Not surprisingly, parents tell us they want their teen in a program that will allow them to continue their growth in their religion or faith.

    This is fully understandable and appreciated.  Our experience is the most damaging aspect of a teen today living in a contemporary society is their short-term thinking.  To make the most of their lives, the teens need to keep the vision of the family values (we find a large majority of families in America have the value of faith, religion or spirituality in their value frame) in their minds and in their hearts.  The reality is, at this juncture in their lives, the teens are farther from truth and what we want them to do anyway.  For the most part, the teens are not in place with themselves now to be open to continuing the wonderful spiritual journey you started for them.  If you allow them to come back to this on their own, as many, many we have seen do in the Program, then you could not ask for a truer Blessing.  Again, based on our experience, many teens write home and ask for their Bible, Torah readings, or other faith material they believe in after they have begun to come home to who they truly are.  What counts here is their faith expressing itself through love which the teens do regain -- self love first, then giving it more abundantly.


Q.    What kinds of activities, extracurricular or other, are available to the students?
A.    Sports such as hockey, track and field, basketball, snowboarding, downhill skiing, hiking, fishing, white water rafting and equine studies are encouraged to allow students to develop their natural talents.  Some of the students have a specific experientially-based curriculum focusing on "real world" issues and activities that gives students a "hands on" approach to learning.  Some students focus on thematic units and course work that incorporate music, dance, performing arts and fine arts.

Q.    Have background checks been done on all staff members at the schools?
A.    Yes and continuously.

Q.    What kind of discipline is used?
A.    A time out room or "intervention room", lost privileges, very reflective essays written by the students.  The essays the students write help them to emotionalize their issues and the displaced anger, etc. (we call it "peeling the onion").

      More Questions?  Ask Here.  

    Academics


Q.    Do students take SAT, ACT tests, etc?
A.    Yes.  

Q.    Are the schools accredited?
A.      Most of the Schools are fully accredited college preparatory.  Diplomas are received as the students march at graduation ceremony in cap and gown.

Q.    Is tutoring available?
A.    As needed with a peer tutor or private tutor (parent pays).

Q.    Do the schools complement the academic curriculum with a computer-based component?
A.    Yes.   As a matter of fact, the Schools now have in place an interactive, computer-based learning management system to enhance the student's learning style.

     More Questions.   Ask here.   

      

    Security


Q.    Are the schools closed facilities or open campuses?
A.    Both.  And all the Schools have 24-hour supervision with staff.

Q.    What is the staff to student ratio?
A.    It varies.  In some cases one to eight, some one to four.  In some instances it may be higher, depending on the nature of what they are doing or what the objective is.

Q.    How is incoming mail controlled and how are phone calls handled?     
A.    All communication is restricted and controlled.  Mail goes through parents before it is allowed to come to the student.  Phone calls are an earned privilege.

Q.    What is the procedure for runaways?
A.    Seldom does this occur.  The tightly held supervision prior to the teen's first seminar, (one on one staff member with the student at all times) does not give the student an opportunity to run.  We liken it to a friendly Casper the ghost mentor type staff member to support them through this very tough "I do not belong here time."  Usually, the desire to want to run dissipates after the student has completed their first seminar (the seminar speaks volume as to who they really are as opposed to who they are purporting to be.  Should a student run, the schools have in place provisions for track and rescue.   Parents are contacted immediately and local police as well.

Q.    Do you take students with criminal records?
A.    Only misdemeanors and on a case by case basis.  A thorough intake is done here at Teen Soulutions with parents to understand issues surrounding an arrest, etc.  

Q.    Do you take adjudicated teens?
A.    Sometimes, depending on the situation and circumstances.  Sometimes the parents have had the teen arrested to keep them "out of harms way" until a Soulution can be had.

Q.    Do girls and boys ever interact during the course of a day?
A.    We have one ALL girl School and one ALL boy School.   In the  co-ed Schools, the boys and girls are not together.  The Schools have totally separate dorm setups, separate meal times, separate classroom setup and physical fitness times.  The students are together in the seminars purposely.  These are times when the students are highly focused on unlocking their own potential and opening the door to the reality of THEIR LIVES, seeing where they are, where they want to go and how they are going to get there.   The seminars are highly supervised.

     More Questions?  Ask Here

      Medical


Q.    Do you take teens that are self mutilating?
A.    Yes and depending on the severity.


Q.    Do you take teens with eating disorders?
A.    Yes and depending on the extent of the eating disorder.

Q.    Do you take teens who have presented with a true suicidal history?
A.    No.  Some of our teens, however, may have been hospitalized prior for attention getting schemes or may be diagnosed with a malady that mimics a true disorder.  Your child's psychological evaluation will give us disclosure of your child's psychological state.  From there we can determine if your child is a match for us.

Q.    Do you take teens on medications?
A.    Yes.   Important fact:

         Of the teens who come to our Programs
         On medication, _ of the these teens go home
         with no meds.  Although our Schools are
         not proponents of medication, the teens
         find their own coping mechanisms and deal quite
        effectively with their issues, usually asking to come off meds.
        the Schools will not take a student off meds without approval
        from you, the parents, and your doctor.

                      
Q.    Are there doctors and nurses on staff?
A.    Both doctor and nurse are contracted from the community.  However, some of our Schools will have nurses on staff, a doctor who is regularly scheduled to come.  Therapists and psychologists are on and off site, depending on the School.

Q.    Is Orthodontia available?
A.    Yes.    

       More Questions?  Ask here.