| Forum Archive
Homepage | Previous Post | Next Post
Group Home Scheduling for Teens
sandylegsntoes Mar 24 2006, 09:32 AM Post #1
What is your group home schedule?
For Saturdays? Are the teens allowed to sleep in until noon or whenever they
feel like getting up? Are the teens required to participate in activites such
as going to the beach as a group? What if one doesn't want to go? Are the teens
allowed to keep their cell phones and use them whenever at night? What about
computer time? Do they earn it? Are they allowd to spend hours on it? What
about visitors? Do the teens school and neighborhood friends come and go to the
house, even up to the bedrooms?
Say it's Saturday and what do the teens get up to do? Wander around listlessly?
What?
nmmommy Mar 24 2006, 10:42 AM Post #2
The boys in our cottage get up around 8:30 on Saturday and take showers and do
their chores. We have brunch at 9:30. They have pretty much a free day during
the day to play video games, skateboard, etc. around the cottage. We have
dinner at 4:30 and then spend time preparing for church on Sunday. They kids do
not have cell phones. Well, we have one boy that is in his 2nd semester as a
senior in high school and he was able to get one, but because of behavior
issues, it was taken away until he gets back on track. The kids can visit with
school friends, but only after we meet the parents of the kid. Don't know if
this helps at all. Just what happens at the home we're at.
sandylegsntoes Mar 25 2006, 11:32 AM Post #3
nmmommy, thank you for providing a response to my question. There have been 9
views of this question and you were the only one gracious enough to reply. I
hope in the future, others will provide input to questions put forth by
houseparents who are reaching out to glean knowledge and wisdom in childcare.
webmaster Mar 25 2006, 09:26 PM Post #4
It depends on the facility. When we worked B-mod the children were required to
be up at a certain time and be at breakfast by either 8:00 or 9:00 AM depending
on what we were doing that day. Most Saturdays we spent the morning doing
chores and the afternoons doing something recreational whether it was going to
the lake, swimming hole, fishing, B-ball at the park, etc. Occasionally we had
extra money and could go to a movie, skating, bowling or something like that.
To answer your other questions: None of the children were allowed to have cell
phones, walkie talkies, etc. Depending on your level you could use the
computer, we had dial up access so they could only use the internet after
supper and the weekends. We would usually limit it to about 30 minutes to an
hour at a time to allow others to use it. Visits from friends had to be
prearranged and they were never allowed in their rooms.
As far as house activities: If both my wife and I went everyone went. They were
not required to participate in the activity but they had to go. If it was an
activity they couldn't sit out we usually just didn't do it. Sometimes we would
split and one would stay home with the non-participants the the non-participant
was being difficult. If that was the case, it usually effected their score and
level.
We now work Basic Residential Foster Care and things are very different. All
our big kids graduated a couple years ago and we now have only younger children
except for our 15 yr old Birth son. When we had them we allowed them to sleep
till noon if they wanted to, however we usually eat brunch about 10 or 10:30
and only have a snack in the afternoon. If they miss brunch, they are
responsible for any mess in the kitchen. If we had a cottage activity planned
they had to participate or arrange to go to another cottage while we were gone
or could arrange through administration to be gone that weekend (either to a
family member or approved friend).
They are allowed to have cell phones if a family member or sponsor signs the
contract or they can purchase pre-paid phones with their own money. The girls
in our house were fairly responsible and we never had any problems with them,
however kids in other cottages had them taken away and given back to the family
or whoever for talking on them all night and other things.
In our cottage computer time is based on your age and how responsibly you use
it. We use a program called Enuff PC. With it each child has their own log on
and we can set time limits for each child. Our younger children are allowed 30
minutes, our teens could get up to 1.5 hours. Extra if needed for homework.
Some cottages allow their teens to have over two hours, others only 30 minutes.
We can also block access to the computer or internet using EnuffPC.
Our kids are allowed to have visitors and that is determined by the
houseparent. We have never allowed opposite sexes in the rooms and have been
known to ask guests to leave.
Hope this helps.
Forum Archive Homepage |
Previous Post | Next Post
|
