“The smile on Max's face when
we walked into the Children’s
Retreat tonight was one of the
best I've seen in a long, long
time. He even told staff that he
didn't want to leave (before I
picked him up) but he
transitioned beautifully. Max
showed his brother around the
Retreat. He is so very proud of
the Retreat and of his
relationships with each of the
staff… he has made solid
friendships with other children
as well because of the "in the
moment" social skills training in
place. I cannot possibly put into
words how grateful we are to
have the Children’s Retreat - yes,
for respite for myself and my
husband, for a break and
freedom for Max’s brother, but
mostly for Max. There is not
another place that has done
more for his development,
independence, confidence, social
skills, and attitude -- and for him
to live life at his pace with
people who understand him like
no one else. He has learned to
"process" situations and vocalize
how in the future he could do or
say things differently to
accomplish his needs. He is able
to practice the skills that he is
refining in the intensive
environment of the retreat
within the school, home and
community settings. Thank you
for the gift that you have given
us. Truly, thank you for your
creativity, understanding and
commitment.”
– Melissa Schlagheck
RHC Children’s Retreat
…A START Therapeutic DD/MH Respite Program
for Children with Co-Occurring Needs
A welcoming environment where your child feels safe and respected,
is supported by knowledgeable staff who enjoy your child’s unique
personality and have the skills to effectively engage them in learning
new skills during fun, therapeutic, retreat-themed activities.
The RHC Children’s Retreat was specifically designed to support the
unmet service needs of children, ages 6 – 18, who experience cooccurring mental health and developmental disabilities. The
Children’s Retreat focuses on promoting success in children and
adolescents through a strength-based, holistic approach that
encourages esteem, competence, social-connectedness and
emotional development. The program was developed based upon
the START (Systemic, Therapeutic, Assessment, Respite and
Treatment) Model, an evidence based program model utilizing a least
restrictive model of support that focuses on multi-modal assessment,
training and empowerment for families and caregivers, a therapeutic
respite facility, and optimal utilization of existing resources.
A thorough assessment, comprehensive support plan development,
engagement in a structured, therapeutic milieu, collaborative
partnerships with the child, family, and service providers, and low
staff/child ratios (1:2) provided by skilled and experienced staff, are
all key features that result in the development of successful supports
for children who attend the Children’s Retreat and their families.
The RHC Children’s Retreat provides high quality programming and
support to children and their families based on positive behavior
support principles and best practices. When your child is first
enrolled at the Children’s Retreat, an initial assessment considering all
aspects of your child’s physical health, overall development, and
behavioral, emotional, and social history is completed through a
variety of methods including both community, home and centerbased observations and interviews with the child, family, and service
providers. During their stay, our goal is to introduce therapeutic
programming designed specifically to support the needs identified
through the initial assessment while also promoting successful
engagement in the group curriculum as well. Each staff person,
known to the children as their Retreat Coach, has both the training
and experience to assist children and families to identify areas of life
skills that are less efficient and individualize their teaching to bolster
successful coping in powerful ways as they participate in the weekend. Programs that emphasize
independent self-care, health and exercise, leisure activities, social skills, emotional coping skills/anger
management are geared to support positive adjustment from the outset. After each weekend at the
Retreat, the general support plan is amended, if indicated, to incorporate further information staff have
learned during their hands on time with your child regarding what most effectively supports them. Over
a series of visits, an individual-specific, comprehensive support plan is then developed. The Retreat
Coach assigned to your child provides consistency in implementation of the plan with your child during
their stay and is a key factor in their success, providing in the moment assisted problem-solving to your
child to help your child develop greater independence.
The Children’s Retreat staff work closely with each child’s family.
Parent and/or caregiver education regarding diagnosis, resources,
and intervention techniques is provided to better enable the parent
to support and promote the development of their child. Once an
effective support plan has been developed, family members and
caregivers are encouraged to visit their child while they are at the
Children’s Retreat in order to learn more about the strategies being
implemented and work side-by-side with staff to implement these
strategies. Staff are also available to provide hands-on consultation
in the family’s home. These services will enhance families’ natural
support systems and adaptive coping skills to prevent crises and
promote family preservation by assisting them in meeting the
various complex needs their children may experience.
As a START program, the Children’s Retreat shares the START mission
to enhance local capacity in providing services to children with cooccurring needs by providing education and training as part of our
service delivery process. It is a primary goal of the program to
maintain collaborative partnerships with other local community
agencies and providers also serving the child in order to provide
comprehensive service planning across multiple disciplines. Only
through teaming with all members of the team supporting the child,
and fostering of additional service linkages in order to meet
identified unmet needs, will truly comprehensive service planning be
achieved.
RHC Children’s Retreat
3030 West Fork Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45211
513.619.2945
“I have been impressed not
only by the design of the
setting, but am also
impressed by the program
implementation, the quality
of the staff and the
dedication to outreach to
families and other important
members of the children’s
circle of support. The
Children’s Retreat will most
likely set the standard for
future START Children’s
programs to be developed
throughout the United
States.”
- - Dr. Joan Beasley,
START Founder &
Director of the Center for
START Services