Pleasantville START

A coed, short-term evaluation and treatment program on JCCA’s Westchester Campus

Who We Are: JCCA's Pleasantville START has been a premier provider of evaluation and treatment services for children from New York City and surrounding counties since 1978. Located on JCCA’s Westchester campus, the START program serves 24 boys and 14 girls, aged 6 to 15.11 years at admission.

Pleasantville START’s philosophy is family centered, trauma informed, and permanency directed. Our highly trained, experienced staff works closely with the child and family, foster parents, and community resources to develop an individualized,comprehensive treatment plan with the goal of returning the child to the community.

Evaluation and short-term (4 to 9 months) care services include:

• · Assessment and stabilization—comprehensive social, psychological, psychiatric, educational, medical, and psychopharmacological evaluations (includes UCLA Trauma Inventory for the Child and Family, Ansel Casey Life Skills Assessment, and Ansel Casey Placement Level of Care Assessment)
• · Substance abuse assessment and abstinence support available on campus at OASAS- licensed clinic run by Arms Acres
• · Highly trained staff work with residents to address and enhance social and emotional development
• · Treatment team assigned to each family—includes an LMSW or LCSW social worker, psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, nurse, and primary milieu worker
• · Intensive, individual resident treatment and weekly family counseling
• · Home visits
• · Highly structured, supervised cottage life, incorporating SANCTUARY model of traumainformed treatment
• · Weekly group meetings held by social work and milieu staff on topics such as trauma, anger management, social skills development, sexual abuse, and adolescent issues
• · Peer mentoring
• · Weekly recreation trips
• · Jobs program
• · Triple staff coverage in each cottage during daytime hours and awake-night supervision seven days a week
• · Union Free special school program on campus with full range of educational and counseling resources
• · JCCA’s continuum of services