Perhaps the most fundamental of the “food groups” in a residential setting is the milieu, or therapeutic environment.The unique composition of Island View’s milieu program is a carefully crafted blend of a positive peer environment and a social learning model combined with continuous professional supervision and modeling. A mountain of evidence indicates that the most influential persons in the life of an adolescent are his parents and peers. Maladaptive behavior is often reinforced by negative peers. Conversely, every parent knows that good friends can make an enormous difference in the attitude and behavior of adolescents.
At Island View we do not pit peers against peers in a “Lord of the Flies” fashion or make “yes men” out of kids by insisting that they respond blindly to authority figures. Island View cultivates a unique peer environment where positive leadership is expected from all participants. Island View has created a milieu where positive peers not only shape their own behavior, but model such behavior change for others. Youth are better served when they respond to authority figures not out of fear, but out of respect and understanding. A prime indicator of changed behavior is whether the child is able to consistently behave as a positive role model while effectively navigating adult relationships. The Island View model not only supports change along a series of levels, but goes further to provide all treatment family members with responsibilities that are essential for other treatment family members. Responsibilities include roles such as mentoring newer residents, helping to monitor dorm cleanliness, planning special events and recreational trips, and other activities essential to the day to day functions of a team. As youth are entrusted with team-wide responsibilities they develop leadership skills, organizational abilities, empathy, and other healthy traits.
The founders of Island View did not just build a building, hope for adolescents to show up and then decide what type of programming should follow. They spent an entire year in research, visiting programs across the country and developing detailed program protocols prior to accepting their first child. As other key staff joined the team over the next decade, contributing additional experience, insight and knowledge, Island View has evolved into what many referring professionals refer to as the “gold standard of the industry.” Two of the founders, are recent recipients of the National Leadership Award of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP), which is NATSAP’s highest honor. Several other members of the Island View staff serve, or have served, on national, state, local, and professional steering committees. The daily hands-on oversight and involvement by the management team assures the maintenance of quality and an ongoing effort of quality improvement based on best practice standards and new research in the behavioral sciences.