Lawrence Hall

The Child and Family Treatment Center is Lawrence Hall’s most acute level of care and a valued placement option when abused and neglected youth need residential treatment to stabilize their behaviors.

It is designed to treat youth with severe emotional behaviors. The youth have survived repeated traumatic experiences including physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, violence, and separation from their loved ones. Youth at the Child and Family Treatment Center learn how to improve social skills, develop coping mechanisms, form healthy relationships, and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The treatment teams work in collaboration with the youth, their families, therapists, and other supportive people in the youth’s life to ensure care is youth guided, family friendly, strength based, and trauma-informed.

The primary goal of the Child and Family Treatment Center is to provide a treatment intervention for the most severe emotionally challenged youth, preparing youth and their families for the youth’s successful return. If the youth can’t return home, the next least restrictive family based environment is pursued.

Note that residential treatment also includes expressive therapies like music therapy, and therapeutic recreation and canine therapy.

Transitional Living Program, the first step in our two-step older adolescent living programs, serves youth between the ages of 17 and 21. The goal of each program is to help youth successfully complete high school and gain work experience along with helping the youth build a support system wrapped around them for long term stability.

Youth in the Transitional Living Program live in one of four locations which are staffed around-the-clock with Lawrence Hall Life Skills Educators. Training groups teach budgeting, employment skills, career planning, financial competence, time management, and basic apartment upkeep in order to prepare them to move to an independent living situation.

Lawrence Hall’s Older Adolescent Programs annually serves more than 100 young adults who through their history of being abused and/or neglected have suffered severe trauma. The program provides comprehensive services designed to meet the individuals needs as they prepare to lead productive lives on their own.

The Older Adolescent Program has two levels: the Transitional Living Program-serving youth between the ages of 17 and 21, and Independent Living—serving youth between the ages of 19 and 21. The goal of each program is to help youth successfully complete high school and gain work experience along with helping the youth build a support system wrapped around them for long term stability.

A fully-accredited Therapeutic Day School and Diagnostic Education Program specialize in educating children and adolescents with emotional challenges, behavior disorders and learning disabilities that inhibit success in public school settings. Our students participate in academics while receiving specialized care through our unique therapeutic programs including arts education, culinary arts, service learning and recreation. We help them to develop the skills and resources they need to return to public school settings prepared to achieve and graduate, enter the workforce, college or a vocational school.

Specialized Services are additional therapeutic and supportive services for youth to treat trauma, stabilize behavior, promote wellness and teach self-management skills essential to living independent and successful lives. These therapies include: Canine Therapy, Music Therapy, Therapeutic Recreation, The Youth Advisory Council, and Expressive Therapies.

Job training, placement and mentoring. With it's office located in Chicago's South Shore community, Project Work helps at-risk youth secure and retain employment through its programs; MY TIME (Mentoring Youth To Inspire Meaningful Employment) IYIP (Illinois Youth Investment Program), WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act), and HOPES (Hospitality Opportunities for People Reentering Society) programs. This program at Lawrence Hall also is part of the One Summer Chicago program. Youth are also involved in youth leadership programming through many local organizations we have partnerships with.