Residential care at James House offers a secure and loving home for 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18. It provides individual care for each child based on their developmental needs and it encourages ongoing involvement and contact with the families or extended family members of children in its care. The measure of its success is the reunification of children with their families, extended families, foster parents or adoptive parents so that each child, when circumstances permit, has the opportunity to live within a stable and caring family circle.
Each child, referred by the courts to James House, joins the residential facility undertaking a journey that is underpinned by professional practice. Elements of this practice include a family conference, development plans for each child, regular reviews of progress made by the child and family, life skills programmes that include outings, sexual awareness, HIV/AIDS, crafts, sport, baking, assistance with homework and many other interesting and developmental processes and work with the family circle to create the possibility of reunification.
Child and youth care requires considerable skill and formal practice much more so than most people realise. One of the fundamental tools that is used is the ‘Circle of Courage’ borrowed from Native Americans encouraging practitioners to work with the values of belonging, mastery, independence and generosity. It forms the heart of the work at James House and its use in the residential programme has shown encouraging results.
Every afternoon the house is buzzing with Andre and his team of volunteers assisting with homework and crafts. The little ones run around and the teens are arguing about whose turn it is to use the walkman. A mini cricket or soccer match kicks off after homework is completed and then the delicious smell of cooking entices everyone inside to prepare for supper. Movies are allowed once a week and a good range of outings are enjoyed.
The following activities are run in this programme for 350 children and 170 families per year:
and developmental processes and work with the family circle to create the possibility of reunification.