Cedarbrae Teaching Home

Submitted on Thursday, 01/09/2020 - 5:35 am

About Cedarbrae Teaching Home

Cedarbrae Teaching Home is a group home for youth with developmental delays, social and emotional deficits. The goal is to help youth acquire social skills and independent living skills for transitioning into adult life.

The home provides treatment to developmentally delayed adolescents, both male and female, with borderline cognitive functioning and mental health issues and/or emotional or behavioural problems, with Children’s Services status. Hallmarks of the program include a high degree of structure and support, positive therapeutic relationships with adults, individual treatment planning, and emphasis on success in home living skills, such as social interactions, engaging in recreational activities, maintaining a daily routine, accessing the community, and supporting family and community relationships.

Who this Program Supports

The Cedarbrae Teaching Home program supports youth ages 14-17 years with development delays, social and emotional deficits.

The primary referral source for youth in the program is through Children’s Services Placement Services Office (PSO). The program specializes in serving complex needs youth that are often transitioning from Therapeutic Campus-Based Care (TCBC). Shared programming and training with campus programs including Turtle Lodge and River Lodge and community-based independent living programs such as Interdependent Living Services, provide complex needs youth with an integrated continuum of care.

Preferred criteria for suitability include youth with developmental delays, difficulties with adaptive functioning, social skill deficit, stable mental health issues, cooperation with day programming, and a low risk of violence towards caregivers.

Our Approach

The main objective of the Cedarbrae Teaching Home is to help complex needs youth acquire the necessary social competency and independent living skills in order to live in less structured and more independent settings in the community. This is achieved through:

  • Improving emotional regulation
  • Improving self-help abilities
  • Improving academic/vocational competency
  • Improving use of community resources
  • Facilitating transitions

Individualized goals are created for each youth. All youth may have access to a range of services available through the Agency including work experience, recreational opportunities, individual counselling support, and volunteer mentors.

As the youth progresses, the goals of increasing independence and reducing structure and support are typically met within an 18-24 month period. Discharge readiness is based on quantitative and qualitative data generated from treatment goal attainment ratings and treatment team observations along with the use of standardized measures.

The Cedarbrae Teaching Home is comprised of staffing to support a 1:3 ratio of staff to youth during peak activity periods, an awake overnight staff, a full-time program coordinator, and a part-time program director.

Committed to Excellence

Child and Youth Care workers are hired based on significant work and volunteer experience, education, and cultural background. They are trained in the implementation of incentive and motivation systems, therapeutic activities, structured skill teaching, counselling strategies, and crisis management.
Youth are provided clinical support by psychologists and clinical practicum students. Assessments, individual counselling, and group therapy assists in identification of needs, skill acquisition, and long term planning.

Cedarbrae Teaching Home uses the BrainWise© program as a structured curriculum to teach youth about brain development, problem solving skills, emotion regulation, and coping strategies. Youth are taught skills in individual sessions and through weekly group sessions.

How to Access the Program

Cedarbrae Teaching Home is a managed-referral Program. The program is accessed through Calgary Region Children’s Services.

For more information contact