Finding pathways to resilience.
Passages - Group Care
Passages referrals are completed via Children and Family Services. Youth are:
- Ages 13-17,
- Are unable to live in their original home settings for reasons such as family conflict, substance use, and mental health challenges,
- Are presently unable to live in kinship care, nor foster care home settings.
Funded by: Children’s Services
When at-risk teens need support to transition back into a more traditional home life and family-living situation, Passages is the program that helps get them ready.
Passages is a six bedroom residential home in an average Calgary neighbourhood. It’s designed to be just like any other home on the street in order to create a feeling of genuine community and family among teens who live here.
Staying an average of six to nine months, teens are encouraged to develop healthy patterns and regular routines. This relationship-based transition service works on building a lasting feeling of trust and security with troubled teens, while teaching them important life skills.
Residents help make meals, or play games together, and special focus is placed on outdoor activities. Nature walks, urban gardening, community activities are all ways the program instills a sense of calm and harmony.
Teens aged 13 to 17 can take part in the program. Teens are referred to Passages by Child and Family Services for a number of reasons including family conflict, substance use, mental health challenges, etc.
Passages is focused on graduating participants on their own schedules and when they’re ready to move on. Some residents have returned years later to thank the staff for their caring and compassion in a difficult period of their life.
Program Highlights
Teens living at Passages are given one-on-one attention, though they’re also able to interact with others in the small group setting. Learning and enjoying hobbies such as woodworking, crafts, gardening, music and reading is part of helping these teens transition to a family setting.
The Passages program works to ensure that all youth feel safe and have the appropriate opportunities to enhance healthy development. Youth are encouraged to get involved with social activities of their choice. From this, youth gain the personal and social achievements that empower them with a heightened sense of self-esteem
The therapeutic programming offered at Passages,
not only focuses on cultivating each youth’s sense of
self-worth, it helps families learn how to cope with
behavior and parenting challenges.
What is Group Care
Live-in group care homes provide a home-type setting for children and youth who cannot live with their own family homes for a variety of reasons, and may not be an appropriate match for kinship care, nor foster home settings.
Children and youth who stay in these homes may stay for several weeks up to several months until a more permanent residence is available, they return to their original home setting, or transition into independent living.