Treatment Services

Residential Program

The William George Agency addresses the needs of at-risk youth and young adults through a holistic array of clinical, medical, educational, vocational and recreational services within a highly structured, safe and caring environment. Our treatment team partners with the youth, their family as well as the referral source to create an individualized, multidisciplinary treatment plan with the goal of family reunification where appropriate.

This program serves 16 boys between the ages of 16 and 17 who present with significant mental health needs and with severe behavioral and emotional dysregulation. Youth in this program have committed non-violent felonies that New York State’s Raise the Age legislation allows for referral to family court.

raise the age program (PDF)

This program provides services for 70 boys who present with significant mental health needs and with severe behavioral and emotional dysregulation. Children in this program have either failed or not been deemed appropriate for either community based services or regular institutional care and require a highly structured, closely supervised, therapeutic living environment. The long term goal of treatment is fostering personal responsibility through the development of increased self-awareness, healthy relationships, conflict resolution and more effective coping skills.

Hard to place boys – HTP-Boys (PDF)

This program provides services for 18 girls who present with a history of trauma and a mental health disorder including diagnosis related to a disturbance of conduct. Children in this program typically have a history of being unable to progress in community based services or regular institutional programming and require a higher level of care. The long term goal of treatment is fostering personal responsibility through the development of increased self-awareness, healthy relationships, conflict resolution and more effective coping skills.

Hard to place Girls – HTP-girls (PDF)

This program provides services for 20 boys who have been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent for sex offenses or who have a history of perpetration and acknowledge their need for treatment. Children in this program are typically in need of medium to long term placement. An emphasis in treatment is addressing social competency, an area in which youthful sex abusers typically present serious deficits, as well as psychoeducation, personal accountability, identification and changing of cognitive distortions, and offense patterns, victim empathy development, reducing deviant arousal, processing traumatic events, family treatment, and associated clinical and educational issues.

SHBP (PDF)

This program provides services for 16 boys with a full scale IQ between 55 and 70 who are experiencing severe emotional, behavioral, social and/or family problems that require placement outside of their homes. Children in this program are typically in need of medium to long term placement. Particular emphasis is placed on skill building with a long term goal of achieving a level of social, vocational and educational competency which allows for a higher degree of independent functioning.

HTP-DD (PDF)

This program provides services for 9 boys and 9 girls who have a primary diagnosis of substance use disorder and a co-occurring mental health disorder. Children in this program are typically court mandated or have a willingness to engage in treatment. This program integrates intensive substance use disorder treatment with residential care to offer residents a safe, stable and predictable living environment which will support and encourage their investment in treatment.

YCRP (PDF)

This program provides services for 11 boys with a full scale IQ between 60 and 75 who are experiencing severe emotional, behavioral, social and/or family problems that require placement outside of their homes. Children in this program are typically in need of medium to long term placement. Particular emphasis is placed on skill building with a long term goal of achieving a level of social, vocational and educational competency which allows for a higher degree of independent functioning.

HTP-IDED (PDF)

This program provides services for 24 boys who reside in our Hard to Place program but no longer require an HTP level of care but whose social skill deficits and emotional dysregulation impede their ability to successfully negotiate the more normalized peer environment. Residents will learn and practice independent living skills with a dedicated ILS Specialist and work closely with the Family Services Coordinator to create and work towards their permanency goal in the most appropriate time frame.

HTP-IC (PDF)

Community Based

This program provides services for 6 girls and 8 boys from Tompkins County who present with behavioral and/or mental health needs as well as emotional dysregulation. The primary goal is to prevent residential placement while preserving the family unit through intensive family therapy, assistance with homework and remedial school work, and on-call crisis support. Clients in this program are often enrolled in the Day School Program at the George Junior Republic UFSD located on our campus.

Therapeutic After-School program (PDF)

Clinical

Our on-campus Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Program housed in VanClef Cottage serves adolescents who are diagnosed with alcohol and/or substance use disorder, or who have demonstrated impairment as a result of alcohol and/or substance use by a family member or significant other. The program is licensed by the New York State Office of Addiction Supports and Services (OASAS) and provides individual, group and family counseling.

Medical services are provided through the Agency’s nurses, consulting licensed physicians, and local hospital and health care centers. Psychiatric and psychological evaluations are conducted as needed. Our consulting psychiatrists are fully involved in the treatment planning process and are responsible for prescribing and overseeing the provision of psychotropic medicine. Our consulting psychologist is also fully integrated into the treatment planning process and provides individual and group clinical supervision.

Medicaid Managed Care Liaisons

Tina Beckman, Supervisor, 607.844.4576, beckmant@gjrmail.com
Faye Strauf, 607.844.6440, strauff@gjrmail.com
Madeline Gould, 607.844.6372, gouldm@gjrmail.com

Wellness & Growth

Paws First

For many youth, the interaction with a friendly, well-mannered dog can enhance the therapeutic process of their treatment by reducing anxiety, lifting their spirits, decreasing feelings of isolation, encouraging communication and providing comfort. The canine portion of the program is is a vehicle for employees and their pet dogs, with the assistance of a resident handler, to complete the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen and Trick Dog training curriculum. The program is centered on positive reinforcement based dog training to increase youth’s confidence and independence, sense of purpose, self-esteem and safety awareness. Youth will additionally receive general knowledge of how to properly care for an animal. Once a dog successfully completes the CGC exam, they are able to “work” on campus with their owner.

The William George Agency provides eligible students with age appropriate job training, life skills, counseling, work readiness skills and meaningful work experience through Job Readiness Training, Independent Living Skills, as well as on and off campus vocational experiences. The WGA has expanded our on campus vocational opportunities to include short-term certifications in various trades. We also have Vocational Exploration Projects, a weekend program, where vocational instructors expose residents to various trades or professions including masonry, carpentry, photography, computer coding, cooking, and car detailing. After acquiring the necessary skills, our residents receive paid work experience that will help them enter and advance in the workforce.

Hospitality
Catering
Historical Services
Carpentry
Clothing Store
Custodial
Auto Detailing
Heavy Equipment
Horticulture
Computer Support
Lawn Maintenance
HVAC
Plumbing
Painting
Upholstery
Equine
Auto Mechanics
Buildings & Grounds
Food Services
Interning
Masonry
Photography
Computer Coding

A multifaceted recreational program is available to all residents, with daily structured and unstructured activities in a variety of venues. Structured and unstructured recreation takes place in the newly renovated Boscowitz Field House. Adventure Based Counseling is offered at the James F. Purcell Project Adventure Building, an indoor ropes course facility.

Scholastic team sports
Soccer, baseball, basketball
Adventure based counseling
Structured recreation
Horseback riding
Swimming

Here at WGA Equine, we cater to about 24 horses, all varying in different shapes, sizes, colors, ages, and breeds. We pride ourselves on the care for our horses that have long made an impact on the youth that has crossed through our barn doors. We strive on making our barn environment a unique one but remains a safe, friendly and healing space for our residents. WGA Equine is operated by three amazing staff and the Equine Director, all with previous years of experiences related to the equine industry in varying disciplines. With such a wide range of talent in our department it allows our residents to learn an abundance of different riding disciplines, horse care management, grooming techniques, and more from our instructors.

Sher Khan AC

MCA Magnum Gold x SD Mimosaa Bey

Two National Top Ten Halter Colts Yearling and 3 year old.

Class A Western Pleasure Winner. Produced National Champion Sport Horse in Hand 2 year old filly GJR Shahnna Khan.

Great Disposition! Purebred Fee $1500.00, Half-Arabian Fee $750.00, plus collection and shipping fees.

Sher Khan AC Video

Vocational

Our vocational programs allow our residents to step into the horse world to learn all things to do with the Equine Industry. There are many job opportunities that can be found within the Equine Industry, all to which we here at WGA Equine either have the residents learn by actually participating in the act themselves or providing them opportunities to have witnessed the jobs that the industry has to offer. We allow our vocational residents to be very hands on with all the equines we have on campus right down to the newborn foals, right up to our very experienced oldies. The residents also get the chance to work hand in hand with some of the leading industry jobs such as our veterinarians and farriers. The residents learn the basics of horse barn management, horse care, horse handling, equine training, and more, all while exploring the other options our industry has.

Recreational Riding

Recreational riding is conducted five days a week with four residents and a staff from their cottage to join them in our beautiful indoor. We teach our residents all the safety that goes into learning how to ride horses. As the residents progress we start to teach them more advanced maneuvers and even go into some other riding disciplines. We will even offer to take the residents to either watch or participate in local horse shows. In our recreational riding we also offer trail riding. There are many trail systems on the grounds some allowing us to ride right through the historical Dryden Rail Trail. Trail riding is done weather permitting and normally in the fall, spring, and a little during the summer months.

The Eastern Classic Horse Show

Eastern Classic 2014

For the second show of the 2014 season, we took a new mix! We have come to look forward to the shows at the Erie County Fairgrounds Showplex because it has some of the best facilities around and the Showplex staff is wonderful to work with! Many thanks to show manager Bob McEntee and Show Secretary Linsey Hager for putting together another really nice show!

OP went to try to acquire some points in the Sport Horse In Hand…Amateur to Handle (he was already qualified to show in the Open at the Region 16 Championship Show). JJ Bint Emiricka, a horse that is in training to be part of the lesson program, went as one of the horses debuting in Showmanship in Hand.

Two of the “J Boys” (more about the J Boy’s later…they really could use an entire website to document their antics), Jack and Jester came along as well. Jack (a purebred gelding sired by Monogramm) is one of the best of the beginner lesson horses at WGA and Jester (Royal Jester PAF by MHR Nobility) is one of the advanced lesson horses. Both of these geldings took home ribbons in their Sport Horse In Hand classes, handled solely by students at this outing. Even better, the comments by judge Leonie Fernandez were very encouraging and sent us home with a plan to work towards improving their “engagement” to the best of our ability!

Just because we always like to support the performance divisions, Jester entered trail, and with a quick tack change scored a 67 in the Western version (way to go Becky) and a 70 with Mike in the English! We were very happy with both scores as it was an almost impossibly tight course!

Region 16 Championships

Like any show, Region 16 had it’s unexpected challenges, but we had a terrific show and the kids did a great job! We started out on Monday, with two trips to get all the horses from Ithaca to Syracuse, set up and practice on Tuesday, classes on Wednesday and Friday, haul home on Saturday, then load up Story Thyme to take her to her new owners later that day!

Tuesday
Set up & Practice Day
The Morning Edition

Once we had our tack room and dressing room all set up, we took advantage of the beautiful weather on Tuesday morning to work all the horses in the 4-H arena. This is where they are scheduled to compete on Wednesday and Friday. Allowing for schooling time in the competition arena can make a big difference in how the horses will perform. We were very pleased with our stabling location as it had very easy access to this particular arena.

Tuesday
Set up & Practice Day
The Afternoon and Evening Edition

“The best laid Plans, often go awry” is how the old adage goes. And Tuesday’s beautiful morning turned into “The Tuesday Deluge” which flooded the arena scheduled for Wednesdays Sport Horse competition. It was part of a storm system that spawned confirmed tornadoes in Syracuse. Fortunately, our barn and aisle ways remained fairly dry and our tack stall and ready room only needed some minor fixes after the storm blew through. The question remains…how will this affect our classes tomorrow?

Minuette in E Major

(DS Major Afire x Magnums Evita)

Champion: Sport Horse In Hand Hunter Type Open
Champion: Sport Hourse In Hand Hunter Type ATH
Top Five: PB Sport Horse In Hand Geldings Hunter Type Open
Top Five: PB Sport Horse In Hand Geldings Hunter Type ATH

Thymeless BF

(Pyro Thyme SA x JJ Bint Emiricka)

Top Five: Sport Horse In Hand Dressage Type Open
Top Five: Sport Horse In Hand Dressage Type ATH

Captainn Jack

(Mongramm x Deianira KA)

Champion: PB Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Dressage Type ATH
Top Five: PB Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Dressage Type Open
Top Five: PB Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Hunter Type Open
Top Five: PB Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Hunter Type ATH

Royal Jester PAF

(MHR Nobility x SP Cheap Trick+)

Top Five: Showmanship 14-18 with Kate
Champion: HA Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Dressage Type ATH
Reserve Champion: HA Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Dressage Type Open
Reserve Champion: HA Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Hunter Type Open
Reserve Champion: HA Sport Horse In Hand Gelding Hunter Type ATH

Many thanks to everyone that supported us in our efforts to compete at this Championship show…especially those people that entrusted us with these excellent horses by donating them to the William George Agency for Children’s Services. Our student handlers, Kate and Rich, did a terrific job! All of the Sport Horse In Hand Hunter Style ATH classes were Kate’s wins and all of the Sport Horse In Hand ATH Dressage Style were Rich!

Volunteerism and Community Integration Therapies to Engage the Whole Youth

Dryden Kitchen Cupboard’s Weekend Backpack Program
The Salvation Army’s Adopt-A-Family, Kettle Bell Ringing and Soup Kitchen Programs
The Annual Fillmore Auto Show & Flea Market
Howd Nursing Home
Loaves and Fishes
Dryden Beautification Brigade
Montgomery Park Playground Project