Therapeutic Residential Care

For children who have experienced severe trauma, abuse, or neglect — and for whom a family-based placement is not yet the right environment — Residing Hope's therapeutic residential care program provides something that is genuinely rare in the child welfare system: a place that is simultaneously safe, clinically rigorous, relationally rich, and deeply human.

The residential cottages on the Enterprise campus at 51 Children's Way, Enterprise, Florida are designed to function as family units, not institutions. Each cottage houses a small group of children alongside trained teaching parents who live there with them — providing the consistency, predictability, and relational stability that many residents have never experienced in their lives. This is not incidental to the therapeutic model; it is the model. The Teaching Family Model, developed at the University of Kansas in the late 1960s and validated in decades of outcome research, holds that the most powerful therapeutic force in a child's life is not a weekly therapy session but the quality of the relationships they experience in their daily environment. Teaching parents at Residing Hope are trained therapeutic practitioners who implement a structured behavioral and relational curriculum through the natural interactions of daily living — at the dinner table, during homework, in the midst of conflict, and in the quiet moments before bed.

Licensed therapists are embedded in the residential program, not contracted from outside. Each child receives individual therapy on a weekly basis, with additional sessions as clinically indicated. The primary evidence-based treatment modality is Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), which has been validated in more than 20 randomized controlled trials and is designated as a well-supported, efficacious treatment by SAMHSA's National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. Group therapy is provided for children who are developmentally and clinically appropriate. Family therapy is a core component of every treatment plan, because Residing Hope's goal is always reunification with family or transition to a less restrictive setting — never long-term institutionalization.

The Enterprise campus itself is a healing environment in the most literal sense. The 50-acre wooded property on the western shore of Lake Monroe in Volusia County has been a place of care for Florida children since 1908. Spanish moss oak trees, open green spaces, a swimming pool, community gardens, and a chapel create an atmosphere of calm and beauty that stands in deliberate contrast to the chaos many residents have come from. A licensed chaplain is on staff, and spiritual life programming — including chapel services, prayer groups, and one-on-one pastoral care — is integrated into the daily routine for those who wish to participate. The Montessori school on campus serves both residential children and community families, providing an educational environment that is as carefully designed as the therapeutic one.

Residing Hope's residential care program holds accreditations from the EAGLE Accreditation Commission, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and the Council on Accreditation — the two primary national quality assurance bodies for child welfare organizations in the United States. COA accreditation requires compliance with more than 350 standards across all aspects of organizational and program performance and is renewed through a rigorous multi-year review process. Referrals are accepted from DCF, community-based care lead agencies, and private sources. Contact [email protected] or 386-668-4774 to discuss a specific child's needs and begin the assessment process.