During the summer of 1999, Crossroads House, a therapeutic group home in Germantown, Maryland, opened its doors to 8 male youth, ages 14 through 17. Tennessee First Home Care is now offering in-home services to youth and their families from its location in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. These services, formerly provided by ABS FHC Nashville for the past four years, are designed to serve youth living in 25 counties located in the central and southern regions of the state. Program services provided include individual and family counseling, mentoring, and case management. Referrals made to the program are from state mental health and juvenile justice systems.
Plans are currently underway to develop the northern and eastern regions of the state.
In addition to in-home services now offered by First Home Care, FCC is taking over operations of the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center on December 1, 1999. The center, an 80-bed juvenile detention facility located in Nashville, Tennessee, is designed to provide secure care and custody of male and female juveniles under the age of 18 who are detained by order and under the authority of the Davidson County Juvenile Court. Services will include education, case management, and anger management and substance abuse education, as appropriate. The program encourages participation of biological families when appropriate by offering family counseling and specialized training services that foster family communication and reintegration. The core curriculum is based on a unique model of cognitive behavior therapy, The Belief Change System, aimed at changing the clusters of dysfunctional beliefs that are prevalent in young sex offenders.