Children have the chance to develop long-term strategies for ending chemical dependency, and learn how they have been affected by substance abuse among their peers and family members. Turnabout workers provide counseling and advocacy, arrange for tutoring, and help these children and their families take advantage of school and community resources. Children who participate in Turnabout increase school attendance, improve their grades and avoid placement, which results in significant financial savings for local governments. Sometimes, families need a helping hand to provide the structure and discipline their children require. Family Connections workers provide intensive, short-term services in families where children are at risk of being removed from the home.
Workers teach practical skills for successful family life, and provide counseling and other support.
With new skills and understanding, most Family Connections families are able to keep their children at home. Many boys who have faltered in other school settings thrive at Berkshire, where each child has an individualized academic program and an advanced computer network links faculty and students. In the year or so that boys now spend in the residential program, most make gains of a year or more in grade level, and about one in four advance two grade levels or more. Students participate in arts and theater activities, after-school clubs and interscholastic and intramural sports. Parents, peers and staff from throughout Berkshire honor academic achievements at our annual Recognition Day celebration each June.