In 1988, to respond to the growing number and increasing complexity of family problems, Caldwell County Department of Social Services and Baptist Children's Home of North Carolina, in partnership, started Noel Home, a behavior change home for girls. Noel Home, a modern, secluded facility in the Lenoir area, provides group home care for five teenage girls, ages 13-17, who struggle with problems that require a structured environment beyond that generally provided by traditional care. By learning new ways to deal with problems and changing inappropriate behaviors, the girls resolve conflicts, establish trust relationships, feel secure and accepted, identify and clarify problem issues, and focus on the future. The intense peer group problem-solving process teaches residents to talk out, not act out or ignore, their problems. Staff and other residents help each girl see herself as a person of worth and dignity.
Staff plans group, school, church and community activities to build relationships.
Admission Criteria Behavior is beyond the ability of family, relatives, foster home or more traditional residential care program to meet. She can understand and use a problem-solving process. She has the potential to verbalize feelings, ideas, thoughts and concerns through an intense positive peer group culture. She can function in a non-secure open setting and doesn't need detention or hospitalization. She has the potential to control impulsive behaviors.