Okaloosa2022-08-01T21:11:00+00:00

4455 Straight Line Road
Crestview, Florida 32539
T. 850 689-1984 F. 850 682-5410


Our Mission

The mission of Okaloosa Youth Academy is to increase public safety by reducing juvenile delinquency in Florida through effective prevention, intervention and treatment services that strengthen families and turn around the lives of troubled youth.

The commitment to the Balanced Approach to Restorative Justice (BARJ) philosophy and treatment approach of Okaloosa Youth Academy identifies the harm created by youth to the crime victims and communities and focuses on teaching empathy and repairing harm.

The BARJ philosophy addresses decreasing youths’ threat to public safety, holding them accountable for the harm caused by their crimes and enabling them to make amends to their victims and the community.

Programming

  • The facility has a registered nurse on site, providing coverage seven days a week, a
    contract child and adolescent psychiatrist and designated health authority.
  • Okaloosa County provides educational services to the program, including:
    • Credit recovery
    • Vocational services
    • Opportunity to obtain a high school diploma and GED programming
  • A vocational trade certification program is offered by Home Builders Institute (HBI)
    for residents 16 years and older.
  • Vocational certifications are provided (Safe Serv and CPR/first aid).
  • Community service opportunities.
  • Entrepreneurial classes.
  • Behavioral management program based on token economy reward-based system
  • Transitional services.
  • Recreational therapy groups — community outings, social and team building groups.
  • Restorative justice and victim awareness groups.
  • Pet therapy/adoption program.

Medical/Psychiatric Services

Each youth receives a physical and a review of their immunization record. A contracted physician serves as the designated health authority and provides on-site services to conduct physical examinations and render routine medical care at least two times per week and more often if needed. The Okaloosa County Health Department assists in keeping the youth’s immunizations current.

Psychiatric services are rendered by a psychiatrist, including psychiatric evaluations, medication management and monitoring of youth placed on psychotropic medications.

Residential Services

Residential services provides for shelter, food, personal hygiene and a highly structured rehabilitative milieu directed at improving the youth’s competency in social skills and coping abilities. A behavior management system is in place to direct the expectations for appropriate social behavior, accountability, and responsibility to other peers and staff.

Youth care workers monitor and control the daily activities of the youth and the movement to and participation of the youth in activities, including dorm activities, education and vocational classes, meals, physical therapy, mental health services, and appointments and activities outside the facility.

Volunteers

Volunteers serve as a vital link between the program and the community and provide opportunities for bonding between the youth and conventional adults. At Okaloosa Youth Academy, volunteers spend time with the youth in faith-based activities and gang rescue efforts.

Education Services

The Okaloosa County School District provides educational classes with professional or temporary state-certified teachers on-site, year round. Non-certified personnel possess documented expert knowledge of the field they are teaching and have school board approval.

Academic classes are provided five days per week, from 7:25 a.m. until 1:45 p.m. and youth must attend at a minimum of 300 minutes per day. The expected outcome of the educational program is that the youth will have the opportunity to receive an education that allows them to progress toward a high school diploma or its equivalent.

Upon entry, youth are assessed for their academic needs based on a review of educational records, transcripts, and a formal academic assessment. An education plan is developed for each youth and they are placed in reading, writing and mathematics classes.

Tutorial, remedial and literacy instruction are provided as needed. Student progress is monitored and reported at treatment team meetings every two weeks. Students may progress in grade levels, have access to GED testing if appropriate, and graduate if credit requirements are met.

Vocational Services

Vocational instructors possess documented experience and expert knowledge and/or skill in the field(s) they are teaching. All youth at Okaloosa Youth Academy will attend a minimum of 300 minutes of academic instruction per day. As part of the curriculum, vocational classes are offered and include instruction in masonry, carpentry, electronics, Microsoft and horticulture.

Behavior Management System

The Adolescent Behavioral/Developmental Incentive Program (ABDIP) is a behavior modification program for adolescents developed by Donald D. Baines, Ph.D., and is the approved behavior management system of Okaloosa Youth Academy.

Components of ABDIP include a pre-determined list of socially appropriate and adaptive behavioral expectations, performance scoring system, positive reinforcement, privilege incentives, daily feedback, and sanctions applied for negative behavior.

Victim Awareness

Restorative Justice Classes are held with select groups. These classes are targeted to youth assuming responsibility for the crime and hurt caused to the victims, and taking action to make amends to the victims by restoring the loss.


Treatment

Okaloosa Youth Academy utilizes a team approach to teaching adjudicated males the fundamentals of goal setting and completion. A multidisciplinary treatment team meets bi-weekly with the youth to initiate and monitor a performance plan, based on a thorough assessment of the needs that must be addressed to increase the youths’ level of functioning in the community.

Mental Health Services

  • Psychiatric evaluations and medication management.
  • Group services seven days a week provided by qualified mental health professionals.
  • Group services include substance abuse, anger management, life skills training and specialized sex offender treatment.
  • Evidenced-based curriculums.
  • Individual therapy
  • Family therapy on site, via telephone or teleconferencing.
  • Equine therapy.

Substance Abuse Treatment

Substance abuse treatment is provided by licensed mental health professionals or unlicensed professionals working under the direct supervision of a licensed mental health professional. Comprehensive Bio-Psychosocial Evaluations which include mental health and substance abuse assessments are completed by qualified staff.

Youth are placed in therapeutic groups. The Seven Challenges substance abuse curriculum for adolescents is the approach utilized in group and emphasizes the decision making process involved in quitting drugs and alcohol.

Seven Challenges encourages the youth to explore the motivation behind their drug use, the role drugs play in their lives and the skills to develop and maintain a substance-free lifestyle.

Evidenced-based Treatment

Evidenced-based treatments have been independently evaluated using sound methodology, including, but not limited to, random assignment, use of control groups, valid and reliable measures, low attrition and appropriate analysis.

Gulf Coast Youth Services developed a Steering Committee to determine appropriate evidenced-based training methods to be utilized by staff for youth in the program. The evidenced-based programs identified by the Steering Committee to be utilized are as follows:

  • Motivational Interviewing: a directive, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping youth to explore and resolve ambivalence.
  • The Seven Challenges: an evidence-based substance abuse treatment model combining decision-making exercises, skills training, interactive journaling, and motivational interviewing concepts.
  • Thinking for a Change: designed for delivery in small group settings that meet the particular needs of each group of participants.

Aggression Replacement Training

Aggression Replacement Training (ART) is designed to alter the behavior of chronically aggressive youth. It consists of skill streaming, anger control training, and moral reasoning training to help motivate youth to employ the skills learned through other components.

Medical Services

A “sick call system” allows the youth to acknowledge day-to-day needs for routine medical attention and evaluate the need for more extensive care. Additionally, all staff members are trained in both CPR and first aid and Gulf Coast Youth Services contracts with a physician who serves as the designated health authority. The physician conducts an initial physical if needed and provides on-site visits to see youth in need of an appointment.

Psychiatric Services

Gulf Coast Youth Services contracts with a psychiatrist to provide on-site psychiatric evaluations and medication management to each patient. If the psychiatric evaluation indicates that psychotropic medications are necessary, the psychiatrist prescribes the appropriate medications and provides monthly medication management and monitoring.


Employment Opportunities

Okaloosa employs dedicated professionals whose goals are to help youth develop competencies valued by the community through therapeutic and educational programming in a secure, structured environment and to promote successful transition into the community.


Okaloosa Youth Academy

4455 Straight Line Road
Crestview, Florida 32539

Phone: 850 689-1984
Fax: 850 682-5410

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