Principles of Quality Care

The children, youth, and families in services have a great number of strengths that tend to go unnoticed due to the significance of their conditions and/or their challenging behaviors. Although children, youth, and families are referred to services and treatment due to problems they have experienced, The Buckeye Ranch has learned that focusing  primarily on their problems does not lead to substantial and lasting change.

The Buckeye Ranch therefore takes a strengths-based approach in our work and interactions with children, youth, and families. Substantial research aimed at identifying how people change and grow has shown that helping individuals identify their strengths and learn how to develop those strengths to make positive change is much more effective than frequent reminders about their problems and/or deficits.

The Buckeye Ranch team members are tasked with developing the ability to look beyond problem behaviors to uncover and amplify the underdeveloped strengths of each child, youth, and family in services and treatment. It is the goal of The Buckeye Ranch to support team members as they develop the professional skills needed to consistently use a strengths-based approach in their interactions with children, youth, families, and colleagues.

Although team members’ work focuses on developing healing relationships with the children, youth, and families in services and treatment, ultimately, the goal is always to help children, youth, and families in treatment be successful in the community and be able to build healthy relationships in a family setting.

Many children and youth have had difficult and troubling relationships with their families. As challenging as these relationships may have been, we know children and youth fare much better over time if they are able to develop permanent connections with family.

For some of the youth we serve, family may look very different than what is traditionally pictured as a “family,” but provides the permanent connections and attachments all people need. In their role, team members learn how to support family connections for the children and youth in care and work with the treatment team to foster and encourage those family relationships the child or youth will need to be successful.

At The Buckeye Ranch, we realize that a significant proportion of the children, youth, and families in our services have gone through trauma in their lives, often while very young. As a result, they may exhibit behaviors that can be unpredictable, even frightening, to team members. To make it easier to understand and work on those behaviors, we utilize trauma-informed care with a focus on curiosity – asking “what happened?” rather than “what’s wrong?”

The Buckeye Ranch works with youth, children, and families representing a variety of cultural heritages, practices, and values. Cultural responsiveness means we implement services that incorporate the knowledge and unique cultural experiences of individuals, children, families, organizations, and communities served.

The Buckeye Ranch places a high value on respecting those diverse cultures and is committed to continually work to enhance our ability to respect and effectively serve everyone in our services and treatment. This means we strive to honor and respect the beliefs, languages, interpersonal styles, and behaviors of individuals and families receiving services, as well as team members who are providing such services. Cultural responsiveness is an ongoing process requiring a long-term commitment to understanding the role culture plays in behavioral health services. It begins with cultural awareness and an ongoing commitment to increase awareness of a team member’s own cultural assumptions and implicit biases.