Burke Center for Youth is a nonprofit organization formed in 1973 to care for Texas children who are removed from their home environments due to abuse, neglect, or problems with the law. We are providing help and hope to children in crisis through our services. These are the children that belong to no one, and yet, they belong to us all. Help us to help these children in order that they may eventually belong in a family.

OUR MISSION with these children is to turn back the hands of time, and help them build self respect, self reliance, and self esteem.

OUR HOPE is to help them to unlock and melt away the pain and help them see that they are indeed loveable.

OUR GOAL is that they depart from here as productive, responsible citizens.

OUR WORK is to break the cycle of abuse and neglect..

We invite you to learn more about us and the youth we serve.

PATHFINDERS RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT PROGRAM

Pathfinders provides residential treatment for boys ages 11-17. These children have been removed from their homes by Child Protective Services due to abuse and/or neglect, or are on juvenile probation with court-ordered residency, or have been placed by parents who realize that intensive treatment is warranted. While at Pathfinders, these youth receive 24-hour supervision and care, therapy, and education to help them prepare to move to less restrictive environments, and, for the older children, to independent living. Their days are filled with school (on-site), assigned chores, camping and recreation, therapeutic intervention, homework and community volunteer projects. All youth spend ample time outdoors participating in camping, scouting and horse riding adventures. Through the day to day living and all these special activities, our staff work very hard to develop positive relationships with each child in spite of the child's sometimes negative behaviors.

The University of Texas operates a charter school on our property, and all our youth attend classes, work on team projects, and follow a Texas Education Agency-approved curriculum. All teachers are certified. The school has classrooms, a computer lab and a library, all designed to support a positive education experience. Many of our boys are behind academically and, through this program, they are provided additional help which often results in significant increases in their grade level performance. Many individuals from the community assist the boys by becoming individual tutors with guidance from the teachers.

Licensed therapists provide individual, group and family therapy. Our team utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach with aspects of psychotherapy, reality therapy, behavioral management, and didactic models. Through group therapy we address issues such as substance abuse, anger management, and sexual issues. Our staff-to-resident ratio is atleast 1 staff member for 5 boys. Each of our youth has an individualized treatment plan to guide therapeutic care, with a treatment team that includes: the Treatment Director (M. Ed., L.P.C.), Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Program Director, Case Manager, Camp Coordinators, and Teacher Counselors. Collectively, this team has more than 125 years of direct experience in a treatment setting.

Concentrated therapy within a supportive environment coupled with the outdoor environment hopes to engender: sense of belonging, respect for authority figures, personal control, openness and honesty, love of self, and acceptance and concern for others. Some of the weekly program components are:

*Individual, group, and family therapy *Substance Abuse and Anger Management groups *Sexual Issues group with a Psychologist L.S.O.T.P. *University of Texas Charter School on our campus *Our own established Boy Scout Troop *Community led Music program and Horsemanship program *Community led Chapel services

Every young man entering our program must work incredibly hard. It is not an easy program. Some will be in the program for a year and some of them for as long as two years.

Philosophy

Pathfinders has retained its original philosophy that IT IS BETTER TO BUILD CHILDREN THAN TO REPAIR ADULTS. We believe that this is done by genuinely, over time, developing a positive relationship with the child despite his behaviors. We use a tough love approach with clear behavioral expectations delivered with the assistance of the elements of nature. The elements of nature provide their own natural consequences with the allure of challenges to be conquered. The outdoor approach provides the freedom from distractions like television and video games. The most stimulating events of the day occur through interactions with other people and nature. Most children come to us with feelings of despair and feeling that they are not salvageable. They are angry. They are victims. Children leave our program knowing that they are capable and strong. They leave knowing that they have something to offer. They leave knowing that they are indeed survivors.