Saint Catherine’s Center for Children – New Scotland Avenue

St. Catherine’s Center for Children – New Scotland Avenue has been a part of Albany, New York, for more than 110 years. They currently have several programs including their residential program at Copson House on New Scotland Avenue. It’s a psychiatric group facility that provides care for as many as 25 children at a time. This home is for children from the age of five to 13. Comprehensive mental health therapy is provided that addresses the emotional, behavioral and trauma-induced issues that many of their young clients face.

One of the main ways they help children is through the services they offer to support and provide resources to the caregivers and adults in their lives who are struggling with mental health or addiction issues. Addiction and mental health treatment are available with evidence-based therapy in individual, family and group settings.
Staff are addiction and mental health professionals with training, experience and credentials to help children, youth and adults learn to identify and deal with the emotions they experience. Many children who attend residential programs at St. Catherine’s are in need of greater support and structure than a family structure can provide. It is an alternative to admission to a psychiatric hospital and is usually followed by a transition to a group home or foster care home environment.

The main goal of residential treatment and every child’s personal care action plan is for them to leave to a loving family home. In an ideal setting, it will be with their own family, but in some situations a child’s best interest is most effectively met by finding them an adoptive supportive and unconditionally loving home.

St. Catherine’s Center for Children tries to meet the needs of all their clients by providing an array of mental, behavioral and emotional support services to children, families and foster caregivers. This may include crisis assessment or emergency mental health stabilization. Ongoing acute and chronic behavior and emotional concerns may be dealt with through psychiatric and mental health evaluations, assessments and residential care with supervision and support 24 hours a day seven days a week. Family, group and personal counseling and specialized treatment are offered as well as recreational and experiential therapy activities.

Education and empowerment are an important part of the treatment programs offered through St. Catherine’s. Qualified educators along with the mental health team help children meet their therapy, education and life goals.

St. Catherine’s Center for Children is a nonprofit, publicly funded organization. Placement in this program is through referral from the Department of Social Services after a comprehensive assessment and screening process.