Programs

Bethany Children’s Home follows the model of trauma-informed care in all programs. Each program is hosted on campus in Womelsdorf, PA. 

Bethany Children's Home
Youth in all programs are provided the following:
  • Intake Health Screening
  • Health oversight and referral
  • Psychiatric Services on site
  • Spiritual Services including moral development
  • Sibling and family visits available
  • Bethany Education Coordinator located on Conrad Weiser School District Grounds responsible solely for Bethany Youth
  • Daily life skills training for all youth through cottage living
  • Arts and Crafts and Recreation with a dedicated programming team

Our campus includes a full gym with fitness center, multipurpose room, racquetball courts, basketball-volleyball-tennis courts, hiking trails, fishing pond, church with its own recreation center, softball field, arts and crafts building with studio, and health clinic. Because of all our programs, Bethany remains one of the best organizations in the area.

Helping Hands

Since 2019, Bethany Children’s Home has expanded to include services for children who have crossed borders into the United States unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian. These children are transferred to the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), part of the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Bethany Children’s Home, through its Helping Hands program, partners with ORR to care for these children until they are released to their family members.

At Helping Hands, children receive educational services, access to lawyers and advocates, medical and mental healthcare, recreation and case management. Last year, the team helped unify more than 300 youth with their family members.

The program is an extension of Bethany’s 160-year history of providing shelter and residential services for children in need. Team members in the Helping Hands program will tell you that working with these children is one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives. Many members of the team have been with the program since the very beginning.

To view what positions are available for this program and to apply, visit our Employment Page!

Transitional Living Residences

The Transitional Living Residences program at Bethany is a trauma-informed, strength-based and responsive program. Transitional Living Residence helps young adults prepare to be living independently in the community by offering them an opportunity to work toward independence.

Young adults will utilize the independent living skills they have learned previously by practicing with team members. Later they work on those same skills on their own at an appointed time. This program allows our youth to further develop and practice sustaining the following skills:

  • Time Management Skills/Setting Priorities
  • Budgeting and Money Management Skills
  • Cooking/Domestic Skills
  • Transportation Skills
  • Communication, Interpersonal, Social Skills
  • Decision Making/Problem-Solving Skills
  • Work Skills
  • Collaboration Skills
  • Leadership Skills
  • Navigating life events such as getting a license, buying a car, purchasing the insurance for that car, finding other ways of transport if they are not getting a car, deciding on career path or college/higher education path, engaging in community involvement and more.

Youth who meet the requirements to be in this program are self-motivating and learning to get themselves to and from commitments such as higher education and/or work independently. Similar to other youth their age, they will need to be responsible for their food, clothing, and personal hygiene.

Residential & Short Term

Youth in Bethany’s Residential Treatment Program and Short Term Intensive Treatment Program reside in 5 cottages on Bethany’s scenic campus in Womelsdorf, Pa. All cottages combine to offer 66 beds to male and female youth.

Residential and Short Term programs are provided with these services, in addition to a few services unique to the respective programs.

  • Weekly individual sessions
  • Individual and family therapy through contract counselors
  • Psychological Services through contract counselors
  • Drug and Alcohol services
  • Immediate School Placement
  • Alternative education program and special education through Conrad Weiser School District
  • On-ground tutoring lab is available and mandatory for any student failing
  • Balanced and Restorative Justice Principles outcomes for JPO youth
  • Community service opportunities
  • Daniel Memorial Assessment
  • Formal Life Skills Training and Education
  • Personalized Transition and Permanency Planning
RESIDENTIAL

Residential Treatment Program is intended for youth who require support and services to obtain skills in order to move to a less structured setting. Most noteworthy, these following are services unique to the Residential Treatment Program.

  • Life Skills for all youth 14 and older
  • Assistance with higher education planning
  • Employment and housing assistance
SHORT TERM

The Short Term Intensive Treatment Program is a 90-day program intended for youth whose permanency goal is reunification or for youth who require intensive initial treatment services before Residential Treatment Services begin. The following are services unique to the Short Term Intensive Treatment Program.

  • Twice weekly individual sessions
  • Families must commit to 12 weekly family sessions alternating between Bethany and their home/mutually agreeable location.
  • Immediate School Placement in appropriate setting by Conrad Weiser School District

Call today for referrals (610) 589-4501 ext 117.

Shelter Care

For immediate assistance with emergency services contact the Shelter Care Program at (610) 589-4501, ext 117.

Bethany’s Shelter Care program provides emergency services and immediate housing to youth ages 6-18. The Shelter Care Program provides the same services offered to all youth in other programs at Bethany, plus the following unique services.

  • Crisis Intervention/emergency services
  • Short-term housing
  • Immediate School Placement in Alternative Education Programming
  • 24-hour awake team members
  • Off-campus educational field trips
  • Use of outside groups for education on topics such as drugs and alcohol prevention, pregnancy prevention, and maintaining healthy relationships

Call today for referrals (610) 589-4501 ext 117.

Independent Living

Our Independent Living program is geared toward youth age 16-21 who have maintained satisfactory educational progress (or may be working on their GED or college/higher education program), have demonstrated the ability to function appropriately with a minimal level of supervision, and have consistently utilized appropriate social skills and coping mechanisms to maintain appropriate interaction with his/her peers, team members, and the community.

Youth in the IL program receive all of the services and supports provided in the Residential Treatment Program, plus the following:

  • Advanced Life Skills Education and Independent Living Training
  • Development of a personal portfolio (birth certificate, Social Security card, etc.)
  • Completion of a level system working toward Transitional Living
  • Required educational programming, work, and/or community service hours to equal 40 hours weekly
  • Expectations and privileges based on level system
  • Outcomes are tracked

Call today for referrals (610) 589-4501 ext 117.

Supervised Independent Living

Supervised Independent Living Program is to provide campus or community-based apartment-style independent living services for youth who are preparing to live on their own in the community. 

SIL helps youth prepare for adult living and economic self-sufficiency by allowing them appropriate decision-making and financial responsibilities with ongoing supervision and supportive services. Youth will be required to make steady progress toward completion of their educational and/or career goals, including, as applicable, regular attendance and satisfactory performance in an educational program, employment in an approved job, or a combination of work and school activities.

The program offers youth an environment that includes supportive adult relationships, real world experiences and consequences, high expectations for the development of personal responsibility, and opportunities for meaningful participation in the community. Youth in the program are required to complete a combination for a total of 40 hours per week of the following: education, employment, community service, therapeutic services, and approved extracurricular activities.

For more information please contact us at (610) 589-4501.

Admissions Criteria
  • Bethany serves a coed, school-age population, up to the age of 21.
  • These youth have been adjudicated dependent or delinquent and may have been diagnosed with emotional difficulties.
  • Youth must be able to function in an open setting and attend public school.
  • Any youth may be enrolled in regular classes or require special education supports (emotional supports, learning supports, or in some cases- life skills supports).
  • There are no geographical limitations except those dictated by the specific cases under consideration, where distance would make the delivery of service goals difficult or impossible.
  • Families of youth referred to the Short Term Intensive Program must be willing and able to be involved in family counseling.
  • Youth so aggressive as to represent a threat to the physical safety of others are not accepted for service.
  • Youth with extensive medical needs may not be appropriate for service.
  • Youth whose needs are of a nature that would require the continuous and immediate presence of staff are not accepted.
  • While many of the young people accepted have been diagnosed as manifesting mental health difficulties, youth who are identified as actively psychotic or requiring intensive psychiatric treatment would not be admitted.
Referrals

Referrals are accepted from any Commonwealth of Pennsylvania County Children and Youth Agency, Juvenile Probation Office, or other child-placing agencies with which Bethany has a service contract.

How to Initiate a Referral

To initiate a referral to Bethany Children’s Home please call (610) 589-4501 ext 117 to determine the appropriateness of the referral and the availability of bed space.

Please send the following by fax to (610) 589-5771.

  1. Social history
  2. Recent psychiatric and/or psychological evaluation
  3. Summary of school records

Get In Contact With Us

Mailing Address

Bethany Children's Home
P.O. Box 93
Womelsdorf, PA 19567

Contact Us

Phone: (610) 589-4501
Fax: (610) 589-5771
Email: info@bethanyhome.org
To make a referral to any of our group home programs, please email Bethany at bethanyreferral@ bethanyhome.org.

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