Group Homes

Washington Group Home

The Washington County Group Home (also known as "Scot House"), in Washington County, is located in rural Argyle, New York, about 30 minutes north of Saratoga Springs. The home serves males only.

This home provides a 24-hour staff supervised and structured treatment environment for males between the ages of 12 and 21 whose personal, social, developmental, or family situations preclude them from living at home or in a less restrictive setting. Our youth attend Argyle Central School District and are encouraged to become involved in sports and clubs, to perform volunteer work in the community, and to attain employment locally. Residents of the group home who have completed high school often attend Adirondack Community College but can attend any local college or trade school.

We accept boys from any county and provide transportation for family visits. The clinical team works closely with families or permanency resources to address any counseling needs to ensure reunification happens as quickly as possible. Our rural setting means a small public school setting. Our boys are known by their names by every school faculty member, and our staff have a very positive working relationship with school faculty and administrators.

Each day is structured with learning opportunities. Our youth are required to participate in daily group activities that are goal oriented and focus on anger management, independent living skills, improving communication, self-awareness, self-esteem, grief and loss, and healthy living. Recent implementation of the “Why Try” curriculum has the boys looking at their past and provides assistance to make positive strides toward their future.

The Group Home Treatment team aids in the cultural, clinical, recreational, and educational development of each youth by implementing the Sanctuary Model, which is treatment intervention-based on the tenets of trauma theory and addresses the ways in which trauma, adversity, and chronic stress influence individual behavior. Sanctuary is based on the idea that healing from trauma, stress, and adversity requires creating an environment that promotes healing.

Many of the young men at the group home have had negative experiences in their home communities. We integrate the community into programming so the youth can have positive experiences and also learn appropriate behaviors to exhibit in their community. We do this by allowing them to participate in community teen activities with the other young people of the community (i.e. teen movie night, teen basketball, teen free skate, and men’s basketball league), and participation in neighborhood activities such as the Halloween Haunted House and community yard clean ups, with the support and supervision of our staff. Our youth donated a tree this spring to the Argyle Community Park on Arbor Day. On weekends, the young men also volunteer at our neighboring nursing home (Pleasant Valley) and at the soup kitchens in Hudson Falls and Glens Falls. Our goal is to have each of our youth participate in at least 20 hours of volunteer work, however, most boys leave the program with much more than 20 hours of volunteer time.

We also try to teach the boys that being positive members of their school community also has rewards in the community in which they live. Many participate in school-related sports, band, or drama club and therefore become known positively among the PTA members, parents, and town residents. We also facilitate a strong sense of school spirit by encouraging our youth to attend school events to support their classmates.

Staff members at the group home, as well as people from the community, facilitate group counseling for the youth approximately twice a week. Topics for the groups include: Independent Living, Social Skills, Anger Management, Discharge Planning, and Grief and Loss. The youth at times also help to facilitate a group.

In addition to the Direct Care Group Home Counselors, our staff consists of a Clinical Coordinator and a Coordinator of House Management. The Clinical Coordinator counsels the youth and their families, while the Coordinator of House Management oversees the youth in program by supervising the Group Home Counselors, all of whom are dedicated to excellence in the field of child and family welfare.

Academic tutoring services are provided in the home five times a week to assist our residents meet their educational goals. Collaborating with outside service providers and our community, we strive to provide our youth with all the tools and supports they need to be a success.

We invite you to visit us and learn more. We would be delighted to provide you with a tour of our group home, to answer questions you may have about our program, to introduce our staff, and to show you how we can provide services you may need.

Washington County Group Home
"Scot House"
4575 State Route 40
Argyle NY 12809
Tel 518-638-6080
Fax 518-638-6098