Our dually-licensed homes combine the qualities of short-term shelter and longer-term group care in one program 
to offer immediate and extended care and services. Shelter care, which is defined as care for 30 days or less, emphasizes safety and crisis intervention. Group care placement of more than 30 days addresses crisis and maintains safety, while moving to a transitional process that addresses longer-term goals and extended behavior stabilization. We operate three of these homes, the Linda Massa Youth Home in Hamilton, the Flathead Youth Home in Kalispell and the Margaret Stuart Youth Home in Helena to meet the unique needs of these communities.
Our Approach
- Work to resolve the crisis that caused the youth’s previous setting to break down
- Offer a strength-based approach that helps young people make progress in their lives
- Help maintain the youth’s relationship to his or her family
- Locate in a neighborhood that allows us to take advantage of available resources in that community
- Provide a structured daily program that awards privileges based upon appropriate behavior and teaches social skills, encourages positive behavior and advocates personal responsibility
- Give access to community services, including education, employment, recreation, culture, therapy and health care
- Be culturally competent and focus on cultural identity development by giving each youth a multi-ethnic identity assessment
- Ensure safety for the youth and those around him or her
- Provide individual counseling and group sessions that focus on skill development and communication
- Expand the youth’s case plan when the youth transfers or is placed directly into longer-term care
- Have a full-time Program Director who’s responsible for leading and supporting the program and staff
- Have a caring, committed, well-trained and talented line staff who work in a 1:4 staff-to-youth ration with 24-hour awake supervision
- Provide a Home Manager who manages the day-to-day functioning of the home to ensure a home-like environment
Ages Served
We are licensed to accept youth ages 10 to 17
Criteria for Admission
We accept youth who:
- Are in crisis, are concerned about the safety or stability of their home, or are awaiting a longer-term placement
- Are at risk of being on the streets
- Need protection while Child Welfare investigates abuse
We accept referrals from agencies, family members or even the youngsters themselves, or if the youth qualifies for shelter care under the Federal Runaway Basic Center Program. Youth must be covered by health insurance.
Youngsters are not appropriate for placement if they present a significant threat to themselves, others or the community, or whose needs are greater than what can be provided in the setting
Youth are appropriate for placement in our long-term program if they have:
- Continued to or meet the criteria above for admission
- A transitional plan that will positively move the youth toward a successful placement out of the group home
- Goals for transitioning that can, and have a reasonable chance of, being met within the time frame proposed in this group home
- A need for the structure of this program in order to stabilize before moving to a permanent placement
- The ability to successfully maintain in the community and in an open setting
- No other option for placement that is available or appropriate
Contact for a referral or further information:
Dan Corradini
Director of Shelter Care
dcorradini@youthhomesmt.org
(406) 541-1653
Linda Massa Youth Home – Hamilton, MT
Deb Smith, Program Director
dsmith@youthhomesmt.org
(406) 363-0619
Flathead Youth Home – Kalispell, MT
Lori Madden, SWLC, Program Director
lmadden@youthhomesmt.org
(406) 755-4622
The Margaret Stuart Youth Home – Helena, MT
Colleen Rivers, Program Director
crivers@youthhomesmt.org
(406) 449-3038
