When one looks back to significant moments in American history, there are certain commonalities that seem to accompany each of these moments. Initially, there is a problem or an obstacle to be overcome. Next, a person or a group of people decide they will tackle the challenge. Then, there is usually some type of adversity that must be overcome before change can be wrought. Lastly, the collective efforts of those involved changes the way things are.

For Pressley Ridge, one of these significant moments occurred 30 years ago when our leaders began to challenge assumptions about how troubled adolescents were being treated in the world of social services.

At the time there was a belief that teenagers in treatment could not succeed in foster homes. The mental health and social services field believed adolescents could not or would not bond with foster families or would present so many problems as to make such a placement untenable. The only way their problems could be adequately addressed was in group settings with other teenagers like themselves, or so the thinking went. All too often, however, when they left these group settings they were on their own. Most had no family to go to and never experienced what it was like to be a part of one.

In 1981, Wm. Clark Luster (former executive director at Pressley Ridge) had a radical idea. He believed that every child, no matter how troubled or troubling, deserved a family. Moreover, he reasoned, care in a treatment foster care home could be more economical, more normative, and more efficacious than that in a congregate facility if done properly. Clark turned to Dr. Rob Hawkins, a psychology professor at West Virginia University, to explore the idea and put together a team to advance it. Dr. Hawkins in turn brought in Pam Meadowcroft who assumed administrative responsibilities for the project. Critical to the early effort was the support of Tom Carros, director of Allegheny County’s Children and Youth Services. Tom was willing to suspend disbelief and grant the project demonstration status.

Out of Luster’s vision and the diligence of Hawkins’ and Meadowcroft’s team, the PRYDE (Pressley Ridge Youth Development Extension) model was developed.

One of the great strengths of the PRYDE model was its commitment to permanency. From the outset the PRYDE team sought to create an environment where kids knew they were going to a family who would not give up on them. The model ensured that the best families would be chosen to become treatment foster parents and that they would be thoroughly trained and supported in the endeavor. There were no models like this in the nation at the time.

A hefty goal was set to serve 20 kids in the first year of the program. Pressley Ridge stepped up to the plate and 20 kids were not only served but experienced great success as a result of the program.

What started out touching the lives of 20 children a year has grown to helping nearly a thousand children annually in seven states and Washington D.C., and these are only the children served through Pressley Ridge. The PRYDE Treatment Foster Care curriculum is now packaged, trained and sold to other providers across the United States. It is now an industry benchmark.

As Tom Carros put it, “It is typical that Pressley Ridge was willing to look at the needs children in the context of therapeutic foster care, then develop a successful program on a large scale- that’s how they became a premier provider.”

Click here to read about Treatment Foster Care parents who have been with Pressley Ridge for over 20 years.