A New Perspective on Relationships
The Birdseye Boys Ranch is more than a rustic house
that has grown with the program. It is a place of responsibility and accountability that
shows the signs of individual battles won and lost. The usual struggles that siblings have
in living together also occur at the ranch and serve as a teaching opportunity for
relationship building.
 The day begins with household chores in
which youth learn the skills of independent living: cooking, washing dishes,
vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, mopping, doing laundry, and cleaning bathrooms. As
they progress in the program, youth have the opportunity for leadership by
supervising their peers in the performance of household tasks.
The program promotes social responsibility and becoming a
healthy member of a community. Guided by clearly established rules, youth learn to respect
each other, their community, and authority figures. When challenging issues surface, the
BBR staff members turn them into teaching moments. By utilizing various behavioral
techniques, staff members guide the youth in learning to risk in relationships, in finding
constructive means of meeting needs for respect and love, and in discovering socially
acceptable ways to relate to the environment and to authority figures.
The BBR behavioral system motivates youth by granting and
removing daily privileges and by tracking each youth’s progress in a daily report.
The daily reporting by the staff is enhanced by journal writing. The day ends with quiet
time in which each youth writes in a journal and explores his daily behavior and how it
relates to his treatment goals.
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