Youth Home Inc.

In May, Youth Home Inc. of Little Rock will celebrate its 40th anniversary of service to emotionally troubled adolescents and their families.

The organization was founded in 1966 by Carol Smelley using a group home model built around house parents and a family structure. Twenty years later, the treatment program was changed to a medical model, with active physician involvement.

The change was made in response to the growing demand for services for more severely disturbed clients at even younger ages. Youth home has expanded its intensive inpatient residential program to 70 total beds, and referrals continue pushing for more slots.

“We continue to be besieged with requests for this service,” said Beth Cartwright, executive director. “We really are a premier treatment program for adolescent care.”

In addition to its 50-acre campus on the western outskirts of Little Rock, Youth Home operates an outpatient service in west Little Rock.

On-site services include a 40-slot, school-based day-treatment program.

The group serves 1,500 clients annually, supported by 300 active volunteers. Its 227-member paid staff includes physicians, nurses, teachers, psychologists and administrative personnel.

The staff-to-child ratio is 1-to-3 for residential treatment, with an average stay of seven to eight months but extending to as long as 18 months.

Each classroom accommodates 10 students with a special education teacher and behavior specialist.

The annual budget of the private, nonprofit psychiatric treatment center now tallies more than $10 million. Medicaid and state contracts are the main funding sources, undergirded by fundraisers.

The agency is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the nation’s oldest and largest accrediting body for health care providers.

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