Admission Information

**Telos accepts boys, ages 11 to 15. However, we do not "age out" residents who become older than 15 while at Telos, so long as they serve as an appropriate role model for the younger residents.

**Many residents carry one or more of the following diagnoses: Oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and many are substance involved with drugs or alcohol. Many of our residents are also diagnosed as suffering from `Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.'

**Regardless of whether they have a diagnosis or not, Telos accepts residents who have not lost their ability to bond, and who can accept parenting from adults who are not their parents. Boys abandoned by their fathers at an early age often do especially well at Telos because of the wilderness program, and its corresponding opportunities for them to pursue outdoor activities with quality father substitutes.

**Served are both dependents and delinquents of the juvenile court, those with failed or problematic adoptions, and private placements. Telos does not serve residents placed voluntarily by parents through Child Protective Services unless the parents agree to strictly follow Telos policies and procedures, and appoint a qualified intermediary to investigate any complaints made by their resident.

**Residents must not have any dangerous proclivities that pose an undue health or safety risk to themselves, others, or the community.

**Residents on psychotropic medications are accepted, provided they can undertake wilderness travel.

**Because sexual misbehaviors that occur at the beginning of a young man's sexual awakening are often due to a lack of role modeling and proper information, especially regarding their own responsibility for disciplining their sexual interests, we will accept young, first time sexual offenders, but we will not accept violent or repetitive sexual offenders as they are better served by a specialized sex offender's program..

**We have long specialized in substance abuse treatment, and will do urine testing to assure abstinence, but do not accept youths needing detoxification.

**Residents accepted must be physically fit enough to undertake strenuous wilderness travel. Too, they must be able to behave safely in the out-of-doors, and follow the directions of wilderness staff.

**While Telos staff are trained to provide emergency restraints it is unsafe to do them, so it is Telos policy to not accept (or keep) residents with a chronic need for restraint.

**We do not accept youths who have a serious or long standing arson background, who have committed violent crimes, who chronically threaten, intimidate, or abuse others, who have a history of chronic property destruction, or who are substantially gang involved.

**Chronic runaways are not accepted, and residents who run away are not accepted back, with rare exception.

**Residents admitted must voluntarily accept placement at Telos, and commit to a behavioral agreement upon intake.

**For all residents, we must be able to develop a well thought out treatment plan and expect the placing agent and/or agency to carry it out to its conclusion. We do not want "take and bake" placements --residents moved to a lower level of care or a "closer" program before they have fully benefited from the opportunities presented by our program.

**The average length of stay is 12 to 15 months. Rarely, a resident may require a two year commitment to make the progress most residents make in one year (we can usually spot this type of resident within a couple months of placement.)