Harrington House is a residential, therapeutic program that serves six children and adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who have intellectual disabilities along with social, emotional, behavorial, developmental, sensory and/or mental illness challenges. Each child works to improve individual skills, based on specific needs, in order to become a more productive and successful part of a family, a classroom or a workplace — thriving in a setting that provides much-needed structure and support. Some of the skills we work on include anger management; alternatives to aggressive or self-injurious behaviors; social, interpersonal and communication skills; daily and independent living skills — cooking, shopping, menu planning, room maintenance — and academics. We also work with children and teenagers to help them build self-esteem and learn to become more responsible for their behavior. We believe that three specific approaches help the children who come to Harrington House move ahead so they can transition to less restrictive living situations — returning to their birth or adoptive families, foster homes, adult residential programs or supported living apartments — with more likelihood of success. The three approaches are Involvement in the communities through volunteer work, school clubs, camp experiences, and faith-based groups, all of which help kids learn to seek out worthwhile activities, to build positive relationships with adults and peers, and to believe that there are people in the community who care about them. Strength-based treatment, which identifies a child's natural strengths as well as relevant community resources to help children overcome specific challenges. For instance, if a teenager, seeking excitement, has frequent run-ins with police, he or she might become — with OHI support — a volunteer at the local fire department. Here, the young person will experience and develop positive relationships with adults; begin to see them as role models, rather than adversaries; and learn to seek challenge through positive, rather than negative, experiences. Individualized interventions, during which OHI staff assesses needs, works with the child and members of the treatment team to set goals — and then provides the services needed to reach those goals, from instruction in proper hygiene and speech therapy to gender identity support groups to instruction about healthy boundaries. Harrington House provides 24-hour supervision, with 1:2 staff ratio during the day, 1:3 overnight, and 1:1 staffing for children with special needs. We also offer a sensory integration room for children with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, or other sensory issues and a comprehensive array of services, including administrative, clinical, case management, mentoring, and family visitation. Harrington House works in collaboration with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.