Living In Safe Alternatives, is a private, non-profit organization that has served the needs of abused, abandoned adjudicated and neglected youth for 40 years. Click here for more information about us.

Our History continued

During the early eighties, the population of homeless teens in the state of Connecticut increased due to abuse and neglect which was brought into the open through the media and legislature.  The public and government needed to respond to the issue and realized that corporal punishment was no longer a private family matter and kids were suffering at the hands of their abusers.  Due to the attention being given to this issue more adolescents were being removed from their homes by the Department of Children and Families and the court system. This created a need to develop more Group Homes within the state. 

During the mid 1980’s other trends were emerging.  It became evident that several residents from the Group Homes were not reconciling with their families and returning home.  Some of these youths were successfully completing the programs and moving out on their own into the community.  In addition, the population of youth being admitted into group homes was exhibiting more complex behavioral and mental health issues.  Due to these changes, the Department of Children and Families decided to allot more money to the group homes to enhance their services.  This funding provided twenty four hour direct care staffing, the formalization of life skills classes and individual and family therapy within the programs.

The Community Life Skills program began in 1989 and was located on Congress Avenue in Waterbury.   This program was designed to address the needs of those adolescent males and females coming out of foster care and group homes who were not returning back home but being placed in apartments by themselves with limited supervision and case management support.  These teens facing the transition into adulthood and independence were in need of learning the appropriate skills to enable them to live independently.

Through the Community Life Skills program, which offered a structured classroom environment, the youths acquired the essential life and pre-employment skills necessary to transition to independent living and become self reliant in a community setting.  In 2009, L.I.S.A., Inc applied for the grant put forth by the Department of Children and Families which would enhance the services provided by this program.  Therefore, Community Life Skills’ name was changed to Community Based Life Skills which is now a 16 week program followed by 24 weeks of individual intervention.  This program focuses more on the participants to maximize educational success and acquire the essential pre-vocational and life skills to become self sufficient and productive members of their community.  It also incorporates the input and involvement of the care givers to ensure the support of all involved in the youths’ cases.

In 1990, Mr. Robert J. Butler, who at the time was the Executive Director of Plainville Group Home, was the driving force in merging Group Homes of Greater Waterbury, Inc.-Beacon House with Plainville Group Home to form the agency Living In Safe Alternatives, Inc. – L.I.S.A., Inc. His vision was to build an agency that would provide services to abused and neglected youth to help them develop healthy interpersonal relationships, strive for academic achievement and learn the appropriate independent living and vocational skills to become successful adults. The acronym L.I.S.A. was created in memory of Lisa Steinberg, a little girl from New York who died of severe injuries from the physical abuse she endured by her adoptive parents.  This infamous case shed light on the wide spread abuse that was occurring within our country and the significant need to address the growing problem. 

Due to the deterioration of the group home and its neighborhood, Beacon House relocated to Wolcott, CT in 1993.  It was the only group home within the state of Connecticut to be constructed to accommodate the needs and the living space of residents.  All other group homes were converted from another use and usually not equipped with the proper living accommodations or esthetically pleasing to the eye.

The SAIL program was developed in 1990 to address the needs of adolescent males and females 16-21 including teen moms and their children. The program was created to help those youths who had successfully discharged from group homes and residential programs but not ready to live on their own in the community.  The SAIL program, being a transitional step, offered these teens the independence of having their own apartments but with staff supervision and case management support available on site. It also offered a Parent Educator to assist the teen moms in learning the proper child rearing and parenting skills.

A Stitch in Time was created in 2003, to provide residents within the L.I.S.A., Inc. programs opportunities to learn work skills in a job setting and acquire education in vocational and job skills. The program teaches the residents how to knit and crochet, produce items for sale and operate a retail internet and mail order yarn business. In 2009, the name was changed to Stitch Together, to avoid confusion with a local Connecticut business.
 
In 2007, Beacon House and Plainville Group Home converted to a PASS program.  PASS stands for preparing adolescents for self sufficiency. This transition changed the focus of the program more on three essential components: education, vocational, and life skills.  In addition, the agency also developed The Connections Mentor program which provides volunteer mentors and mentor families to adolescents residing in L.I.S.A., Inc residential programs.  These individuals, who volunteer their time, act as role models and establish life long connections to help support the youth with their transition to adulthood.  This program also offers “mentor families” so the residents who are less fortunate have the opportunity to finally experience healthy family life.