Gemma Services

Martin Luther School - in fy 21/22 Martin Luther School (mls) served 180 students in grades k-9. A Pennsylvania department of education approved private School that is licensed as a private academic School, mls provides an individualized educational program designed to meet the needs of children whose emotional and behavioral difficulties disrupt their ability to succeed academically in a mainstream School setting. Students are referred from their public or charter School, and also from the Gemma Services residential treatment program. Each child has an individual educational plan that identifies their instructional needs and any accommodations needed. Mls is located on a beautiful 35-acre campus and facilities and Services include a gymnasium, outdoor recreational facilities, a library, computer lab with technology instruction, reading tutoring, art and music programming, and the full range of academic instruction.

Community based programs - our community based programs provide: outpatient mental health Services; foster family care; adoption Services; intensive behavioral health Services in a child's home or School; a family empowerment center, and other in-home prevention Services to help youth and familes avoid crisis. In fy 21/22 our community based programs served more than 1690 youth ranging in age from birth to 21 years old and their foster and/or biological parents, and our prevention Services served an additional 232 families. Youth in foster family care benefit from community placements that address their emotional, medical, behavioral, social, and developmental needs. The program offers structured home living with foster parents who are trained to provide for the specific, identified needs of each child.

Residential treatment program - in fy 21/22 the residential treatment (rt) program on our plymouth meeting campus served 88 boys and girls, ages 6-14. The children and youth served in this program experience serious emotional and behavioral health issues. The rt program provides a therapeutic living environment that includes individualized treatment, supervision, care and nurturing for youth on a 24-hour-a-day basis through outcome-oriented treatment planningimplementationevaluation psychiatric evaluation, trauma informed therapy, case management, behavior management and health care. Available therapies include individual, family, group, a highly structured milieu, counseling, behavioral, and medication. Our rt program includes therapeutic and recreational activities to help enablethe youth served to experience joy and opportunites for creative expression. All Services are provided with the valued participation of biological, adoptive, and/or foster families.

Our prevention Services include a family empowerment center and in-home protective Services, the goal of which is to support children and families in overcoming challenges, strengthen community supports, and prevent involvement with the child welfare system.