Since 1985, Harbor House has been a safe haven for children.

“We are an emergency shelter for children,” said Amy Dunn, Executive Director, at last week’s meeting of the West Cal Kiwanis Club. 

“For some youth, we are going to be the only option for them.”

Harbor House is a 20 bed facility located in the Chennault area near Mallard Cove Golf Course in Lake Charles. The average age of their clientele is around 14 and half years old. The maximum stay for a child is 105 days, but two to three weeks is the average length of stay for the majority of admits. And the facility averages around 350 admits a year.

“Since we’ve opened, Harbor House has served almost 7,000 admissions,” said Dunn.
It is one of ten programs belonging to the Educational and Treatment Council, Inc. (ETC).  The ETC is a private, not for profit social service agency providing intervention and prevention services which address the issues affecting youth and families who are in at risk situations. They are funded, according to Dunn, “through a variety of local money – parish money – as well as some state contracts and federal grants." Their major fundraiser for Harbor House, ‘Jokes, Jazz, and Just Desserts’, will be held in September at L’Auberge Hotel and Casino in Lake Charles.

 The five parish Southwest Louisiana area is their main area of focus. Eighty-five percent of admits to Harbor House come from Calcasieu parish while 15 percent come from outlying parishes and from out of state, although the out of state numbers are very small.

Quite a large number of the children admitted will have substance abuse issues, be one or more grades behind where they should be in school, have some kind of mental health issue, have a history of runaway behavior, suffer from some form of child abuse or neglect, or be a repeat admit. Seventy percent, according to Dunn, will have come from the juvenile justice or foster care system. For these children, Harbor House offers 24 hour supervision by trained youth care workers, individual case management by Bachelor degree level case managers, individualized and family counseling from Master degree level counselors, continuing education on site through Calcasieu Parish School Board, specialized programs (such as substance abuse awareness, social skills training, and conflict resolution, among others), and group counseling.

Dunn emphasized that however disconnected from society these children are through their situations, they still “have their own hopes and dreams for the future”. Some of them can’t be reached and are lost to suicide, drugs, or incarceration. But the majority of them can be reached and can go on to become productive, law abiding citizens.

“A lot of times we just try to instill hope,” said Dunn. “We know most of our kids are going to be okay.”

For more information about ETC, Harbor House, or the ‘Jokes, Jazz, and Just Desserts’ fundraiser, contact them at 337-433-1062 or visit their website at www.etcyouth.org