Officials from the Villa of Hope cut the ribbon today on a new respite care center for high-risk youth. Canterbury Place, at 115 Canterbury Road in Rochester, will serve children aged 5 to 17 from Monroe County and surrounding areas who are high-risk and in need of programming to sustain the family unit.
Villa of Hope President and CEO Christina Gullo says the new facility bridges the gap between overnight and crisis facilities. "Because these youth are at such a high risk and in need of specialized programming to sustain that family unit, this is where parents can use the respite in order to have time away to regroup and re-energize and know that their youth are in excellent hands and in a therapeutic environment."
Gullo says in the past, at-risk youth were assigned to long term residential programs more quickly and for longer periods of time. Today, she says, that is seen as a last resort.