Walker Home and School
Residents, in their second year, may elect part-time placement for three months to two years and rotations may be designed to the specific needs and interests of an individual. Walker Home and School is a residential and day treatment program for 80 children, ages 5–13 (40 residential, 40 day). It is located 15 miles (30–40 minutes) from MGH. Students at Walker all have behavioral problems and great difficulty functioning in a regular classroom. The majority of the children have a history of psychiatric hospitalization. Approximately 60% have ADHD, 40% mood disorders, 20% posttraumatic stress disorder, 15% pervasive developmental disorder and 8% Tourette’s disorder. Treatment is multidisciplinary, including milieu, special education, psychotherapy, family therapy and psychopharmacology. Residents can carry two or more children in supervised long-term individual psychotherapy or cognitive control therapy, serve as co-therapists with families or groups, observe and participate in special education and assist in psychopharmacological evaluation and treatment. On-site faculty consists of a Board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, a licensed psychologist, a doctoral level social worker, nine master’s level clinical social workers, two master’s level mental health counselors, a psychiatric nurse, 11 certified special educators and two master’s level professional child care workers.