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Nutro brand dog
food.
ECAD is proud to be a fully accredited, voting member of Assistance Dogs International.
| Animal Assisted Therapy and Activities
The PALS (Pet Assisted Learning Services) program was created in 1999 because it was clear to us that there were therapeutic benefits for children interacting with dogs. Originally ECAD implemented this simplified version of the ECADemy training program for younger children at the Children's Village, and now at the Henry Ittleson School in the Bronx and at mercyFirst in Syosset, NY. The goal is to help children improve their ability to focus, set and reach manageable goals, practice self control, and increase their self esteem through mastery of measurable skills. At mercyFirst, teens who successfully complete PALS may become eligible for the ECADemy program.
So many boys at the Children's Village asked to be allowed to pet the dogs, walk the dogs, talk to the dogs, or just see the dogs, that the Best Friends recreation program was created in October of 2005 to create opportunities for just that. The purpose is solely to allow boys to play with dogs! They participate in activities like walking on campus and exercising the dogs in the fenced-in track to visiting local nursing homes and senior centers, going to movies, museums, and community events. This program expanded awareness about ECAD throughout the campus of the Children’s Village, including the non-secure detention units. The Best Friends Program inspires many young teens to work harder and achieve the privilege of working at the Canine Training Center. It has become one of the most popular weekend programs on campus.
The WAY (Work Appreciation for Youth) Program is a job readiness program created by the Children's Village and has been replicated in sites around the country. ECAD became an after school worksite in 1999, offering boys a chance to be employed in either Service Dog Training or Kennel Management. Attendance is remarkably high, despite the fact that it's not very glamorous--boys are responsible for cleaning the facility, exercising dogs in all weather, feeding them, washing them, and scooping LOTS of poop! We even have Career Academy students who come before school, during school, and after school! They are learning a strong work ethic as well as skills that will serve them well long after they leave CV. Even though the ECADemy program is clearly therapeutic for the teen trainers, it is considered an Animal Assisted Activity (AAA), not Therapy (AAT). However in 2001, two clinicians at the Children's Village realized the benefits of interacting with ECAD dogs could extend even further. Volunteer puppy raisers Beverly Richard and Avril Lindsay noticed that kids were trying to reschedule appointments for when they knew that the dogs would be in their offices. They approached ECAD about guiding them and CV in developing an AAT Program. ECAD welcomed the prospect, and helped establish a year-long Pilot Program committee to establish appropriate protocols. Since ECAD's main focus has always been training and placing Service Dogs, one of the initial issues was deciding which dogs on campus would be eligible to participate in AAT without compromising their training. It was determined that only dogs who graduated into full-time therapy work or into the breeding program would be included in AAT. Based on those protocols and many success stories, the CV Executive Team approved the AAT program in December 2003. Since then, other ECAD partner schools have adopted similar programs. (Although Green Chimneys has been a pioneer the field of AAT for decades, they only recently made the ECAD dogs official partners). Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT)
According to the Delta Society:
Animal Assisted Activities (AAA)
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