Working in the Butterfly Garden this morning, I heard a familiar voice say, “Hi, Miss Shawna.” I looked up, and there stood Jasmine. Jasmine had graduated from Chaddock’s Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program several months ago and returned to visit the friends and staff who had come to mean so much to her.
Like all Chaddock residential children, Jasmine started her life with challenges most of us cannot imagine. Born to a substance-addicted mom who was unable to meet her physical and emotional needs as an infant and toddler, Jasmine saw the world as a scary, lonely place. She believed she was unimportant and unlovable.
Thankfully, Jasmine was removed from her biological parent and eventually adopted by a loving family who wanted nothing more than to give her all the best in life. They showered her with love and affection, provided for her every need, and encouraged and supported her love for dance and gymnastics.
Though she was with a loving family, she was unable to give and receive love. The psychological and emotional impact of the early years of abuse and neglect were affecting her (and her family) in ways they did not understand. Eventually, Jasmine was diagnosed with Attachment Disorder.
Jasmine and her family reached out to us for help two years ago. She moved to Quincy and enrolled in our residential Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program, receiving the highly specialized and intensive psychological, emotional, and spiritual care she needed to overcome the pain of her past. With the help of Chaddock’s staff and through therapeutic strategies, Jasmine learned the world can be a safe place, and people can be caring and good. Most importantly, at 14 years old, she finally believed she was worthy of care, dignity, and respect. She believed she was loveable.
A few months ago, Jasmine was able to return home to her adoptive family. They had never given up on her; in fact, while Jasmine lived with us, they had their own therapy and work to do. They learned how to parent a child with significant trauma.
Today, Jasmine and her family are thriving. She was practically glowing as she talked about going on walks with her family, something she did daily with Chaddock staff. She talked about the confidence she has in herself and in her mom’s love. “I’m in a really good place,” she shared, “I get to be home with my family and have the freedom of being a normal kid, and I get to visit Chaddock and all the people I care about here. My world is good.”
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Chaddock
If you live in or around Quincy, chances are you have driven past Chaddock’s Quincy campus on South 24th thousands of times, not knowing that nestled in the heart of Quincy is a beautiful 30-acre campus where world-class mental health, psychological, and emotional care and support are provided every day to children from across the nation.
In our 170-year history, we have gone from being a college to an orphanage and home for boys and girls from broken homes to who we are today: a vast ministry where over 320 employees serve over 400 children daily.
Locally, our services include a therapeutic day school, fully accredited K-12, where students from 19 different school districts in Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa come to receive a specialized educational experience tailored to their individual psychological and emotional needs.
Chaddock serves 300 children in its foster and adoption program, which covers Adams, Pike, Brown, and Hancock counties. Its program is consistently rated as one of the best in Illinois.
We are best known, however, for our unique and tremendously successful residential treatment program, DTAP (Developmental Trauma and Attachment Program). DTAP’s foundation is an in-depth understanding of brain development and the impact of trauma on a child’s ability to form attachments with primary caregivers. Children enrolled in DTAP are victims of abuse, neglect, severe trauma, and attachment-related issues. They come to us from across the nation, as young as six years old, for the psychological and emotional healing and support they need to put the pain of their pasts behind them and move on to lead happy, healthy lives.
Chaddock supports the entire family system, not just the child, with a focus on evidence-based interventions.
Finally, The Knowledge Center at Chaddock houses all of our training, consultation, research, and publication activities. Clinicians, educators, and other professionals worldwide have come to Chaddock to learn more about the Chaddock Treatment Model and how they can apply it to their practices. In addition, Chaddock staff have provided training to professionals on five different continents, published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals, and authored two books. Ongoing research projects with several universities continue to ensure that we are on the cutting edge of the field and remain the best at what we do.
If you would like to help support Chaddock and their mission, visit https://www.chaddock.org/support/ or you can scan the QR Code to the right.