The Brahma House Program

When There’s No One Else to Turn To…

Brahma House offers abused, neglected and homeless youth a safe haven. At our short-term, residential crisis intervention program, we provide 13- to 18-year-olds with food, clothing, counseling, health care, education and independent-living skills.

More than 100 youth find a temporary home here each year. They are victims of physical abuse, sexual abuse, a parent’s addiction, abandonment or other family crises.

Our goal is to help these teens deal with difficult family situations and reunite them with their families. When that isn’t possible, we help them find alternate stable homes where they can thrive.

Brahma House is a licensed 12-bed group home and a licensed 4-bed shelter. That means we can respond to a variety of situations and accept referrals 24 hours a day from the state child welfare agency and family courts, as well as walk-ins. By providing displaced youth in New Jersey with structured residential treatment and evaluation services, we work to build their self-esteem, improve their education and help them develop the skills they need to succeed.

The Brahma House program offers individual, group, and family counseling. Each resident is assigned a case manager and treatment coordinator who jointly develop a treatment plan. The case manager coordinates the assessment and schedules all necessary appointments, while the child care staff provide transportation to community-based services.

Although our residents can’t be with family and friends, we try to create a warm, caring environment with a balance of educational, athletic, and leisure-time activities that take place in-house, in the community, and throughout New Jersey and neighboring states.

Residents attend either their current school or the Brahma House Transitional Learning Center (TLC). This in-house basic-skills education program is managed by a full-time education coordinator who is a certified teacher. TLC students receive individualized instruction and daily evaluations of their progress. Their work is graded, and they receive full credit from their sending school district.

We work hard to meet the emotional and physical needs of our residents. In June 2007, we completed a three-month renovation to promote comfort, safety and efficiency. The photos below show the results.

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Welcome to Brahma House - Somerset Home's First Program

The dining room bulletin board (above) welcomes new residents.

BEDROOMS:

Found in a resident's drawer: "The one place I will always call home" - Somerset Home

Girl's bedrooms:

Boy's bedrooms:

EDUCATION AND RECREATION AREAS:

TV Room:

Recreation Room, Classroom, Computer Lab:

Library:

Volleyball court, basketball court and program vans on the north side of the Brahma House grounds:

A garden path leads to the picnic grove:

A commercial style kitchen makes meal preparation a smooth operation:

The dining room is located next to the kitchen and used day and night for a multitude of activities:

The laundry room has two pair of laundry machines and lots of linen storage:

The case management offices on the second floor have six private offices and a waiting area (below) for the comfort of residents and families:

The Youth Couselor office (below) provides office space for residential and street outreach staff.

Brahma House

accredited by the Council on Accreditation

licensed by the New Jersey Department of Children and Families

Street Smart
Street Outreach Program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Brahma House street outreach program, STREET S.M.A.R.T. (Somerset Mobile Adolescent Resource Team), is funded by a federal grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The street outreach program is targeted to adolescents and young adults between the ages of 13-21 who are living on the street or in other unsafe environments and are at-risk of sexual abuse and or exploitation.

The objectives of the STREET S.M.A.R.T. program are as follows:

  • Provide youth with food, clothing, and blankets while on the streets and provide easy access to a basic center program (Brahma House). To get them off the street and into a safe environment reducing the incidence of sexual abuse;
  • Provide transportation to needed services;
  • Provide crisis counseling to homeless youth on the street in order to provide support and gain rapport;
  • Distribute education and prevention materials about HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, rape;
  • Provide advocacy and referral to community based social services (including the agency's basic center and transitional living programs);
  • Provide educational and job readiness assessment; and
  • Provide access to health related services including mental health services.

The two outreach workers locate youth on the streets with the goal of having them agree to a stay at Brahma House. There the youth receive additional services of shelter, shower, food, clothing, counseling, and a treatment plan will be developed. The team concentrates on the areas of Somerville, North Plainfield, Franklin, and Bound Brook. Popular teen hangouts, such as fast food restaurants, malls, convenient stores, and parks are be targeted. Outreach workers have a presence on the street or in community based locations at the same time each week.

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Brahma House | Pathways Life Skills Education and Outreach Program | Passages Transitional Living Program| My Place Transitional Living Program | Whitney House Transitional Living Program
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