Admissions & Referral Information

Allendale offers a full range of services, including outpatient therapy, therapeutic day school, and residential and group home care.

Bradley Counseling Center provides community-based outpatient counseling services for children and families including in-office therapy, in-home counseling, mentoring and other services.  Intake for these services can be contacted at 847-356-3322.  Learn more about our outpatient counseling services.

Our Therapeutic Day School is a supportive school environment that offers a small classroom size and special education certified teachers to address students’ emotional and behavioral needs, in addition to psychiatric and behavioral supports. This option allows youth to receive the services they need while still living at home. The school offers psychiatric consult and therapy, in addition to a therapeutic behavioral approach. The therapeutic school program runs year round, with a two week break in June and another in August. Referrals to the therapeutic day school come as a recommendation of the IEP team. Learn more about our Specialized Education Services.

Our Specialized Foster Care Program is actively seeking foster parents to support youth in many ways; through tending to their well-being and educational needs, through supporting them to fulfill the wishes they have for their lives, through providing opportunities for the youth to understand themselves and supporting healthy, meaningful relationships. Learn more about our Specialized Foster Care Program.

Our Residential Treatment Program offers a structured, home-like environment with round-the-clock treatment & care as well as community group home living. Here, youth find security in consistent routines and empowerment to set their own goals while learning to form healthy relationships. Learn more about our Residential Care & Treatment Services.

Residential referral process:

The guardian should forward us written records for review, including but not limited to:

• Current psychiatric and psychological evaluation
• School records (including the IEP)
• Clinical discharge summary from psychiatric hospitalizations
• Summary of outpatient counseling efforts and any other reports which detail the child’s mental health needs and current need for 24-hour care
• Verification of funding for placement

Regarding funding options, youth in our program are funded either privately (parents are the guardian) or through DCFS (state is the guardian).

Private placements may be funded by:

• A local school district (IEP recommendation for residential care once other options have been exhausted)
• County court (as part of probation order)
• Private insurance (as approved by your insurance company)
• Individual Care Grant (application process is through Illinois’s Healthcare and Family Services (HFS). The criteria for the ICG is “severely impaired reality testing”. The determination is made solely on the child’s clinical needs and not based on family income. If approved, the funding covers multiple agencies in Illinois and surrounding states. The completed application must be submitted before the day the youth turns 17 ½ and the youth must be enrolled in an Illinois school district or other approved educational program.
• Full individual payment (cost of $524/day)

Unfortunately, KidCare or other forms of the Illinois Medical Card do not cover our level of therapeutic care.

The referral process begins when you submit the referral materials to us. You can mail the materials to our main facility:
Allendale Association
Attn:  Intake Department
P.O. Box 1088
Lake Villa, IL 60046

Once we review the materials, we will provide preliminary feedback about the referral. If the referral seems appropriate, we will arrange an in-person interview. If not, we will provide you program options that may better meet the child’s needs. Following the interview, our placement committee makes a final decision about placement, and admission is arranged, pending bed availability and confirmation of funding.

How can I get more information about placement into Allendale’s Residential program or arrange a tour? Contact our Intake Department at 847-245-6327 or email ctaylor@allendale4kids.org. You can also call toll free at 1-888-255-3631 to reach one of our other intake staff at these extensions: 6164 or 6472.