Empowering Well-Being Through Compassionate Care
Welcome to Family Advantage, where every individual and family is valued, supported, and guided toward healing and hope.
Residential Care program
Family Advantage's Residential Care program provides a safe, structured, and nurturing environment for children and adolescents who need 24-hour therapeutic support. Our homes combine routine, individualized care, and evidence-based treatment to help youth feel supported, build coping skills, and achieve long-term emotional growth.
Pleasant Hill Home
Opened 2006
Pleasant Hill was Family Advantage's first residential home, opening in 2006. It offers a warm, home-like environment where youth receive therapeutic support, steady guidance, and individualized care. With nearly two decades of experience, Pleasant Hill is a place where youth begin their healing journey surrounded by consistency, safety, and nurturing relationships.
Scotland Neck Home
Opened 2019
Opened in 2019, the Scotland Neck home reflects our continued commitment to expanding access to quality care. It provides a calm, supportive environment focused on therapeutic engagement, skill-building, and family involvement. Youth benefit from structured routines and individualized treatment in a home designed to promote stability and growth.
What to Expect in Residential Care
Safe, structured environment
24/7 supervision by trained, compassionate staff.
Individualized treatment
Tailored therapy, skill-building, and emotional support.
Therapeutic programming
Group and individual sessions designed for emotional regulation and positive behavioral change.
Family involvement
Regular communication and collaboration with families to support progress.
Focus on growth
Tools and support to help youth transition successfully back to their families and communities.
Residential Level III Training Curriculum
Welcome to
HEALING, HOPE & HOME
At Family Advantage, we understand the fear and uncertainty that comes with watching your child struggle. You may feel like you've tried every thing—and nothing has worked. But you're not alone, and your child is not beyond help. Since 2006, Family Advantage has served as a beacon of hope for adolescent boys who are battling emotional, behavioral, and mental health challenges. Our Therapeutic Level III Residential Facilities offer more than just a place to stay — they provide a healing home where young people can stabilize, grow, and thrive under the care of licensed professionals who see beyond the behavior to the heart. We believe in second chances. We believe in your child. And we’re here to help your family heal — together.
Our Mission
To empower youth and families by promoting healing, emotional well-being, and resilience through innovative, individualized therapeutic care.
Our Vision
To create a community where every child and adolescent has the opportunity to thrive, heal, and reach their full potential, free from the barriers of mental health challenges.
Who we serve
Family Advantage is a specialized therapeutic program designed for adolescent males ages 7–17 who:
- → Struggle with emotional regulation, anger, anxiety, or depression
- → Have experienced trauma, neglect, or abandonment
- → Exhibit self-harming behaviors, suicidal thoughts, or aggressive outbursts
- → Are cycling through failed placements, school suspensions, or juvenile involvement
- → Need a safe, consistent, and structured environment to stabilize
Our youth often come from situations of deep emotional pain, but within our walls, they find structure, support, and belief in their potential.
We proudly accept referrals from:
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Department of Social Services (DSS)
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Juvenile Justice & court systems
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We are contracted with the following Insurance companies: Trillium Health Resources, Partners Behavioral Health, Vaya Health, Alliance Behavior Health, Healthy Blue, Carolina Complete
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Schools, counselors, and mental health providers
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Parents and guardians seeking long-term therapeutic placement
What Makes
Family Advantage Different?
Family Advantage stands apart by combining structured, trauma-informed care with deep family engagement to create lasting change beyond residential treatment.
Family-Focused Philosophy
We work with you, not around you. From day one, you are part of the treatment process. Our therapists guide regular family sessions and reunification planning, because healing happens when families heal together
Trauma-Informed, Clinically Driven Care
Our team is trained in trauma-informed approaches that recognize behavior as communication — not defiance. We meet each youth with empathy and evidence-based support, not punishment.
Homelike Environment
Our homes feel like just that — home. Youth live in clean, cozy, and structured residences that promote safety, stability, and dignity. No cold institutions. Just caring spaces.
Whole-Person Growth
We focus on emotional, social, academic, and life-skill development — helping youth reengage in school, form positive relationships, and build confidence in themselves.
The Skills System
Teaching Youth How to Feel, Think & Act With Purpose
Emotional regulation isn’t automatic — it’s learned. And The Skills System teaches our youth how.
This user-friendly set of emotion regulation skills helps adolescents manage their feelings, make better decisions, and take actions that align with their values — even under stress.
With The Skills System, youth learn how to:
Be present in the moment
Recognize and regulate their emotional responses
Think clearly during conflict or high-stress moments
Replace impulsive reactions with goaldirected behavior
Improve relationships through shared emotional language
Why is SKILLS so powerful?
The Skills System develop by Dr. Julie Brown, promotes co-regulation, meaning that youth and staff work together to manage emotions — rather than reacting against each other. This shared approach reduces conflict, increases connection, and creates an environment of mutual growth. In many programs, co-dysregulation leads to breakdowns in communication and trust. At Family Advantage, we actively use the Skills System to build healthier responses, stronger relationships, and long-term emotional resilience.
A Day In The Life At Family Advantage
Structure is key to success. Here's what a typical day might look like for your child:
- Morning Routine: Wake-up, personal hygiene, breakfast, goal setting
- School or Day Treatment: Tailored education to meet academic needs
- Afternoon Therapy: Group or individual therapy sessions focused on coping skills, choices, reflection time, anger management, social awareness, & healing
- Recreation Time: Sports, creative arts, nature walks, mindfulness activities
- Family-Style Dinner: Building social skills and responsibility in a warm, respectful setting
Evening:
Homework help, journaling, 1-on-1 mentoring, quiet wind-down routines Every day includes:
- → Individual Therapy (weekly)
- → Family Therapy (bi-weekly or as scheduled)
- → Group Therapy (multiple times per week)
- → Life Skills Coaching & Peer Interaction
- → Daily Positive Behavior Reinforcement
A Day In The Life At Family Avantage
Structure is key to success. Here's what a typical day might look like for your child:
Morning Routine: Wake-up, personal hygiene, breakfast, goal setting
School or Day Treatment: Tailored education to meet academic needs
Afternoon Therapy: Group or individual therapy sessions focused on coping skills, chores, reflection time, anger man-agement, social awareness, & healing,
Recreation Time: Sports, creative arts, nature walks, mindfulness activities
Family-Style Dinner: Building social skills and responsibility in a warm, respectful setting
Evening: Homework help, journaling, 1-on-1 mentoring, quiet wind-down routines Every day includes:
Family Therapy (bi-weekly or as scheduled)
Individual Therapy (weekly)
Group Therapy (multiple times per week)
Life Skills Coaching & Peer Interaction
Daily Positive Behavior Reinforcement
Clinical Services
Your child deserves more than supervision — they deserve transformation. Our licensed clinical team provides:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
The Skills System (DBT-informed, practical emotion regulation skills)
Family Systems Therapy
Psychiatric Medication Management (in partnership with local prescribers)
Mindfulness & Emotional Regulation Techniques
Crisis Stabilization & Safety Planning
Treatment plans are individualized, trauma-informed, and designed in collaboration with the youth, their family, care coordinator, and referring agency
The Heart of
Our Program: Our Team
We’re proud of our professional, compassionate, and mission-driven staff. Each member is carefully selected and thoroughly trained to support youth in crisis and promote sustainable change.
Our team includes:
Licensed Therapists (LCSW, LCMHC, LMFT)
Qualified Mental Health Professionals (QMHPs)
Direct Support Professionals trained in crisis de-escalation and trauma care
Supervisors and Program Coordinators
On-call clinical and medical support available 24/7
Success
Stories Begin Here
Our goal isn’t just to “manage” your child’s behavior — it’s to help them understand it, master it, and move beyond it. Through consistency, care, and clinical excellence, our youth:
Learn how to regulate emotions and develop healthy coping skills
Reduce impulsive behaviors and aggression
Reconnect with their family and strengthen bonds
Re-enter school or community activities with confidence
Transition to lower levels of care or home settings with stability
Let’s Take the
Next Step Together
Choosing residential treatment is a big decision— and the right one could change your child’s life forever. If your family is in crisis, if your child needs more than outpatient therapy, if you’ve been told “there’s nowhere else to go” — let us be the place that says welcome home. We would like to thank Dr. Willie Gilchrist Sr. for his vision/investment, Mrs. Jacqueline Gilchrist for her prayers/investment, and Gerald Spence for his mentoring.
Family Advantage Residential Level III (Site 1) 3104 US HWY 301 Pleasant Hill, North Carolina
Family Advantage Residential Level III (Site 2) 289 Wade Road Scotland Neck, North Carolina
Navigating Day Treatment Center 24 Cabarrus Ave. E (Suite 3000). Concord, NC 28025
Charlotte, North Carolina Coming Soon
For consultations, referrals, or a tour:
Site 1: (252)536-0600
Site 2: (252)826-0429
Fax Number: (800)753-9939
www.familyadvantage.net
