The Dooley Corporation Coaching Program matches behavior coaches with youth ages 5-18, that are predominantly from low-income, single parent households, foster youth, and students struggling in school. Identified areas that the Program targets for successful intervention are: mental health, social emotional, education, substance abuse, relationships, reproductive health, and behavior problems. It is critical to meet the student where they are and not push them into services they are not ready for or open to receiving; such as, therapy. Relationships are built on trust, rapport building, and accessing the student’s strengths such as sports. One of the most important components of our program is the assigned Parent and Student Engagement Specialist who works closely with the family and school team of the mentee’s when appropriate. The Specialist will help the parent regain control of the family unit, and work on identifying where the breakdown of the family system needs to be strengthened. The Specialist will also work with the school team when absenteeism is an identified area of concern. 

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Addiction and defiance oftentimes stunts the normal developmental patterns of growth of a troubled student. Instead of learning how to care for themselves and for the environment around them, their lives are consumed with how to continue their addictive behavior. Adolescence is meant to be a period of increased independence, competency, and personal responsibility as teens prepare to enter adulthood.

A foundational life skill for every teen is to learn the benefits and practices of fitness and nutrition. Teens that are using drugs or alcohol are damaging their bodies and are not particularly motivated to participate in regular exercise. By participating in our teen program and physical fitness regimen, students begin to learn how to structure their time to invest in physical fitness instead of their current maladaptive behaviors. As they begin to see the physical benefits of fitness, our troubled students are able to build self-esteem while learning positive habits that can last a lifetime. The recreational therapy portion focuses on the student’s development as they are exposed to a variety of physically and emotionally challenging experiences. We utilize these experiences to help the student develop his or her character, life skills, communication skills, healthy relationship building abilities, and their understanding of how to respect and respond to authority. Our students also learn the value of teamwork, perseverance, and hard work while experiencing success together as a team.  Through our mentor program, we take every opportunity to demonstrate the life lessons that can be found in every life experience…both good and bad.

Learning basic work skills is also an important part of the development of any student. One way that we help to prepare our students for future jobs is to invest in volunteerism within the community. Our students are able to learn skills for future employment while helping local charities and churches at the same time. These activities incorporated into our student program range from helping with logistics to serving at banquets or fundraisers. By focusing on helping others, learning professionalism, and serving, our students begin to realize their potential to make a positive difference in the world around them while gaining beneficial work skills.