[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 4, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF PLAID HOUSE, INC.

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                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 4, 2015

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Plaid House, 
Inc. located in Morristown, New Jersey as it celebrates its 40th 
Anniversary.
  Over the last forty years, Plaid House has stayed true to its mission 
of providing residential and counseling services to adolescents in 
northern New Jersey. Since its foundation, the members of Plaid House, 
Inc. have worked tirelessly to improve the lives of so many young 
adults, as evidenced by the impact its programs have had on the 
community.
  In December of 1970, Katherine Merck was asked by the Morris County 
Probation Office if she would be willing to take a seventeen year old 
girl into her home for the holidays. The local residential treatment 
center would be closed due to the holidays, and the judge had decreed 
that the girl, despite lacking a criminal history, would be placed in 
Clinton State Prison for Women if an alternative could not be found. 
Upon taking the young woman into her home, Kate learned from the young 
woman about the numerous girls from the community that were often left 
without a place to live. So, she decided to start a group home for 
girls in Morris County, and within a few years, the Plaid House group 
home opened its doors.
  The goal of the Plaid House group home is to provide a complete 
living experience and therapeutic environment for troubled adolescent 
girls. The residents of the Plaid House group home are placed there by 
the Department of Children and Families. The girls can range in age 
from fourteen to eighteen years old and are accepted from anywhere in 
New Jersey. Girls are enrolled in local school and encouraged to 
involve themselves in the community through afterschool programs, 
working, and volunteering. The group home staff provides a varied 
schedule throughout the week including recreational and educational 
activities. All girls regularly participate in individual and group 
counseling, provided both on site by the Program Manager and off site 
by therapists in community agencies.
  When it opened its doors in 1975, Plaid House group home began with a 
capacity for five girls and was staffed by two houseparents. Since 
then, the number of girls at the home has expanded to ten, with 
supervision increasing to a team of full-time staff working twenty-four 
hours a day to serve these girls. The group home even underwent an 
expansion construction project in 2003 to provide much needed 
additional space and improve the quality of living for its residents.
  Plaid House, Inc. also offers Thenen House, which opened in 1989, to 
provide a supervised transitional living program to young women who 
have outgrown group homes, but have been assessed as being unable to 
return home. The residents are young women of ages from sixteen to 
twenty, who are under the supervision of Child Protection and 
Permanency and need assistance in preparing for independence. Here the 
residents are required to participate in a full-time educational and 
employment program, helping them to develop practical skills, establish 
emotional independence, and learn budgeting techniques; the budgeting 
program demands that the women save fifty percent of their wages, which 
will be returned to them when they leave the program.
  Plaid House's Aftercare Program provides counseling to adolescent 
males and females who have been discharged by Child Protection and 
Permanency from residential placements or foster care. The goal of the 
program is to help these young adults transition successfully from out 
of home placement into the community, whether they are returning to 
their homes or moving out to live on their own. In addition, Their 
Aging Out Program serves male and female clients of ages fifteen to 
twenty who are under the supervision of Child Protection and Permanency 
and currently in out of home placement. The young adults participate in 
life skills training, presented in weekly workshops, which follow a 
curriculum including employment skills, money management, career 
planning, further education, communication, and problem solving. Each 
participant completes a skills assessment at the beginning and end of 
the program to measure the progress made from training.
  Since the opening of their group home forty years ago, Plaid House 
has moved hundreds of young adults through their programs. Though the 
organization has undergone various changes and improvements since its 
inception, their commitment to providing these adolescents with 
opportunities for success has remained constant.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in congratulating 
Plaid House, Inc, its dedicated staff and Board of Directors as it 
celebrates its 40th Anniversary.

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