All children deserve the chance to learn, make friends, experience fun and build positive relationships with caring adults.

Laraway’s 39-acre campus is alive with recreational and therapeutic activity!

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in winter are followed by soccer, volleyball and gardening activities in spring.  The Lamoille River flows along the edge of our property, providing an accessible spot for fishing and canoeing.  Hiking, biking, gardening and even bread-baking are among the activities offered.

Seasonal rituals include apple cidering, maple sugaring and an our annual talent show with  aspiring singers, dancers and stand-up comedians.

After School activities and a Summer Program find our kids creating art, cooking meals together, enjoying movie nights, volunteering at the local animal shelter or food shelf, and discovering some of Vermont’s best swimming holes.

At Laraway, we recognize and celebrate the therapeutic and educational value of hands-on learning, rigorous physical activity and play.

Who do we serve? Our licensure allows us to serve students who experience:

• Emotional Disability
• Specific Learning Disability
• Intellectual Impairment
• Other Health Impairment
• Speech/Language Impairment
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Visual Impairment
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Multiple Disabilities

How do we support our students? We support students by providing:

• Highly structured educational and therapeutic environments
• Small group and individual instruction across all subject areas
• Trauma-informed therapeutic elements with a Positive Behavior Management System based on Brendtro’s Circle of Courage and Goldstein’s Social Skills
• Outdoor Education and Challenge by Choice adventure-based therapeutic experiences from day trips to camping
• Therapeutic art activities
• Service Learning / School to Work
• Pathways to Career Exploration
• Summer Session / Year Round Educational Progam
• Family Supports
• Student Recognition and Family Celebrations

Students are arranged in small groups with sensitivity to age and educational and therapeutic needs.  Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or multi-year plans dictate services and accommodations for each student in the group setting.

Classroom assistants are assigned to each class.  Some students receive 1:1 support based on needs.  Students experiencing severe and multiple challenges may spend much of their day engaged in community based learning activities.

School staff members are trained in their discipline and cross-trained in mental health and treatment protocols.  Students’ education, behavior and treatment plans are reviewed by the full staffing team.  Positive supports are put in place to ensure success.  Our school incorporates a model of Universal Design and Differentiated Instruction, providing students the best opportunity for success in core subject areas.

Laraway School Forms

Intake Letter
Release Form

Substitute Care is Laraway’s therapeutic foster care program, offering back-up crisis services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Therapeutic Residential Treatment
We operate two licensed residential treatment homes, Foote Brooke and Westfield. Both programs are adventure-based and serve youth who need a higher level of structure than foster care.

Child Placement Program
We are also licensed by the State of Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) to approve foster homes in order to provide children in foster care with opportunities to develop positive connections with their families and the community.  Youth are referred by DCF and are typically stepping down from residential programs or are at risk of being admitted to a residential program.

Intensive Family Based Services (IFBS)
Substitute Care provides intensive, in-home crisis intervention, counseling and life-skills education for families who have children at imminent risk of placement in state-funded care.  Our goal is to prevent unnecessary out-of-home placement of children through intensive, on-site intervention and to teach families new problem-solving skills to prevent future crises. Laraway accepts families referred to us---specifically, by the Morrisville, Vermont DCF Office---in which one or more children are in imminent danger of being placed in foster, group or institutional care.  IFBS is also used for families whose children are being returned from out-of-home care and for difficult post-adoption situations.
  
Who we are:
 Substitute Care services are provided by highly skilled case managers, mentors and
in-house clinicians.  We also have a cadre of committed, capable and genuinely caring foster parents.
 
What we do:

• Locate, screen, train and support therapeutic foster homes
• Facilitate relationships to help kids and families meet their goals
• Help youth and families establish healthier bonds
• Facilitate professional case management
• Provide mentoring
• Facilitate Mediation
• Connect youth in foster care with opportunities in the community
• Promote collaboration and teaming
• Foster empathy and understanding
• Help youth develop cultural awareness
• Provide communication to promote transparency
• Offer crisis support
• Provide community based services to youth in foster care
• Provide values based experiential growth opportunities in a group home setting
• Facilitate transition planning
• Promote empowerment of the youth and families we serve 
   

The Backpack Program provides comprehensive, strengths-based, individualized supports to children and youth K-12 in the public school setting. The mission of the program is to eliminate barriers to academic achievement; capitalize on child, youth and family strengths; and promote positive social, emotional and behavioral growth in children and youth.  Our goal is to provide the skills and strategies to the children in our program so that they may become successful independent learners in their school community. We want to work ourselves out of a job!

The Backpack Program works collaboratively with its public school partners to provide support to both the children and their families to provide a wrap of services. 

How does the Backpack Program support kids and schools?

• Improve availability for learning across academic settings
• Support social skill development
• Enhance positive peer and adult relationships
• Provide targeted individualized behavioral supports
• Teach self-regulation and coping skills
• Promote positive school engagement, belonging and inclusion
• Increase community connections and inclusion
• Utilize trauma informed care practices
• Focus on the development of independence based skills in support of working autonomously in the school setting 

 
What services does the Backpack Program Offer?
 
Tier 3 one to one services which provides:     

• 1:1 Behavior Interventionist
•  Positive Behavior Support Plan
•  Behavior Consultant
•  Case Manager
•  Crisis Support
•  Family Support
•  Summer Program

Tier 2 one to five mid-level support services which provides:     

• 1:5 Behavior Specialist
• Individual Positive Behavior Support Plans
• Behavior Consultant
• Case Manager
• Crisis Support  
• Family Support
• BCBA Consulting Services
• Case Management Only Services
• Individual/Family Therapy
• Psychiatric (Medication)

Laraway’s clinical program is staffed by highly trained professionals possessing advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology, Clinical Social Work, and Mental Health Counseling.

What outpatient psychotherapy services are provided at Laraway?

• Individual Psychotherapy
• Family Counseling
• Group Therapy
• Play Therapy
• Art Therapy
• Adventure-Based Therapy

To whom are these services offered?

• Children
• Adolescents
• Parents
• Grandparents
• Families
• Caregivers
• Community Members
• Local Schools

Clinical Staff Members also provide:

• Psychological assessments when necessary for treatment planning
• Psychological diagnosis and evaluation

Our Therapeutic Philosophy and Work:

Our therapeutic philosophy is based on a belief in the fundamental goodness of all people.  Our work is to help individuals and/or families realize their internal and external resources and to support their natural drive towards health.  We strive to meet you where you are at and to provide the individualized treatment that best meets your needs.  We understand that nobody knows what you need better than you.

The therapeutic relationship becomes a place to practice and define new ways of relating to others and dealing with stressful situations in the here and now.  This relationship provides a space for self-exploration and awareness, honest feedback and practicing new ways of being in the world.  It is also about sharing authentic experiences---of joy, anger, sadness or other emotions.

 
Margaret Sladyk- Benoit, LICSW., Child and Family Therapist
(802)635-2805 x128 * Fax (802)635-7273 * MSladyk@Laraway.org
 
The Clinical Program's full-time therapist is Mag Sladyk- Benoit who also provides individual, group and family therapy.  Mag is a master’s level licensed clinical social worker who has worked in this field for almost 25 years.  She brings experience from working in a local mental health agency for 16 years and having her own psychotherapy practice for 7 years.  Her practice scope over the years has focused almost solely on working with children and adolescents.  She provides therapy services across programs at Laraway Youth and Family Services; the Laraway School, Backpack Program and Substitute Care.  In addition, she sees individuals from the community and spends time in a local elementary school offering therapy services.
 

Rich in agricultural soils and tradition, our 39-acre property along the Lamoille River allows our Land Stewardship team to facilitate educational and therapeutic experiences for the Laraway community while demonstrating responsible stewardship.

We strive to foster collective ecological literacy, health, and well-being by facilitating a deeper connection to our natural surroundings.  We produce food, maintain trails, and share skills to nurture ourselves and our community.

Laraway’s land management priorities:

• Ecological health, biological diversity and resilience
• Education and Therapy-based agriculture and gardening
• Passive and active outdoor recreation 
• Laraway integrates program initiatives into land management, creating a rich therapeutic environment.  We help children, youth and families develop a strong connection to community and a sense of place.

• A place of regeneration
• A place where hands-on experiences in nature foster empowerment
• A place where kids tend gardens and nurture living things
• A place where young people learn to cultivate their inner strengths
• A place where seeds of change take root and grow 

Volunteer Position Description
Background Check Application

For program information, please contact:
George Swanson
Land Steward
802-635-2805 x 118
GSwanson@Laraway.org