Our Services

Creative Alternatives is a nonprofit organization based in the Central Valley of California. Our primary activities include the operation of Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) homes for youth with specialty mental health needs, placement of children in private foster homes and running nonpublic schools. Creative Alternatives has been designed to provide what its name implies… an alternative to the institutionalization of children. Our programs are individualized to meet the needs of each child.

Residential Care

Our STRTP environment is designed to stabilize fragile youth and prepare them for transition to reunify with their natural family, foster care, or in some cases, emancipate into adulthood. Youth reside in a nurturing and therapeutic environment where they are taught independent living skills and coping strategies which offer them alternatives to self-destructive behavior.

Foster Family Agency

Our mission is to provide a healthy, safe and nurturing environment for emotionally disturbed, neglected and abused children. We think that once a child’s chaotic beginning has been stabilized, positive changes and healthy development can occur. Our goal is to place all children in our care into home environments that encourage and allow them to develop healthy, positive social attachments.

Nonpublic Schools

The majority of the students we serve have a variety of emotional, social, and behavioral problems. We serve grades K-12 with placements in grades 3-12. Emphasis is placed on improving social skills by requiring students to be held accountable for their actions. A system of rewards and consequences is used to assist in improving their social skills. Academic subjects are given equal attention

To deliver comprehensive therapeutic service in a nurturing environment to youth and young adults.

Our Mission

"The Home" Dedicated to Creative Alternatives - If what I am Starts with what I do, Then what does that make you? My home, a center of peace and harmony, Is on the backside of the rural country. But it doesn't explain the people inside. They could be from anywhere, Let alone different cultures. Even though there's no one perfect, They are to their friends and many others. The people of the home come and go Throughout the day. There must be a reason, For they don't just look for pay. They treat us as their own, Even though they're not obliged. Because this is the home, The place where I reside. Written by Daniel.

THE HOME

Who We Are

Our Mission: Deliver comprehensive services in a nurturing environment to youth and young adults.

CARF

We are an independent, nonprofit organization focused on advancing the quality of services you use to meet your needs for the best possible outcomes.

CARF Letter

CDE

The Department of Education serves our state by innovating and collaborating with educators, schools, parents, and community partners. Together, as a team, we prepare students to live, work, and thrive in a multicultural, multilingual, and highly connected world.

WASC

Through ACS WASC’s evaluation of institutions, ACS WASC accreditation assures the educational community, the general public, and other organizations and agencies that an institution has clearly defined objectives appropriate to education.

40 Years

Creative Alternatives was founded in 1976 by Ron and Mary Phillips in Hughson, California. The focus of the organization, then and now, was to provide a nurturing environment for troubled children. Under Executive Director, Joy Biddle’s leadership, the organization continues to make a difference in hundreds of California’s foster youth.

CDSS

The mission of the California Department of Social Services is to serve, aid, and protect needy and vulnerable children and adults in ways that strengthen and preserve families, encourage personal responsibility, and foster independence.

Turlock Journal – Former foster youth pays it forward

By Kristina Hackerkhacker@turlockjournal.com209-634-9141, ext. 2004 POSTED June 26, 2013 4:33 p.m Kevin Walls had a rough start to life. After being abandoned by his mother in a Turlock park at the age of 3, he spent the next five years in a group home. It wasn’t until he was 8 years old that he found a […]

Turlock Journal – Scholarships benefit graduating foster youth

By Kristina Hackerkhacker@turlockjournal.com209-634-9141, ext. 2004 POSTED May 15, 2014 4:30 p.m During her life, Grace Bishop was not only a founding board member of local foster youth agency Creative Alternatives, she was also one of the most passionate advocates for helping the hundreds of kids served by the agency. “She was always saying, ‘We need to […]

Turlock Journal – Scholarship fund aids graduating foster youth

By Kristina Hackerkhacker@turlockjournal.com209-634-9141, ext. 2004 POSTED May 21, 2015 8:30 p.m As high school seniors prepare for graduation and to make their first life decisions as adults, they may seek advice (and financial assistance) from parents, siblings or extended family members. For many foster youth, however, there are no supportive family members able to help them […]