The seeds for the Northwest System were planted in 1978, with the creation of Northwest Passage, Ltd. Founded as a small residential program for 8 boys, Northwest Passage has been providing innovative residential treatment programs for children for over 25 years. Today, Northwest Passage in total holds 62 residential beds, divided into 3 distinct programs: The primary residential treatment program, Northwest Passage I, has 24 beds, and provides multidisciplinary mental health, education and vocational services to adolescent boys with diagnoses of severe mental illness and behavioral disorders who present significant community safety risks. The Northwest Passage II program (established in 1988) is a 90-day, short-term, behavioral stabilization and intervention alternative holding 10 beds. Passage II uses an outdoor stress challenge model, and also provides mental health/AODA screening and holds a family assessment and weekend retreat program. Passage II was the first program of its kind as a time-limited and goal specific freestanding program under a RCC umbrella. The Northwest Passage Child and Adolescent Center (est. 1994) is a 28 bed comprehensive clinical diagnostic assessment and behavioral crisis intervention center providing psychiatric, neuropsychological, individual, family and social assessments for pediatric and adolescent boys and girls in a 30-day model. Psychotropic medication management is performed within the context of this broad-based assessment process. Community-based aftercare planning is a central feature of the assessment process. Purchasers have rated the Northwest Passage Assessment program as the finest comprehensive clinical assessment program in the State of Wisconsin. Our most recent residential program is Northwest Passage III (est. 2003), a 90-day stress challenge program for adolescent girls, modeled after Passage II. "Passage III" continues to be the only program of its kind in the state of Wisconsin. In 1994, the Northwest System expanded beyond the realm of residential treatment when the Northwest Passage Board of Directors founded Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic (NWCGC). The guiding vision was of a system that provided a continuum of mental health treatment programs throughout Wisconsin. Great strides have been made toward realization of that vision with the creation of multiple programs offering services to a diverse population over a large geographic area: Conventional, fee-for-service, community-based outpatient mental health programming through multiple clinics throughout northwest Wisconsin. The professional staff delivers behavioral health services to adults, children and families. NWCGC Day Treatment Programs serve over 250 children and families daily in 12 communities throughout Wisconsin. The first program was started in 1997, and at the time represented the first full-day day treatment program in the state. It is a goal of the staff of each Day Treatment facility to play a valued role in the larger mental health treatment network within the community in which they function. Northwest Emergency On-call includes telephone and mobile services for persons experiencing a crisis within contracting counties. NWCGC began providing this service in 2000, but further developed the services in January of 2005. Over time and the expansion of services, the central mission guiding NWP in 1978 has remained clear and unchanged. We continue to express our core values of quality, integrity, and innovation.