At The MAKADE Foundation we believe that every young person deserves safety, stability, and the opportunity to grow into their fullest potential. Based in SoCal, MAKADE Behavioral Centers offers facilities that prioritize creating safe spaces to those most under served in our communities.
Our Mission
Every child deserves to feel safe. To be seen. To know that no matter what they've been through, their story isn't over: it's just beginning.
At our MAKADE Behavioral Centers, we believe that healing is possible for every young person who walks through our doors. Not someday. Not in theory. Right now, with the right care, the right people, and a place that feels like it was built just for them.
We're a California licensed Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP), but what that really means is this: we are a home. A place where children and adolescents who have experienced trauma, loss, and hardship find the stability, structure, and compassion they need to begin putting the pieces back together.
Who We Are
The kids who come to us have often been through more than most adults could imagine. They've been let down by systems, separated from families, and told in ways both spoken and unspoken that they're too much to handle. We don't believe that for a second.
Our team is made up of licensed clinicians, therapists, residential care staff, and mentors who show up every single day with one shared purpose: to walk alongside each child on their journey toward healing. Not in front of them. Not behind them. Right beside them.
We operate under the guidelines of the California Department of Social Services and the Community Care Licensing Division, and we work hand-in-hand with county child welfare agencies, probation departments, school districts, and family court systems to make sure that no child falls through the cracks. Coordination isn't just part of our process, it's part of our promise.
What We Believe
Healing doesn't happen in isolation. It happens in the quiet moments. A staff member remembering a child's favorite meal, a therapist celebrating a small breakthrough, a house that finally feels safe enough to cry in.
We believe that every child who has experienced trauma still carries within them the capacity for joy, for trust, and for a future that looks nothing like their past. Our job is to help them see that, and to give them every tool, every resource, and every ounce of support they need to get there.
Because when a child heals, they don't just change their own life. They change the trajectory of their family, their community, and every life they'll touch from that point forward.
Weekly individual therapy sessions using evidence-based modalities tailored to the child's unique trauma history, developmental level, and treatment goals.
Groups provide a safe space for peer connection and the practice of newly learned coping strategies in a supportive environment.
Guided family sessions that focus on repairing attachment disruptions, improving communication, and building the family's capacity to support the child's ongoing recovery.
Psychiatric evaluation and medication management provided by board-certified child psychiatrists.
A future where every child who walks through our doors walks out ready to thrive.
We don't measure success by how long a child stays with us, we measure it by what happens after they leave. Our vision is a world where every young person in our care returns to their family and community with the tools to heal, the confidence to grow, and the knowledge that they are deeply and unconditionally worthy of love. As MAKADE grows, so does our commitment: to expand our reach across California, to deepen the quality of our therapeutic programs, and to prove that no child is beyond hope.
Where your support goes: The real impact behind every dollar
Every donation to The MAKADE Foundation goes directly toward the youth in our care. From therapeutic services and educational support to daily essentials like meals, clothing, and safe shelter your generosity doesn't just fund a program, it funds a child's path back to stability, family, and hope.
Youth served through our STRTP programs
Around the clock residential care, supervision, and therapeutic support for every child in our program.
Direct Care Allocation
of every dollar goes directly to therapeutic services, housing, meals, education, and hands on care for the youth we serve.
Therapeutic Services Provided
Core therapeutic modalities - individual, group, family therapy, and psychiatric services - tailored to each child's needs.
Stories from the people closest to our mission
“When my son was placed at MAKADE, I didn’t know if he’d ever come back to us. Six months later, he came home with tools I didn’t even know existed and a smile I hadn’t seen in years.”
“The staff here didn’t just supervise us. They showed up. Every day. They remembered the small things my favorite food, when I had a hard day. That’s what made the difference.”
“As a referring social worker, I need to know the kids I place are truly cared for. Makade’s team goes above and beyond they don’t just meet the standard, they set it.”
“I thought I was too broken for anyone to care. MAKADE proved me wrong. My therapist helped me understand that what happened to me wasn’t my fault and that was everything.”
