Emergency Resource Home
Children living in receiving care have been removed from their family’s home due to an emergency. Foster families that provide receiving home care provide children a place to live for approximately 30 days. Foster parents receive these children on short notice. Sometimes little information is available about the child and the child’s family when the placement is made.
There is consistent turn-over of children placed in receiving care. Any family committed to providing receiving care requires the ability to be flexible and available on short notice.
Since most placements in receiving care are made on an emergency basis, our agency requires that one person be home full-time.
Foster Home Care
Family foster homes provide care to children while the child’s family is resolving the circumstances that led to the child’s placement outside of the home. While the child lives in the foster home, the foster family becomes an important team member in the provision of care to the child. It is likely that the foster parent will need to work closely with the child’s parent to ensure that the child’s needs are met. This can include going to school conferences, assisting with transportation to visitations, and arranging for and attending medical appointments with the child and the child’s parent.
Our efforts are to return children to their parents or another appropriate family member as soon as possible. However, sometimes this is not an option and the child remains in foster care. In some cases, children are then adopted, often by their foster parents.
Treatment/Specialized Foster Homes
Specialized foster parents have expectations and responsibilities above and beyond the typical duties of foster families. These homes accept placement of children with moderate or intense special needs that are behavioral, emotional or related to their physical/personal care. The foster parents are required to have experience and/or training as well as demonstrated competence in working with children/youth with special needs.
Specialized foster parents must attend all team meetings, school meetings and be available to work intensely with the social worker, the birth family and our foster care coordinator. Rates are set in accordance with the supplemental/exceptional rate setting guidelines and additional respite care may be authorized for the foster parents based on the child/youth's needs.
Specialized foster parents must understand the needs of the child, the focus of the treatment plan and be able to implement strategies to help the child achieve positive performance at school, in the community and in the home environment. Children placed in specialized foster care often require intensive "eyes on supervision" 24 hours per day. Behavioral plans often include accountability and consequences as well as rewards for succesChildren placed in treatment foster care require a great deal of care and support, so it is essential that the treatment foster parent have a strong support network, training and regular breaks from care-taking. Additional training is required for anyone wishing to become a licensed treatment foster parent.
Respite Foster Homes
Respite Homes are also licensed homes which provide short-term planned respite services to foster families. These homes typically provide care in 1 to 2 day increments although in special situations may go up to 14 days. Short-term and planned care are ideal situations for individuals who do not wish to make a long-term commitment to foster a child.
We are always looking for respite homes. Respite providers also experience the licensing process.
