PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Treatment Foster Care & Adoption Services is a creative treatment program for youth in a family based setting.  The program is philosophically based upon the understanding that troubled youth are in the need of re-parenting.  Until they experience this re-parenting and are helped to better understand their traumatic life experiences, they will not be able to emotionally bond to others or form successful, mutually satisfying relationships as adults.  Youth placed in our Treatment Foster Care & Adoption Services Program may be referred by their legal guardian, state worker, county worker or other community sources.  These youth, along with being taken from their birth family, have often been moved through multiple other placements.

The purpose of Treatment Foster Care & Adoption Services is to strengthen and enhance the capacity of Buckhorn to provide longer range or permanent planning for youth.  This is accomplished by providing intensive, family based intervention for youth who otherwise would not be able to be successful in a traditional foster home placement.  The program will provide youth with an opportunity to have a successful living experience in a family setting, achieve their full potential, and become better prepared to be productive citizens in early adulthood.

Young people placed in our Treatment Foster Care & Adoption Services program have many common characteristics.  They are often the victims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.  Their growth has likely been interrupted at several levels including: developmentally, psychologically, educationally, physically, emotionally, and interpersonally.

These young people often adapt to these experiences using survival skills that can be counterproductive in a stable family setting and that can be harmful to themselves as well as inappropriate in the community. 

These behaviors and attitudes may include:

.....and many others.

If these behaviors are not modified, adults who attempt to parent these youth become “worn out” and “give up” on them.  This results in another failure for the child to be accepted into a family.  Even after a child has completed residential treatment and is ready for a placement with a foster/adoptive family, it is natural for the child to regress, demonstrating some of the negative reactions, which they showed before treatment.

The Treatment Foster Care & Adoption Services Program features much flexibility, permitting a gradual integration into a family.  The youth will make pre-placement visits to the treatment foster/adoptive home (when possible).  These pre-placement visits are unpaid.

It is our belief that all youth in need are our responsibility and we welcome the opportunity to support clients from various ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, and racial backgrounds.

THE FOSTER CARE SUPPORT SYSTEM

The treatment foster care team will provide:

• 24 hour Crisis Stabilization
• Evaluation and Assessment
• Training
• Individual and Family Counseling
• Individualized Case Planning
• Respite
• Recreation and Cultural Activities.

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Complete application, interviews, and submit all requested info.
• Complete training: 
  • 27 hours initial training of GPS/MAPP or Deciding Together 
  • 3 hours of Orientation training to the program
  • 8 hours of CPR / 1st Aid and 2 hour recertification annually
  • 6 hours of Crisis Intervention / De-escalation
  • 12 hours Active Parenting within first year
  • 2 hours Administering Medication Training within first year
  • 2 hours Child Abuse Reporting Training within first year
  • Annual Cultural Diversity training (2 hours)
  • others as determined by program
• Buckhorn Parents shall be aged 21 or older (Ky state regulation)
• One parent must be available to transport the youth to and from appointments and provide care for the youth should they become ill during school hours.
• Buckhorn parents shall demonstrate emotional and financial stability, be well tempered, self-controlled, responsible and have a good sense of humor.
• Foster/adoptive homes shall not be used simultaneously for any other social service; such as a day care center or home for the elderly unless prior approval is given by the Director.
• Buckhorn parents must be willing to work closely and cooperatively with the Case Manager and the Treatment Team in learning how to carry out treatment and parenting procedures.
• Buckhorn parents must have transportation, maintain adequate vehicle insurance on any vehicle they own, and have a telephone.
• Buckhorn parents will provide transportation* for medical and dental appointments, counseling sessions, school, community, and other recreation activities that are deemed necessary for the welfare of the child.
• Foster/adoptive parents will complete daily documentation/progress notes and medication logs.

* Buckhorn parents are expected to use the money from the per diem to pay for expenses incurred when providing this transportation.  Buckhorn parents may be reimbursed for expenses incurred when transporting youth long distances when appropriate and only with prior approval from the Program Manager and the legal guardian/state worker.

HOME REQUIREMENTS

The home shall be accessible to schools, recreation, churches, medical care, and community facilities.  The premises shall be free from objects, materials, and conditions which constitute a danger to the occupants.  Play area(s) are provided both in and out of doors and suited to the age needs of the youth in the home.  The home shall have sanitary and working equipment for the safe preparation, storage, serving, and cleaning of foods.  The home shall have a comfortable dining area furnished with sufficient furniture so that all members of the household can eat together.  The home shall have sufficient living or family room area, a minimum of one flush toilet, one wash basin with running water, and one bathtub or shower with hot and cold water; and, items necessary for personal hygiene and grooming.  The home shall have bedroom space to allow individual occupants sufficient living space. Beds must be age and size appropriate for the youth placed.  Adequate storage space will be allotted for the foster youth’s personal belongings.