Expectations of Foster Parents
Hope For Kids is looking for creative, dedicated, persistent, flexible individuals and families who are willing to become professional treatment parents for children with mental health, mental retardation, behavioral disturbances, and/or health issues and medical needs. Hope For Kids focuses on providing specialized care for children with reactive attachment disorder and special medical needs. Our foster care program works primarily with school aged children. Any child from birth to age 21 who is a dependant of the state may be considered for admission.
Our professional treatment parents are not ordinary foster parents. They are well-trained individuals who have committed their lives to helping these difficult children. Our parents are part of a larger treatment team, which plans for and serves the emotional, physical, mental, social, educational, and spiritual well being of each child placed in the agency. Our professional treatment parents, along with agency case workers, therapists, attending physicians, and educators work together to bring healing to the child.
The home environment is the primary setting where the child's treatment occurs. By opening your home to a child, you are taking on a great responsibility to meet, tolerate, and work to improve their demanding emotional, physical, behavioral, and medical needs.
Supports for Professional Treatment Parents
- You will have a case manager assigned to each foster child you have. Case managers coordinate services, access community resources, advocate for the needs of the foster children, provide on-going training to families, accompany parents to meetings and appointments, and emotionally support treatment parents as they work with the foster children.
- Each case manager will make 2 or more visits with you and your child per month.
- Each case manager will contact you by telephone at least one time per week to discuss your child's progress and the family's needs.
- Hope For Kids provides 24/7 crisis management to assist with emergencies within the home.
- Each child will have an individual service plan, behavioral modification plan, and/or safety plans to be implemented in the foster home.
- Treatment parents will have on-going individualized training on the needs, issues, and treatment strategies for dealing with their child.
- Respite care services are provided as needed to treatment parents in an effort to give you or your family a break from the demands of foster parenting.
- Parental notification and involvement in the development of the service plan.
- Counseling services to encourage resolution to unresolved issues in the relationship.
