Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Philosophy
- Purpose
- Geographic Area of Service
- Agency Structure
- Structural Diagram
In A Blueprint for Fostering Infants, Children, and Youths in the 1990's, published by the Child Welfare League of America in collaboration with the National Foster Parent Association, Washington DC, The National Commission of Family Foster Care reports:
"The current child welfare system, historically underfunded, is not designed to serve the most troubled population of children and families in the history of our country. It is built on century-old premises that no longer are valid: (l) that children needing care are alone; (2) that there are sufficient numbers of families with wage-earning fathers and at-home mothers willing to donate their time and money to 'fix' these children by the age of 18; and (3) that caseworkers have the time and skill to supervise foster home placements. We can't serve twentieth century children and youths with nineteenth century assumptions. It is not surprising that there is a 'crisis' in family foster care." (p. 3).
"Family foster care is an essential child welfare service option for children and parents who must live apart while maintaining legal, and usually, affectional ties. When children and parents must be separated because of the tragedy of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, maltreatment, or special circumstances, family foster care provides a planned, goal-directed service in which the care of children and youths takes place in the home of an agency approved family. The value of family foster care is that it can respond to the unique, individual needs of infants, children, youths, and their families through the strength of family living, and development leading to healthier infants, children, youths, and families, with safe and nurturing relationships intended to be permanent." (pp. 51-53).
CHOICES was created by professional caseworkers, family foster home providers, educators, and child care workers to be
part of the solution to the above 'crisis' in family foster care. From its very foundation, CHOICES will take advantage of
the strengths of a small, tightly woven group of care providers. CHOICES will be limited to approximately forty (40)
children in full-time family foster homes. The Executive Director will have a small case load and almost constant contact
with family foster home providers and clients. Foster home providers will be well trained, supervised, supported, and
compensated. The clients will be the center of focused treatment and care in a consistent, but flexible environment.
Clients will be able to count on the familiarity of not only their foster families, but on the familiarity of their
respite care providers, crisis home providers, caseworkers, and any other service providers. In addition, clients and
their families can count on both their participation and consideration in the client's service programming.
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CHOICES believes that:
- All children deserve permanence.
- Children with emotional and behavioral problems require a structured, supervised, safe, and secure environment which encourages: building self-esteem; meeting social, emotional, and medical needs; protecting and nurturing the children; developing a permanence plan; and educating and socializing children toward successful transitions.
- Parents must have services and supports for reunification to occur.
- Foster parents and social workers must have clearly defined roles and identifiable competencies and supports.
- Family foster care must be part of coordinated services through a team approach in which the child is the focus of treatment.
- Children in family foster care must have legal representation.
- Accurate, complete and relevant data must be collected.
- Children have a right to an individualized treatment plan which meets their needs and provides direction for treatment by the team.
- All children, families, foster parents and other team members will be treated with dignity and respect as integral members of the treatment team.
- Children deserve the least restrictive setting in which to grow, heal, and be a part of determining their own treatment.
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The mission of CHOICES is to provided children with options in caring environments. CHOICES will: provide safe, nurturing, caring homes for children; conduct ongoing strengths and needs assessments of children and families and include children and families involvement in the assessment; promote positive self-esteem, family identity, and family relationships; help parents and families with resources necessary to regain custody of their children or provide permanency planning for them, provide children with competencies necessary based on their abilities for eventual transition into adult lives; provide a clearly defined role for foster parents; provide services from professional social workers using a teamwork approach to meet family foster care program goals; be conducted through an interdisciplinary, teamwork approach in which social workers, foster parents, other professionals, and parents of children in care are members of the team; reflect the value that family foster care is a community-based service and that the community must take responsibility for caring for its own children.
CHOICES provides quality therapeutic and intensive foster care for approximately forty (40) children with offices located in Dover-Foxcroft and East Corinth, Maine. Respite beds and crisis intervention services will be provided for these children. For future growth, other interested persons will be assisted and encouraged to form similar programs for areas in which they live. Service providers, including foster parents, will be encouraged to participate in the further program development of CHOICES.
Training opportunities for all persons involved with CHOICES will be provided as appropriate to their needs. A strong commitment to our clients and members of the treatment team will be a constant given. Considerable effort will be expended to empower eventual independence from our program.
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CHOICES will accept referrals from applicants throughout the state of Maine. Foster homes will be located in Penobscot and Southern Piscataquis Counties.
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- Approximately 40 "full-time placements".
- Maximum of 2 full-time placements in any home at one time (exemptions made with approval of the Department of Human Services).
- Board Rate(s) To Foster Parents consistent with BCFS Levels Of Care
- Respite currently at 3 days per month
- Dedicated respite homes to be established
- Crisis beds available
- Support &/or training meetings (three times per month)
- Every 3 months- each client has a case review scheduled. Participants will include but not be limited to the following: therapist, DHS, Case Manager, Foster care providers, respite care providers, and any others deemed appropriate.
- There will also be requirements for:
- Attendance at planned program activities.
- Current training requirement: minimum of 24 hours/year, some through CHOICES, others through DHS, University, or other approved training programs.
- Record Keeping/Reports to include:
- Daily reports for each client.
- Contact sheets for all program related contacts.
- Quarterly Service Plans.
- Quarterly reports on CHOICES goals and objectives to be presented to the Board of Directors.
- Annual report on agency function.
- Incident reports on unusual activities or occurrences.
Roles Within CHOICES:
Executive Director
- Oversees clerical
- Coordinate and maintain agency records
- Supervises status reports
- Maintains awareness of local, state, and national issues
- Monitors data, collects statistics, and analyzes information for meetings
- Supervises homes both administratively and programatically
- Provides and coordinates training for all staff
- Initiates contacts and facilitates development of working relationships between professional care providers and other service personnel
- Provides technical assistance on service plans and programming
- Supervises CHOICES case managers in treatment planning and implementation
- Develops and maintains budget and coordinates outside resources
- Maintains a caseload of clients and serves as case manager to those clients
- Reports directly to Board of Directors
Assistant Director
- Coordinate and maintain agency records
- Supervises status reports
- Maintains awareness of local, state, and national issues
- Monitors data, collects statistics, and analyzes information for meetings
- Supervises homes both administratively and programatically
- Initiates contacts and facilitates development of working relationships between professional care providers and other service personnel
- Provides technical assistance on service plans and programming
- Supervises CHOICES case managers in treatment planning and implementation
- Becomes acting Director when Executive Director is absent
- Develop and maintain technological resources
- Develops and maintains budget and coordinates outside resources
- Maintains a caseload of clients and serves as case manager to those clients
- Reports directly to the Executive director
Case Managers
- Assist in maintenance of appropriate agency records
- Maintains awareness of current trends in foster care
- Monitors data, collects statistics, and analyzes information for meetings
- Supervises homes both administratively and programatically
- Initiates contacts and facilitates development of working relationships between professional care providers and outside service personnel
- Provides technical assistance on service plans and programming
- Coordinates services for clients and foster families
- Assess needs of clients and the foster families who serve them
Administrative Assistant
- Keeping agency records
- Drafting, typing, duplicating, collating, filing, disbursing reports, correspondence, mail
- Foster home bookkeeping/payroll
- Assess needs and order supplies
- Scheduling respite services
Program Coordinator
- Networking with community resources
- Program development
- Provides and coordinates training for professional foster care providers
- Maintains a caseload of clients and serves as case manager to those clients
Clinical Supervisor/Mental Health Therapist
- Performs initial client assessment
- Provides Mental Health Therapy (Individual & Group)
- Provides clinical supervision for Case Managers
- Provides clinical consultation to staff and Foster Care Providers
- Oversees implementation of social skills groups
- Provides clinical training for staff and Foster Care Providers
Accountant
- Contracted to review bookkeeping, make suggestions, etc.
Professional Foster Care Providers/Service Coordinators
- 24 hour supervision availability
- Daily care (traditional foster care services)
- Develop Programming and Service Plan
- Coordinate services of community groups, schools, DHS case workers, counselors, medical professionals, etc.
- Attend support/review meetings
- Offer crisis care and/or respite services to other families within the foster home cooperative
- Actively participate planning program activities both recreational and for business/ training purposes
- Attend/participate in 80% of planned program activities
- Assist in recruitment and hiring processes
- Participate in and monitor programming
- Appropriate paper work/forms
- Assist in referral and client matching services
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