Foster-Adopt Program

The adoption program finds permanent homes for children, birth to 19 years old, that are placed in foster care. There are no fees to adoptive applicants wishing to adopt a foster child. Families who adopt a foster child are eligible to receive monthly assistance payments and Medi-Cal benefits until the adoptive child turns 18. The foster-adopt program allows foster parents to adopt foster children who are not able to be reunified with their family. The agency works with the resource family throughout the foster care experience and is then able to provide a seamless transition into the adoption process. If, and when, families choose to adopt children who cannot return to their natural families, they already have their documentation and home study on file so that the adoption process is expedited and the family continues to work with the agency with whom they have built a relationship. The adoption program is open to families of any ethnicity, race, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, age, income level, and can be single, married, couples or domestic partners.

Home-Based Family Care (formerly Foster Care)

Home-Based Family Care is provided to children between the ages of birth through 21 years of age, who have been removed from their homes due to trauma, abuse, neglect and/or delinquency. The goal of this program is to resolve the identified problems which children/youth bring with them into the setting. Once referred to the program, these children are placed in agency certified resource homes where they receive the love and guidance of a caring and committed resource family, as well as treatment services provided by Master's-level social work staff. The type of core services and supports and the frequency of treatment services for children are determined by the Child and Family Team. There are four levels of care and the social services and supports differ for each level. Resource parents are provided training and supports by their social worker and foster family agency staff.

Intensive Services Foster Care

Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC), formerly Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC), allows for only two children to be placed in the foster home where extensive support services for the child are provided. Children who might otherwise be placed in a residential setting are able to reside in a family setting. Families are provided additional, intensive training for this program, and support counselors come to the home up to twenty hours per week to mentor and assist the families as they care for children with complex emotional and behavioral issues. Other professional services are provided as needed. Families receive a higher support payment for working with children in the ISFC program. The type of core services and supports and the frequency of services for children are determined by the Child and Family Team.

Mental Health Services

Upon intake, each child is screened to determine their need for mental health interventions. If a need is identified the child is assessed, assigned a treatment team and has a treatment plan customized to his or her particular needs. The therapist ensures that the client’s goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-related), based on the diagnosis, and interventions specifically address the clients’ individual assessed needs. Interventions are provided through individual therapy, group therapy, specialty groups and family therapy. The child’s treatment goals and interventions are developed through the collaboration of the Child and Family Team that includes the client, family, therapist, county representative(s), psychiatrist, friends/community supports, social workers, nurse, and other clinical personnel, etc. The team meets as needed, but in no event less than once each quarter, to review progress and adjust goals and measure outcomes to ensure success.