Family Foster Care (FFC) and Adoption Services
Our Family Foster Care (FFC) division provides safe, temporary care in the homes of trained kinship or resource (foster) parents to children and adolescents who have been removed from their birth families because of possible abuse or neglect. Simultaneously, we work intensively with birth parents or caretakers to get them the help they need to resolve the issues that led to placement and be reunited with their children. These community-based services are provided in the Bronx. Good Shepherd Service staff, kinship or resource parents and birth families work as a team to devise a permanent plan for each child’s future. We promote permanency for each young person through the key programmatic components described below.
Treatment Family Foster Care
Our Treatment Family Foster Care (TFFC) program provides intensive clinical services to children and adolescents with significant emotional and behavioral difficulties. Treatment parents receive additional training and support to provide the best care for these children, allowing many young people who might otherwise be placed in a hospital or Residential Treatment Center to remain within a family setting, as well as reducing disruptions in foster boarding home placements due to these difficulties.
Adolescent Services
Building on the expertise gained through our many years of working with adolescents, we created a distinct and separate unit within our larger FFC program to ensure a more comprehensive, focused approach to addressing the unique and complex needs of our foster care adolescents. A multidisciplinary team including caseworkers, an Educational/Vocational Specialist, a nurse, Independent Living Coordinator and a Job/Career Specialist provides strength-based youth development, substance abuse, educational, medical, and other services designed specifically for the adolescent age group, as well as an aftercare program to continue providing needed services following discharge or aging out of the program.
Family Support Services
Our program provides a range of services to the parents of the children in our care including substance abuse and domestic violence screenings and referrals, as well as guidance and support in achieving stable and secure housing. Our Parent Mentors, former FFC program participants who have successfully united with their children help to promote engagement and serve as role models for the parents.
Adoption Services
While we make every effort to bring families back together, when young people cannot return to their birth parents, we find a permanent, nurturing adoptive home for the child, ideally within the existing kinship or resource family. When this is not possible, we recruit families who have demonstrated the ability to provide a permanent, nurturing adoptive home.
Rapid Intervention Teams
Our two Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) programs in Manhattan and the Bronx provide intensive support services to children and youth in foster care, who are at-risk for placement disruption. Our highly trained staff quickly respond to foster families in crisis to address the issues that may lead to displacement and meet the needs of both the young person and the foster family. RIT services include counseling, brief respite for youth, caregiver support, and referrals to community resources.
Become a Neighborhood Resource (Foster) Parent
Click here for more information on how you could provide a safe and nurturing home to a young person in need.
