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Providing special services for children with special needs
Therapeutic Foster Boarding Home Program
Special Needs PopulationThe children placed in Therapeutic Foster Homes have suffered emotional trauma as the result of physical and sexual abuse, extreme neglect and failed placements. They are the children that are the most behaviorally challenged and least able to trust. They require the compassionate care of foster parents who been specially trained to help them to modify their behavior while the underlying trauma is addressed in a clinical setting, either through Cardinal McCloskey's Health & Clinical Services department or through community referrals. Annually, more than 50 children are served through the program.
Intensive Services to Foster Parents
To become a certified Therapeutic Foster Parent, applicants complete an extensive home study process and attend 30 hours of MAPP training. In addition Therapeutic Foster parents complete an 18-hour skill-training program in positive parenting and behavior modification that includes problem solving, working with birth families and caring for special needs children. The training teaches therapeutic foster parents specialized techniques for behavior management to help the children who will be placed in their homes. Children are placed only after a foster parent has reviewed the referral material and had an opportunity to meet and get to know the child. When the child and family feel comfortable that a good match has been made, placement occurs. Subsequent to the placement, behavior plans are developed to provide a clear structure for work with children and are reviewed by social workers and behavioral specialists during their weekly contacts with therapeutic foster parents. In addition to the support provided through weekly contacts and at least bi-weekly home visits, foster parents are expected to attend monthly groups which provide both additional training as well as the opportunity to share and learn from the experiences of others. Our staff is available to help in any emergency through a 24-hour on call system which ensures a prompt response and assistance whenever a crisis situation arises.
Services to ChildrenThe small caseloads and the team approach to case management ensures that someone is always available to help a family or child in need. Intensive services are offered to children to help them to come to terms with the trauma they have experienced in the past. Our clinical staff is closely involved with the treatment of each child in our Therapeutic Foster Boarding Home Program and every child is referred for therapy, either with our own trained psychologists or community-based providers. Special educational, recreational, medical and other services are offered, consistent with the needs of the children. Our goal is to help the child in every aspect of his/her development in order to give them the necessary skills and emotional support to live up to their potential.
Permanency
Consistent with the mission of all placement programs, our goal is to provide each and every child with a permanent living situation at the earliest possible time. To this end, birth families are promptly involved in the treatment process. Family input is desired and sought in the development of treatment plans and families are offered training to assist them in learning the needed skills to reassume the care of their children. Additional services, which focus on the parent's individual needs, are provided for by the social worker either directly or by referral. Although the children in this program have a higher level of need, permanency planning is approached as it is in the Foster Boarding Home program, with urgency and attention to the individual needs of children and families. For those children who cannot return home in a timely way, adoption planning is always considered and frequently implemented. Many of our emotionally and behaviorally handicapped children have found permanent, loving homes with their foster families who ultimately adopt them. Others, through participation in our Youth Development Program, develop the skills to prepare them for a productive adulthood. Young adults who do not have family resources are referred to specialized supportive housing programs for youths aging out of foster care or in some instances OMH supportive residences for adults with mental disabilities.
"Caring Hearts" Family Based Treatment Program
What is Family Based Treatment?Our "Caring Hearts" Family Based Treatment Program helps seriously emotionally disturbed children from the Bronx stay in their community and live successfully in a family setting while receiving behavioral and mental health treatment. The program is under the auspices of the NYS Office of Mental health. "Caring Hearts" is not a foster care program. Unfortunately, many emotionally disturbed youth are placed in hospitals or residential facilities that take away the sense of family and community. As a family-based treatment program, Caring Hearts allows these youth to remain in a family setting while receiving behavioral and mental health treatment. It serves as an alternative to institutionalization for youth whose special needs cannot be met in their own family or current living arrangement. Through the program, children ages 5 to 17 with a DSM-IV R diagnosis documenting severe emotional disturbance are placed in treatment homes with "professional parents" that are specially trained to provide intervention on a daily basis. These treatment homes provide a safe and secure setting in which children can learn different coping skills and how to better manage their own behavior. Once in care, children receive comprehensive behavioral health treatment from our treatment team and experienced mental health professionals in the community who work with the Professional Parents. Both professional parents and staff work with the child, birth family, school, and community resources to help children meet their individual goals. A structured treatment plan delineating behavioral goals is established within 30 days of placement. Academic support, intervention and recreational activities support and encourage special talents and interests of each child. Our goal is to treat the whole child and to give him/her the best possible chance for a promising future.
Professional ParentsFamilies approved as Professional Parents through this program are also expected to participate in a 30 hour specialized training "Bridging Toward Professional Parenting" and must also meet approval guidelines set by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH). OMH recommends two parent families or a single parent with a reliable, consistent and supportive second adult who is fully trained to back up the Professional Parent. Both adults must be committed to the program and participate in the treatment of the child. Other requirements are related to space and ratios of facilities to residents of the home. All families must be cleared through the New York State Registry for Child Abuse and Maltreatment and be fingerprinted.
Social workers, known as Family Specialists will work with no more than five families at a time. This will allow for weekly in-depth contact with all children and families and the opportunity to provide extensive support to the Professional Parent. Frequent training and required participation in monthly support/cluster meetings offer additional assistance will also be available through this program.
Services to FamiliesOur Family Counselor will be trained to help the families of the children living in treatment homes to learn the techniques used by our professional families and to use them during visits and in preparation for the child coming home. The Family Counselor will also help the families with whatever services are needed to support the child's transition home when the treatment placement is completed.
Helping Children to Get BetterThe goal of our Family Based Treatment program is to help children to get better. This is done through the Professional Parent's intervention on a daily basis in helping children to better manage their behavior and in providing them with a safe and secure setting in which they can learn different ways of coping with the stresses in their lives. The intervention of the professional parent is supplemented by mental health services in the community. We also provide academic support and intervention and a recreational plan designed to support and encourage the special talents and interests of each child. Our goal is to treat the whole child and to give him/her the best possible chance for a promising future. 
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Cardinal McCloskey's Therapeutic Foster Boarding Home Program has addressed the needs of New York City's "hardest-to-place" children since 1991. Established to provide specialized services to more disturbed children ages 7 to 17 who have suffered repeated disrupted placements, psychiatric hospitalizations and/or placements in residential treatment facilities, therapeutic foster care placement has allowed nearly 200 children to obtain specialized treatment while remaining in stable family settings within the community.
