In case you haven’t heard, Gillis now has treatment foster
care programs. The program for teens has been around for awhile so hopefully
you have heard about that one! If you haven’t then you are really out of the
loop! Come on! Crawl out from under that rock and get in the know! There are so many ways to hear about all the
wonderful exciting things that are happening at Gillis. There’s the Gillis
website, facebook page, twitter account, and of course this blog! You can also
request to be on the newsletter mailing list.
Anyway, back to what I was saying…oh yes…the teen program… It’s
a really great way for teens to get the structure they need while living in a
home setting in the community. The teen program focuses on teaching the youth
positive skills and encouraging and praising positive behavior and is based on
a point and level system. The program for younger kids in treatment foster care
is for ages 6-12 and is a newer part of Gillis’ Community Based Programs and is
off to a great start! All kids in foster care have experienced trauma in some
form or another and this program really addresses the trauma and chronic stress
that the kids have experienced and help them through these difficult times by
increasing their skills to cope with their trauma and lessen their negative
behaviors.
Both of these programs provide a lot of support to the
foster parents that work with the kids. The extensive support helps the foster
parents maintain the balance needed in their life to manage the care of these
challenging kids and ensuring that they are always able to help and support
them to the best of their ability. The treatment foster parents receive 24/7
support from a staff member who knows them and is familiar with the child in
their care and the issues they are facing so they can provide the best support
to the foster parents. The foster parents meet with one another for extra
support and to learn and share experiences and advice with each other. The
foster parents are either visited in their home bi-weekly by a staff member of
the treatment foster care program or receive daily phone calls to check on the
youth’s behavior and the foster parent’s stress level. We want to catch any problems
when they are little before they escalate and become a crisis. Respite care is
provided when the foster parents need a break so they can refresh themselves
and help to prevent disruptions. The foster parents receive a pre-service
training as well as on-going training to further their skills and expertise in
caring for youth with emotional and behavioral problems. The foster parents
really like all the extra support that they receive through the treatment foster
care programs. It allows them to talk with a staff member who is familiar with
the child in their home and to vent and talk, which is sometimes all that is
needed to help someone de-stress and feel confident in the care they are
providing. The staff members can also help them think of new strategies and
different “outside the box” ways of helping the children respond positively to
new skills being taught and to help lessen negative behaviors. The goal for the youth in these programs is
for them to increase their skill set to be successful at home, in school and in
the community and for them to move into their permanent placement once their
treatment in the program is complete.
If you would like to know more about these treatment foster
care programs through Gillis’ Community-Based Programs or are interested in
becoming a foster parent please contact Gillis at 508-3500 or visit www.gillis.org. Be on the lookout for an upcoming foster care
recruitment party. Thanks for visiting...until next time!
Submitted by Jennifer
Smith, MA, Program Supervisor
