EVIDENCE-BASED, TRAUMA-INFORMEDFamily Support Services

At The Children’s Institute, we believe strong families are at the heart of healthy communities. Our dedicated team provides a wide array of services to help families and children grow stronger, from prevention and reunification services to our foster care and adoption services (formerly known as Project STAR). All of our programs are built around the idea of permanency — supporting safe, nurturing, and lasting families — and putting the health and safety of the child first.

For families considering opening their homes and hearts to a child (or children) in need, this is where your journey begins. From short-term, emergency placements, to long-term placements on the path to adoption, our caring team provides unmatched support to families every step of the way, including:

• Informational events for prospective foster parents
• Certification education classes
• Ongoing training and support for families

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County-Referred
Our community’s youngest members are also among our most vulnerable. That’s why when families with children under the age of 3 (or who are expecting), experience challenges that threaten their ability to remain intact, our Infant Parent Empowerment Program provides our most intensive, evidence-based support services. We accept referrals for a wide array of services, including:

• Prevention and reunification services 
• In-home, intensive family support
• Individual and group sessions
• Plan of Safe Care development

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County-Referred
With the primary goal of keeping each child safely with their birth family, our In-Home Family Services team provides evidence-based, trauma-informed services to preserve families at risk of having a child removed from the home and to reunify families who have had a child removed. Our experienced team accepts referrals for a range of services, including:

• Preservation and reunification services
• In-home, intensive family support
• Individualized care to meet family needs

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County-Referred, except for Post-Permanency
As a State Wide Adoption Network (SWAN) affiliate, we bring more than a decade of experience to providing individualized, trauma-informed permanency services to both children in the child welfare system and the families who care for them. Our services include:

• Child Profile
• Child Preparation 
• Child Specific Recruitment
• Family Profile
• Finalization 
• Older Child Matching Initiative
• Post-Adoption Contact Agreement (PACA)
• Placement
• Post-Permanency

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When children have been removed from their parents’ custody, our Visit Coaching program works to unite the family sooner and more safely. Using an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach, our compassionate and dedicated team empowers parents with the tools and resources they need to succeed. Using proven strategies, our team works toward:

• More normalized family time 
• Increased flexibility of visits
• Improved parent/child interaction
• Reduced time in foster care 
• Faster family reunification 

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