If you are not a home for children, where do the youth come from?

Stanford Youth Solutions Foster Care Program works hand in hand in placing children in foster homes with Sacramento Children’s Home, Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home, Probation, Department of Child Protective Services, and other child and family service programs. Our goal is to place children in compatible homes with the intention of trying to stop the revolving door of foster care and to provide permanency. We are not an agency that places several children in one home. We work hard to find compatible homes through our extensive training program, getting to know the family through our certification process, being honest and transparent about the child’s history and behaviors before placement, and having pre-placement visits.

Whar age or population of youth do you try to find homes for?

Children in the foster care system can range from 0-18 years of age, both female and male, and are made up of many different ethnicities, cultures, and races. Stanford Youth Solutions primarily supports children that range from an average of 10 years of age to 18 years of age. These children are in foster care because their families could not or would not take care of them.

Most children in foster care have been neglected. Some have been abused. Many youth have lived in multiple foster homes. Each move adds to their feelings that no one cares about them or wants them.

Clearly, foster care is challenging. The abuse, neglect, and loss children experience can lead to: unwillingness to trust anyone, defiance, mood swings, educational delays, anxiety, depression, or lack of respect for authority.

Despite the challenges that foster youth may experience in foster care it takes parents with patience, understanding, consistency, dedication, persistence, resourcefulness, and commitment.

What classification of youth do you work with in the foster care system?

Intensive Treatment Foster Care

Stanford Youth Solutions works with and specialize in Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC). Intensive Treatment Foster youth are children that need specialized support in a family setting to address their behavioral challenges that are a result from neglect, trauma, or abuse. Currently, Stanford Youth Solutions is one of four agencies that work with this population of youth in the Foster Care System.

In order for a youth to be considered intensive treatment they must qualify by law. SB 1380, is a California regulation written to outline standards and rules for children that are considered ITFC. Not every child meets these qualifications, however, if a child does qualify the goal is to provide the care necessary to stabilize the child to a degree that they are no longer considered ITFC or meet the qualifications by law.

Standard Treatment Foster Care

Standard Treatment Foster Care or Treatment Foster Care is the other classification that we work with at Stanford Youth Solutions. Youth that fall under this classification make up the majority of the children needing homes in independent Foster Family Agencies (FFA’s) or in licensed county foster care homes.

Youth that are considered standard treatment do not meet the qualifications written in SB 1380 to be considered ITFC. However, this does not mean that children that are considered standard treatment do not come from neglect.

What is Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC)?

Prepares youth with emotional disturbances for permanency.

How is Intensive Treatment Foster Care different?

• One foster youth per home to meet a child’s individualized needs (exceptions for siblings)
• All Resource Parents complete Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training and must pass a written and role-play exam
• All Resource Parents receive pre-service PRIDE training as well as First Aid, CPR, and Blood Borne Pathogens
• Stanford Youth Solutions ITFC Social Workers and Support Counselors have state-mandated low caseloads (typically 8 cases)
• Stanford Youth Solutions ITFC Social Workers and Support Counselors provide services to clients in the home, schools, and community – family-based care
• Stanford Youth Solutions Support Counselor helps each ITFC client work on their individualized treatment goals
• 24/7 Crisis Intervention System with in-person response
• Reunification services (supervised visits, mentorship and training for birth parents)
• ITFC Respite care program – ITFC Resource Parents earn “respite credits” each month
• Customized services (tutoring, after school programs, extra-curricular activities)

Are the youth who are classified as Intensive Treatment always Intensive Treatment foster youth?

No, not necessarily. Every case is different for each youth that happens to become apart of the foster care system. The hope for a youth with Stanford Youth Solutions’s Foster Care Program, is that they will not always be considered ITFC. We hope that with the right recipe of a supportive foster family and other supports, the youth will learn to cope appropriately and independently.

Is there a remibursment differential for Standard Treatment Foster Care verses Intensive Treatment Foster Care?

Yes, there is a remburisment differential for a youth that is classified as ITFC and Standard Treatment. With our foster care program you will find that we rembursie $1,500.00 a month for a child who is classified ITFC. For a child that is considered Standard the remburisement rate is any where from $624 – $800 based on which age bracket the youth falls in.

We reimburse more for a child who is considered ITFC due to level of need and support some require. A child who is classified as ITFC may need you to leave work early on serveral occasions or they may need you to advacte more for them in various avenues. Overall, a child who is classified ITFC will need more support, consistency, and structure.

Is Intensive treatment foster care harder than standard treatment foster care?

Not necessarily! Foster care in all is challenging whether a child is considered Standard Treatment or Intensive Treatment. These youth have experienced trauma or neglect to a degree. All children in foster care have a range of behavioral and/or emotional needs. With ITFC, someone has just acknowledged that this child is in need of additional services. In some cases a youth that is classified as Standard can look like ITFC.

How is a foster youth considered to be classified as Intensive Treatment Foster Care(ITFC)?

• Has the youth exhibited any of the following behaviors:
•Lying, stealing, verbal or physical aggression, attempts at self-harmful behaviors, or defiant and oppositional behaviors (other behaviors may also qualify)
• As a result of emotional disturbance or a serious behavioral problem, has the youth:
•Been placed in a group home with a rate classification level of 9 or higher
•Been assessed by the county placing agency as at imminent risk of psychiatric hospitalization or placement in a group home with a rate classification level of 9 or higher
•Successfully completed a group home program
 

Where can I find an Intensive Treatment Foster Care Program?

Stanford Youth Solutions, accredited by the California Alliance of Child and Family Services.