Family & Children Services Inc

Programs: Foster care offers safety and stability to children who have experienced abuse or neglect by providing family care when out-of-home placement becomes necessary. Foster families are licensed by the agency and trained to nurture and promote the development of children. Children's trauma treatment and parent coaching are provided to treat children and strengthen families. Privatization of michigan's child welfare system has increased the number of children coming into the agency's foster care program by 106% since 2009. In 2017, 58,995 days of foster care were provided to children. 150 children were transitioned from foster care into permanent families through adoption as part of a permanency plan when they could not be returned to their families.

family and community treatment (fact) is a comprehensive home-based treatment service partnering with families to strengthen their abilities. This program serves families with a child who has a diagnosable mental illness and is experiencing difficulties in multiple areas of life. This service may include individual, couples, group, family and play therapy, parenting support, case management services, 24-hour on-call availability, advocacy and referrals to community supports. Staff work with the entire family providing individualized services for both the youth and family members based on a needs-driven, strength-based approach. In 2017, 688 individuals were served - 399 were children.

glen's house youth crisis residential services are for youth ages 5-17 with a primary mental health diagnosis experiencing an acute pshychiatric crisis. Glen's house provides a short-term (up to 14 nights) alternative to inpatient psychiatric services to avert inpatient psychiatric admission or to shorten the length of an inpatient stay. Crisis placements are accepted 24-hours, 365 days a year in a licensed residential facility. Youth crisis respite provides a short-term placement for youth ages 5-17 experiencing a mental health crisis. Services are typically 2-14 days and assist in stabilizing a current (not on-going) crisis situation. Focus is on the temporary separation from youth's natural environment to prevent deterioration or harm to themselves or others. In 2017, 368 children/youth were served.

for 115 years, family & children services has responded to the needs of the communities it serves accomplishing its mission to "support, strengthen and preserve the safety, well-being and dignity of children, individuals and families" through a comprehensive program of child welfare and behavioral health services. A continuum of programs is offered, serving 8,564 individuals in 2017, 4,969 of them children. Agency clients are served in allegan, barry, berrien, branch, calhoun, cass, kalamazoo, kent, lake, mason, muskegon, oceana, ottawa, st. Joseph and van buren counties in client's homes, schools, community centers, respite homes, and agency service sites in kalamazoo and calhoun counties. Service quality is assured through state and local regulatory bodies, the council on accreditation (coa), and internal training and quality management systems directed at best practices in the delivery of human services. The agency has been accredited since june of 1987 and is licensed for the care of children by the state of michigan. In addition to foster care and adoption, family and community treatment and crisis residential and respite, services to the community include: child welfare: family preservation programs such as families first, serve families whose children are at risk of out-of-home placement due to abuse or neglect and children in foster care being reunited with their families. The family advocate program helps families needing immediate support and provides services such as counseling, life skills training and parenting education in a family's home for families where there has been an investigation of child abuse or neglect. Families together building solutions is an in-home program that serves families who are experiencing issues related to child and family well-being and are in need of supportive assistance. Services include providing support with budgeting, household management, parenting skills, connection with community resources, communication and conflict resolution skills and building postive relationships. When a child must be removed from their family, the overarching goal is to return the child to the home. Foster care supportive visitation/in-home parent education provides intensive individualized parent-child visits centered on the child and parent education and coaching. The program utilizes evidence-based approaches to replace old patterns of behavior with new, healthier ones. The agency also offers supervised parenting time to improve parenting skills and increase communication between parents and their children in a safe and controlled environment. Parenting classes are designed for parents struggling with core parenting skills and are focused on rebuilding trust in the family. Behavioral health services: family & children services works with people experiencing developmental, mental or emotional health issues - where they need help - in their homes, in schools, in community settings and/or agency service sites. Outpatient counseling services are available for individuals from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Therapists provide a wide variety of professional counseling including individual, couple and family therapy to enable clients to understand the social, psychological, and interpersonal issues that may be interfering with their relationships, job, school and social functioning. Children's specialty services offer trauma treatment to children in the michigan department of health and human services' foster care system. Therapists are highly trained to treat children using trauma-informed therapy. Bi-lingual, bi-cultural outreach services are also offered to spanish speaking youth and their families. Community based mental health services for youth and their parents address behavioral health issues that left untreated, could overwhelm a child or family. Family and community treatment and parent infant programs provide comprehensive, home-based treatment services partnering with families. Services are provided to families with youth experiencing a serious emotiional disturbance and having difficulties in multiple areas of life. In addition to family and community treatment, parent infant programs serve families where either the parent or child is struggling with mental health challenges, offering family support from pregnancy through age three. Services include individual, group, family and play therapy, parenting education and support, 24-hour on-call availability, advocacy and referrals to community resources. Case management coordinates necessary services for young adults with a serious and persistent mental illness or families whose children have a developmental disability or serious emotional disturbance. These services include a comprehensive mental health assessment and development of a person-centered plan, linkage and referral to community resources, and ongoing coordination to ensure quality of services and supports. In 2017, 1,089 individuals were served - 581 were children. Link social emotional learning programs are provided year round to children with serious emotional disturbances and/or developmental disabilities to give them the opportunity to participate in structured activities designed to promote their social, emotional, educational and recreational needs individually or in a group. The program is tailored to each child's individual needs in a variety of community settings. Working with direct care staff, groups use music, art, sports, adventure, and science to learn and practice their social and emotional skills. Mobile crisis response is a 24-hour response team for youth in kalamazoo county facing a mental health and/or substance use crisis. As a comprehensive community-based program, mobile crisis provides immediate crisis intervention, clinical assessments, assists families in developing practical safety/crisis plans, and provides follow up services until the youth and family are connected with ongoing services. This service operates 24-hours per day, seven days per week in schools, homes and in the community.