NCJ Number
130042
Journal
Child Welfare Volume: 70 Issue: 3 Dated: (May-June 1991) Pages: 371-382
Date Published
1991
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The Texas Baptist Children's Home offers a Residential Service for Parents program which uses an innovative approach to permanency planning. The two Family Cottages can simultaneously serve two to three mothers each and their children.
Abstract
The program operates with three full-time staff members, who live in and supervise the cottages, and administrative support. Each family lives autonomously, and daycare is provided while the mothers seek employment, work, or receive respite care. The daycare program emphasizes educational opportunities and relationship-building with family and peers. The program has been well received by the professional community; when the facilities are full, staff provide in-home services to families in need including interviews, assessments, and assistance with budgeting, family counseling, housing, daycare referrals, and job opportunities. Case management in the Family Cottages focuses on helping the mothers prepare financially for reentering the community and finding employment or returning to school. Postplacement services are provided for an average of 12 to 24 months. The family services approach is cost effective and efficacious in keeping families together. Most of the clients are single mothers who have lost their parenting skills in the face of overwhelming physical, financial, and psychological obstacles. Regular counseling sessions and other programs help mothers and children develop healthy relationships that emphasize appropriate care, guidance, nurturing, and discipline. The problems most successfully addressed by the program include loss of income, housing, and family separation. 1 table, 1 figure, and 16 references (Author abstract modified)