Learn More About ISFC
Intensive Services Foster Care serves children and youth who have complex needs that require more support than standard foster care. ISFC homes blend carefully matched ISFC foster parents with the normalizing features of foster care, a variety of services, and an individualized treatment plan, all of which focus on the unique situation and needs of the individual child or youth. ISFC is also known as Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC) or Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC). ISFC uses a team approach for treatment with the ISFC foster parent(s) being vital members of the treatment team. The entire team is dedicated to positively impacting the life of the child.
Support Services & Requirements
ISFC Foster Parents receive additional training, focused in-home support, intense case management, assistance from other service providers, and a monthly reimbursement rate of more than twice the standard foster home in order to provide care and life change for these children.
Because of the intensity of the program, our ISFC foster parents need to be experienced in foster care or belong to a professional field that equips them with the knowledge and skill necessary to work with these children. While skills and knowledge are important, it is crucial to have an open heart and the desire to care for a child with complex needs.
Children First offers an Intensive Services Foster Care program in Tehama, Shasta, and Siskiyou Counties. An ISFC home is an alternative to group-based residential treatment or psychiatric hospitalization for children 5-18 years of age who require services greater than general foster care. Eligible children have the following challenges: multiple placements, serious emotional/behavioral issues, possible group home placements or are being stepped-down from a group home environment.
How can you get involved? Do you or someone you know have experience working with abused/neglected children? Do you know someone who is eager to learn and develop new skills on an ongoing basis? Are you resilient, ready to view yourself as members of our “treatment team” and understand the value of parenting flexibility to best serve each child? Perhaps that someone is you.
Our program reduces exposure to delinquent peers with similar challenges by the very nature of the home environment verses a residential/institutional setting. When getting to the root of the problem, these children need someone they can trust, someone who will help them heal past their pain, and most importantly, a family they can call their own.
In-home support services are provided by our Bachelor & Master level social workers and Support Counselors who, through experience, are quick to establish a relationship with the child and are highly skilled at working with our foster parents. Our ISFC foster parents receive 60 hours of training that best prepares them for working with higher-level children. We provide close supervision with fair and consistent limits. The program will also provide the framework for safety, limits, boundaries, consistency and predictability for individualized treatment.
The primary change agents in the child’s life are the “substitute parents” who are providing constant and consistent care in a family environment in which the child is a valued member. Be the caring adult who not only serves on the front lines of behavioral change but also as the role models who provide the care and love needed for healthy development and a sense of belonging.
If you want to be a part of a program that encourages the development of healthy values and adaptive skills necessary for the child’s return to their biological families and to return to the community as a productive member, contact the agency of Children First now!
ISFC Family Testimonial
“Foster parenting is an amazing journey. It can be the most rewarding experience of your life and then sometimes it can be overwhelmingly stressful and traumatic. So many of the children we serve have suffered such significant trauma that no matter how much experience, skill and education you have raising kids, you may still need some help to figure out how best to meet that child’s needs.
That’s where we were. An experienced foster home with a great track record of helping and reunifying children in the system. We thought we could handle most challenges. Then we got a child who had so many bad things happen to him he couldn’t cope, didn’t appear to want to cope and seemed incapable of change. We struggled to relate to him as did our other children and extended family. No matter how hard we tried we just weren’t getting anywhere and he was not improving.
He became an ISFC child and we were trained as an ITFC home. It was a Godsend! The ISFC program is a great resource for our whole family! The extra training continues to enhance our ability to understand our child’s unique challenges and develop ways to help him while supporting the whole family.
We are still in the midst of this journey but we no longer feel that we are in it alone.“
Kelly, ISFC Foster Parent
Have More Questions? We’re Happy to Help
Fill out the form below and let us know your questions. We’ll respond shortly and answer any questions you have about Intensive Services Foster Care or becoming a resource parent.
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