Foster care helps kids thrive
Did you know that kids with behavioral and mental health challenges show the most improvement when supported in a loving home? This is why safe and supportive home environments are crucial for a child’s overall wellbeing. Foster parents champion their foster children and provide nurturing, stable homes where they can thrive.
Easterseals PORT Health’s inclusive foster care program helps make meaningful and life-changing connections. We are a nonprofit foster care agency that always acts in the best interest of the children we serve.
We serve a diverse group of children who are predominantly school-age and oftentimes with behavioral and emotional challenges. Many of these children have been in the foster care system for an extended period of time and have experienced a wide range of trauma. No two foster children are the same and no two foster families are the same! We recruit individuals from all walks of life to welcome children into their homes. We offer 24-hour support, ongoing training and financial reimbursement to our foster parents and families.
All children deserve a loving and nurturing home. It’s our vision is to see children in the foster care system reunified with their families when it is safe and appropriate. We strive to provide the best out-of-home care for foster children until a permanent placement can be achieved.
Easterseals PORT Health’s Foster Care program has achieved Partner in Prevention status from Darkness to Light, an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower adults to prevent child sexual abuse. This identifies us as a partner who has taken extra steps to protect the children we serve by training our staff to understand the issue of child sexual abuse, identify unsafe situations and practices, and react responsibly in the best interest of the children we serve.
We offer 3 types of Foster Care
Children in Traditional Family Foster Care have experienced trauma and are in need of supportive, loving homes. This service incorporates the following supports for foster parents and children:
- Specialized training to care for medically fragile children.
- 24-hour crisis support.
- Monthly in-person contact with Easterseals PORT Health staff to discuss the child’s wellbeing and ensure licensing requirements.
- Team meetings that include everyone involved in the child’s case including: Department of Social Services, birth parents,
- ESPH staff and foster parents.
- On-going support and training.
- Pre-licensing parent skills (40-hour class).
- First aid, CPR and medication administration.
- De-escalation techniques.
- Understanding trauma.
- Client rights.
Children in Therapeutic Foster Care typically have manageable behaviors with moderate behavioral and emotional needs. Therapeutic Foster Care is a proven mental health service provided to a child in a family setting by trained foster parents. This service incorporates the following supports for foster parents and children:
- Maximum of 2 children may be placed in a home.
- 24-hour crisis support is available.
- Weekly in-person contact.
- Monthly team meetings.
- Ongoing support and training.
Children in IAFT typically have significant behavioral and emotional challenges. IAFT provides a therapeutic family style treatment with trained parents in the community. Children receiving this service typically have had difficulty with past treatment options and are at-risk for hospitalization or group home placement. This service incorporates the following supports for foster parents and children:
- Maximum of 1 child may be placed in a home.
- 24-hour crisis support.
- Weekly in-person contact and daily phone contact.
- Weekly team meetings.
- On-going support and training.
- Weekly therapy.
Here’s what individuals are saying about foster care…
Learn more about becoming a foster parent!