Shelter Care - Shelter Home Program

Shelter Care provides long-term residential treatment through the Shelter Home Program. Each shelter home is staffed with a full-time, live-in married couple and has a capacity for four children between the ages of 12 and 18. This family model is designed to provide stability and teach responsible living. Both the shelter home parents and the children are given supportive help through a qualified staff of therapists and case managers.

The children in the Shelter Home Program are all referred from children serving agencies. Cases are screened carefully by both the referring agency and Shelter Care to insure appropriate placements. The length of stay in a shelter home varies from 6 months to 2 years. During the first 30 days in residence, an individual treatment plan is formulated for each child by the Shelter Care staff, the referring agency caseworker, and the child. This plan includes establishing realistic goals in the areas of personal growth, relationships within the family, school and/or work adjustment, and a plan for exiting the program.

A weekly family counseling session with the house parents and children living in the shelter home is an integral part of the program. Counseling is provided to both the children and their family of origin on a scheduled basis. House parents participate in a bi-weekly parenting skills training sessions and have 24-hour access to counseling support. A structured program of planned respite as well as educational tutoring provides additional support to the children in the shelter home program.