Foster Care is meant to be temporary. Although every person’s/family’s journey is unique, our goal is for children to be in substitute care as short of time as possible. Our goal is reunification whenever possible, and connecting children to family. When reunification is not able to be achieved, we seek the best option for the youth to achieve permanency through adoption, guardianship, and independent living. That is why we offer a variety of types of foster care to accommodate all children.
Relative Foster Care
Research indicates that when children must be removed from their own homes, placement with a loving and caring relative can help mitigate the trauma. The Center for Youth and Family Solutions’ Relative Foster Care Program is designed to provide relatives with the training, support, and services they need while caring for the children of an extended family member. Our family workers provide services to assist the child’s parents as they work to resolve the issues that led to abuse or neglect and support the relative caregiver as they care for the child and support the continued familial relationships.
Traditional Foster Care
Research indicates that children also adapt to foster care placement better when they can remain in their same community and school setting. CYFS recruits and licenses foster parents throughout Central Illinois and the Quad Cities. When a relative placement is not a viable option for a child or sibling group, we place the children with a licensed foster family in or near their home community whenever possible. Traditional foster caregivers are families from the community that open their heart and home to comfort children who require out of home placement. We consider foster caregivers an integral part of our professional team and we work together to meet the needs of the children placed in their home. Our foster caregivers are licensed and receive ongoing training and support in their critical roles.
Specialized Foster Care
This program is designed for children who exhibit more significant behavioral difficulties or have an identified mental health diagnosis. In addition to trained and skilled family workers and therapists on staff, our Specialized Foster Care Program develops specially trained foster caregivers to provide safe, stable, and nurturing care for these children. The foster caregivers are provided with additional training annually where they receive the knowledge, skills, and necessary tools and interventions to meet the needs of these children. In addition to our skilled foster parents, the agency’s family workers provide frequent contact with the children and family to support, stabilize and help each child on a path towards permanency either through reunification, guardianship, or adoption.
The Center for Youth and Family Solutions is fortunate to have a working agreement with a licensed child psychiatrist, providing on-site services in our Springfield office and working with us to develop agency-wide access through telepsychiatry.
Medically Complex Foster Care
Our Medically Complex Program is designed for children who have been diagnosed with a medical condition and require intensive, ongoing medical assistance. Our foster caregivers receive individualized and specific training for each child placed in their care. We have a full-time nurse on staff to provide medical consultation to foster caregivers and parents to ensure the children are receiving the best medical care possible.