Agency Type: Non-Profit
PROGRAMS
FOSTER CARE SERVICES KidsPeace Foster Care and Family Services provide help to more than 1,500 children with behavioral and emotional challenges as an alternative to placement in residential care. The pillars of our foster care program, which distinguish us from other providers, are: Cultivating Resiliency: We help children succeed where they have struggled and help them develop positive visions for the future. KidsPeace foster families and professional staff, along with community resources, assist each child to develop positive social, educational, and emotional skills and discover the strength and potential for future success. Healing Through Family Living: Through the power of family, children who have endured abuse and neglect experience healthy relationships with adults and positive parenting styles, and learn social skills through constructive role modeling. Toward this end, our professionals recruit, train, and provide 24-hour, seven-day-a week support to foster families to respond to the special needs of our youth. ADOPTION SERVICES While the ultimate goal of our foster care program is to reunite foster children with their families, reunification is not always possible. Therefore, KidsPeace FCFS offices can often assist our foster parents in finalizing the adoption of foster children for those children whose parental rights have been terminated. KidsPeace offices work with agencies within their state via the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN) to ensure that all studies and required documentation are completed in a timely manner. KidsPeace continues to support the families who have adopted their foster children.
Additionally, in the state of Pennsylvania, KidsPeace FCFS offices provide services to assist families in pursuing in-state and/or international adoption of infants, children, and teens. (Please see below.) SWAN KidsPeace is an affiliate of the Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network (SWAN) in Pennsylvania. SWAN provides adoption services that are funded and overseen by the Department of Public Welfare. KidsPeace conducts screenings to assure and document that each pre-adoptive family is able to provide a safe, stable, and nurturing environment for children. KidsPeace provides fundamental and specialized training to prepare families for the permanent placement of a child and also works with adoptive children to prepare them for this new phase of their lives. KidsPeace helps to coordinate the matching of potential adoptive families with available children from birth to 18 years of age. KidsPeace supervises the adoption process and provides post-placement services. Additionally, KidsPeace provides post-permanency services such as respite, adoptive parent support groups, and case management services. International Adoption Services KidsPeace FCFS offices in Pennsylvania have partnered with Children's Home Society and Family Services (CHSFS) of St. Paul, MN. The partnership serves to match adoptive children from another country with families seeking to adopt internationally. KidsPeace evaluates potential adoptive parents through the completion of an adoption home study. KidsPeace offices across the state, with support from CHSFS, are staffed with specialists that are familiar with the adoption requirements of various countries. Our partnership with CHSFS provides KidsPeace staff with an understanding of the agency's criteria for adoptive parent acceptance and helps to identify countries to which a family would most closely match. Included in the adoption home study are a family history, medical information, economic profile, family activities and interests, preferences to age and gender, a home safety evaluation, and any information that might be relevant to international placement decision-makers. When a potential adoptive family chooses KidsPeace to conduct an adoption home study, the adoptive parents become our clients. KidsPeace makes every effort to facilitate a positive outcome and a successful match with an adoptable child. The countries with which CHSFS currently arranges adoptions include:
Following a completed adoption, KidsPeace works with the family through post-adoption supervision visits to ensure a positive adjustment between the child and the parents. KidsPeace provides a number of post-adoption visits to the new family as required by the hild's country of origin. KidsPeace staff are available to offer assistance and support on many issues that may arise. For more information on international adoptions, visit www.chsfs.org. FAMILY GROUP DECISION MAKING Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM) empowers families to take responsibility for the care and protection of their children. The model is based on the philosophy that family members ought to be included in decisions that concern their own lives. FGDM is based on the very simple premise that family members have intimate knowledge and information about themselves that few outside the family will ever know. Thus, the family is clearly in the best position to make decisions regarding the care and safety of its members. The Family Group Decision Making process is in contrast to traditional child welfare practice methods in that rather than focusing on family deficiencies, the process recognizes and utilizes the family’s strengths and expertise. Families who have been a part of the decision making process are more likely to participate in services aimed at keeping their family together. The FGDM process challenges child welfare workers to accept the plans developed by families as long as they are legal, possible, and keep the children safe.
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