PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Group Home Program

Our Group Home program provides a home on campus for boys whose family systems, level of development and social or emotional problems are such that they are not ready or able to reside in a traditional family foster home. This structured program can care for up to 20 boys ages 6-18 years old. The boys attend local public schools and live dormitory style in cottages with trained Direct Care Staff. The Direct Care Staff, serving as parental role models, strive to make the cottages as home and family-like as possible. Therapists and Direct Care Staff work with the children to address medically necessary mental health treatment needs with a goal to maintain or improve overall level of functioning and to maintain or improve placement stability.

Family Foster Care

Our Family Foster Home program provides homes for boys and girls of all ages who have been removed from their homes by the Department of Children and Families. Most children in foster care have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused and/or neglected. They act out their feelings in unacceptable, often destructive ways. BHA offers a continuum of support services such as therapy, behavior management, referrals and foster parent support. Foster families provide care and stability for children until reunification with their family is possible or other permanency goals are identified. Foster parents must successfully complete the Model Approach to Partnership and Parenting (MAPP) training, a 30-hour course designed to prepare prospective foster parents for the challenges of foster care. Home visits, a home study, background screening for adults and a health inspection are also a part of becoming a foster parent as well as ongoing training.

Specialized Therapeutic Foster Care

Specialized Therapeutic Foster Care (STFC) combines the benefits of a healthy functioning foster family with an array of specialized supportive services. The goal of our STFC program is to enable a special needs child to manage and works towards a resolution of their emotional, behavioral or psychiatric problems in a highly supportive, individualized and flexible home setting. Licensed therapists work closely with the child and foster parents in the home to address issues as they arise. As members of the professional team, foster parents communicate closely with BHA staff to regularly review and plan for the child's ongoing care and treatment. Specialized therapeutic foster parents receive 30 hours of training in addition to MAPP to prepare them for the demands of caring for a special needs child.

PREPARATION FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING

This program is designed to help youth learn the skills necessary to live independently as adults. Participating youth are formally assessed upon entering the program to determine their strengths and needs. An Independent Living Case Manager and a Life Coach work closely with the youth to outline a written plan of action to include day-to-day skills training, planning for future development through higher education or vocational training and socially functioning as an adult in society. The program consists of 14 life skills modules; Money Management/Consumer Awareness, Food Management, Personal Appearance, Health, Housekeeping, Transportation, Educational Planning, Job Seeking Skills, Job Maintenance Skills, Emergency & Safety Skills, Knowledge of Community Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Legal Skills and Housing Options.

BOYS' HOME ASSOCIATION FAMILY SERVICES is a provider of Medicaid funded mental health services by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. These mental health services include:

Psychiatric Services – Board Certified Child Psychiatrists provide psychiatric evaluation, medication and treatment services and oversight of clinical services.

Behavioral Health Overlay Services – Child specific, medically necessary mental health services are provided daily to all Group Home residents.

Outpatient Counseling - Licensed therapists provide individual and/or family therapy services to include insight oriented, cognitive behavioral or supportive therapy.

Therapeutic Behavioral On-Site (TBOS) – Licensed therapists provide services where the child is living, working or attending school, including: behavioral assessment, development of behavioral management program, monitoring compliance with the behavioral management program, individual and family counseling or psychotherapy or other medically necessary therapeutic services specified by the psychiatrist in the child's plan of treatment.

Targeted Case Management - provides case management services for children with a diagnosed mental health illness—a disproportionately high occurrence in the foster care population. These services assist beneficiaries in gaining access to needed medical, social, education, and other services deemed necessary. Services include working with the child and family to implement a service plan and follow-up to determine whether services have been received and the effectiveness of activities.