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Family Based Alternatives Project
Children's needs are best met in a family. But family
circumstances coupled with the particular needs of a
child with a disability can sometimes mean a family
struggles and needs extra support. Sometimes circumstances
lead families to seek out-of-home placement for their
child with disabilities. Family-based
alternatives is a term used to
identify ways of organizing support to offer families
options other than residential facility care.
What are family-based alternatives?
Family-based alternatives are living arrangements which
have as their primary feature a nurturing, enduring,
parental relationship. They come in many forms. The
major variations are:
- Support for a child to live with
their birth family
- Support for a child placed in residential
care to return home
- Support for another family to care
for a child, either full or part time
Until recently, there have been few alternatives to
residential care in Texas when families struggle to
care for their children with disabilities. The service
system is changing to make more alternatives available.
To have more family-based alternatives to facility care
means the service system needs to:
- Create sufficient support for birth families
to enable them to care for their children at home,
and
- Find alternate families who can
care for children who are unable to live with their
birth families.
EveryChild is contributing to change in both of these
areas. Members of the EveryChild
Coalition have worked in the first area to increase
the range and availability of supports to help birth
families. EveryChild staff are currently working in
the second area through the Family-Based
Alternatives Project to increase the availability
of alternate families.
The first priority
for any child is to find adequate supports to enable
a child to remain home or to return home from a residential
placement. If living with the birth family is not possible,
the second priority
is to find another family arrangement to care for a
child. Sometimes that will mean extended kin to provide
a home for a child or to help birth parents care for
a child. Sometimes that will mean finding an unrelated
family who can provide a loving, safe, and nurturing
home for a child.
SUPPORT TO REMAIN HOME
While the number and range of options to help birth
families is growing, it is not yet adequate to assist
all families who need it. Some of the programs and services
that can help are described in the Resources
section. Meanwhile, child advocacy groups continue to
work for change to improve supports to birth families.
SUPPORT TO RETURN HOME
For children who currently live in facilities targeted
by the Family-Based Alternatives
Project, EveryChild staff are available to assist
families who wish to bring their children home. The
Project is funded through a contact with the Texas
Health and Human Services Commission. With current
available funding, activities at this time are limited
to children with developmental disabilities residing
in facilities in a twelve county area in central Texas.
As we seek and obtain additional funding, we may be
able to expand our activities to include other children
in need of a family home.
SUPPORT
FOR ANOTHER FAMILY TO PROVIDE CARE
When a birth family finds that they are unable to
care for their child, whether due to circumstances or
inadequate support, an alternative can be another family
with different circumstances or supports who can provide
a home for a child, on either a full time or part time
basis.
When children are unable to live with their birth families,
EveryChild is promoting the development of a
“Support Family”
model. A Support Family enables
a child to enjoy the benefits of family life when their
birth family is unable to provide it or unable to provide
it full-time. A Support Family is a family who is recruited
especially to care for a child and to function like
extended kin or a blended family for families whose
own kinship circle is unable to provide a full-time
home for a child. Children can be placed with a Support
Family and yet remain an integral part of their birth
family's life.
A Support Family is a different way to arrange caregiving
that offers the reliability of a paid caregiver and
the lifestyle of a family when birth parents are unable
to care for a child. A Support Family is a family who
has been recruited, carefully selected, fully prepared,
and paid to provide care for a child with a disability.
Using a Support Family
to Provide Full Time Care
Support Families are distinguished from traditional
foster care by several unique features:
What is a Support Family?
- Support Families are recruited specifically
for children with disabilities.
- Support Families are asked to make a long-term
commitment to a specific child.
- Birth families can voluntarily choose to
use a Support Family without giving up their
rights.
- Support Families receive training and preparation
specifically for the child who will be placed
with them.
- Support Families are carefully matched with
children and their birth families so that the
families can work collaboratively for the child.
- Adequate time is taken to prepare the Support
Family to ensure the child's well-being and
to assure the likelihood of a long-term arrangement.
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When using a Support Family, the birth family can remain
a central part of the child's life even while the child
lives with another family. Birth families participate
in planning and decision-making, including the selection
of the Support Family, and are encouraged to maintain
regular involvement with their child.
When circumstances have led to the intervention of
a court to assume guardianship to protect a child, the
Support Family will work with the guardian to provide
a stable, nurturing family for a child for as long as
necessary. Sometimes this will be temporary, sometimes
it will be long-term, and sometimes it can lead to adoption.
Using a Support Family to Share Care
An option that can work for some families is an arrangement
called shared parenting.
Shared parenting is a term used to describe an arrangement
where an alternate family is recruited and trained to
provide a home part-time to help a birth family in caring
for their child with disabilities.
Shared parenting is similar to arrangements that occur
naturally, for example, when extended kin care for a
child part-time or when care is shared between two households
when parents divorce. When families with children with
disabilities find that their own network of extended
family and friends is not sufficient to help, a shared
parenting arrangement can fill a similar role.
Shared parenting arrangements are distinguished by
the following features:
What is shared parenting?
- Support Families are specifically recruited
to share in caring for children with
disabilities.
- Support Families are paid caregivers who provide
care in a family home.
- A birth family chooses a recruited Support
Family to provide a part-time home for a child
on a regular basis scheduled when the birth
family needs and wants that kind of help.
- The amount of time and conditions under which
care is shared between two families can
vary with families' circumstances and preferences.
- Support Families who provide shared parenting
are carefully screened, certified, and monitored
by a community agency who is responsible for
assuring the child's well-being through supervision
and support.
- Shared parenting arrangements include negotiated
agreements between a birth family and a
Support Family outlining the arrangements and
describing their mutual decisions about how
to share care.
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Shared parenting can be an innovative way to provide
practical assistance to a birth family while enabling
a child to continue to enjoy the benefits of family
life.
Developing Support Family Options
Family-based alternatives to institutional care have
been used successfully in other states to support family
life for children with disabilities. Much work has yet
to be done to make family-based alternatives a readily
available option in Texas. One step in that direction
is the Family-Based Alternatives
Project, which is funded through a contract with
the Texas
Health and Human Services Commission.
Through this Project, EveryChild is actively engaged
in expanding the availability of Support Families to
provide full-time or shared parenting living arrangements
for children with disabilities who currently reside
in residential facilties in central Texas. Project activities
include:
- Collaborating with birth families
to explore possible alternatives to facility care
for a child with a disability
- Recruiting and preparing alternate families
to provide a home for children who can't live with
their birth families or who can't live with their
birth families full-time
- Linking together people, supports and community
agencies as partners in helping families
and children thrive
- Collaborating with state government and
state agencies to remove systemic barriers
and promote family life for children with disabilities
By
creating a system of family-based alternatives,
families will have options when faced with the possibility
of out-of-home placement for their child.
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