Provide Foster Care

OESTERLEN IS CURRENTLY RECRUITING NEW TREATMENT FOSTER CARE PARENTS AND HOMES.  Treatment Foster Care uses licensed homes in the community and surrounding area to provide safe, supportive home placements for youth with mental, emotional, and behavioral treatment needs.

• As a Treatment Foster Parent you will
• Provide a safe, structured environment.
• Address your foster child’s needs with resourceful interventions using training and staff resources provided by Oesterlen Services for Youth, Inc.

The Treatment Care Team is always available as a resource to deal with problems you encounter. We will help you devise new interventions to deal with specific problems. For situations in which the problem cannot be resolved, no family is ever required to keep a child. We ask that the foster parents make a commitment to the child; however, the final decision is yours.

The Goal

The goal of Treatment Foster Care is to provide a safe, structured environment for children of all ages and/or disability with therapeutic interventions.

The Program

First, you will be guided through the process of licensure by the foster care staff.

You will receive training to equip you as a Treatment Foster Parent. Along with the 36-hour pre-service training, you will have the opportunity to choose electives in topics of interest to you.

Once arrangements are completed and your foster child is placed in your home, you will have, at minimum, weekly phone contact, bi-weekly face to face contact and monthly home visits. You will also attend meetings with your child’s team on a monthly basis as well as receiving support from the other parents in the program on an as needed basis.

Training

Pre-service training in accordance with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services rules is required. Ongoing training is offered and required throughout the licensing period. You will receive 60 hours every two years.

Parent Groups

All Treatment Foster Parents will meet to act as a support system for one another. Not only will you be able to gain new information and ideas about how to intervene with your foster child, you will have the availability of people who are able to identify completely with your efforts as a Treatment Foster Parent.

The Requirements

Treatment Foster Parents are patient and resourceful people who can offer a stable home environment to a foster child. Although an educational background is beneficial, none is required.

Financial Arrangements

You will be paid a non-taxable income for caring for your foster child. Out of that money comes normal living expenses. Respite care is provided to allow for “healthy” breaks between foster parents and children. If you become a respite care provider, an additional reimbursement is offered.

The Oesterlen Tradition

Oesterlen Services for Youth, Inc. began serving needy children and families in 1903. Today the agency is respected statewide for its emotional and behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and their families. Oesterlen provides residential services with on grounds intensive treatment units.
Oesterlen provides community service programs including Wraparound services, outpatient child, individual, family, and group counseling services. Juvenile sex offender and child abuse treatment, living skills training, and consultation services to individuals and their families, agencies, schools, and other organizations is also offered.
Oesterlen is prepared to help address the changing needs of children and adolescents statewide. We serve children and adolescents regardless of race, religion, sex, national origin, or handicap (unless specific treatment programming is required).

Placement Arrangements and Referrals

Oesterlen takes into account your family’s lifestyle, including your religious and civic commitments. We seek to find a foster child who would feel comfortable in your family and take pleasure in your social activities.

For a preliminary conversation or to set an appointment, please call or e-mail the Treatment Foster Care Coordinator, Emily Blanford, at 937-399-6101, ext. 150 or 1-800-404-KIDS, ext. 150. The Treatment Foster Care Secretary may also be reached at 937-399-6101, ext. 135.  Referrals may be faxed at any time to 937-399-6609 or e-mailed to [email protected].

Oesterlen’s Agency Credentials

Oesterlen is licensed and/or certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

Oesterlen is a full member of the Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies, the Child Welfare League of America, and Lutheran Services in America. Oesterlen is affiliated with the Northeastern, Northwestern, and Southern Ohio Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Oesterlen is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA) and is a contract agency of the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Clark County.