THE FAMILIES The Family Alternatives for Children with Developmental Disabilities (FACDD) Program provides homes for children with special needs who are not able to live with their birth families. With assistance from the staff at AFS, foster parents are able to create a family-based learning environment that is geared towards helping these children reach their full potential. Our foster parents think of themselves as parents with a responsibility to teach, nurture, and care for the children who come to live with them in their home. Whenever possible, they work closely with birth families so that the children can maintain on-going relationships with families and relatives. Foster parents may also assist in the task of reunifying families when appropriate. An important role of the foster parents in the FACDD Program is to help their foster children learn a variety of new skills that will enable them to function successfully within the family and community. These include age-appropriate self-help skills, leisure and recreational skills, social skills, interpersonal skills and communication skills. The foster parents work closely with the AFS staff, schools, regional centers, and other community agencies to ensure that each child receives the support services he or she needs to reach his or her maximum level of development and independence. AFS foster parents meet regularly for support, training, and professional consultation and often provide each other with respite, babysitting, and other backup assistance. SUPPORT SERVICES Just as AFS asks its foster parents to surround each foster child with a healthy, supportive environment, so AFS is committed to providing each foster family with supportive and responsive service. Foster parents receive up to three days of respite monthly, interest-free start-up loans, generous support payments, and paid support and training meetings. Equally important, each AFS foster parent is supported by a team of professional staff. CASEWORKERS The AFS Caseworker is the foster family's primary contact person in the agency. Caseworkers in the FACDD program are specifically hired and trained for their experience and expertise in working with children with developmental disabilities and their ability to help foster parents meet the needs of these children. They have extensive knowledge of the specialized services available in the community and more importantly, know how to expedite access to needed programming and services. FACDD Caseworkers have caseloads smaller than those in other AFS programs, allowing extremely responsive and intensive services for the child and foster family. The Caseworker develops with the foster family an overall plan for each child that includes vocational and educational goals as well as an assessment of the child's physical, emotional and social needs. The Caseworker then works directly with the child and the foster family toward realizing the goals as set forth in the treatment plan. The Caseworker also serves as the liaison between the foster family and the placing agency, family members, and other professionals involved with the child. Perhaps most importantly, the Caseworker is on 24-hour emergency call to the foster family to deal with any problems that may arise immediately and in person. One to One Specialist A 1:1 Specialist is specially hired for each child placed in the FACDD Program to work specifically with the child on skill deficits as identified by the foster parents and Caseworker. The 1:1 Specialist comes to the foster home one to three times each week to work with the child. Often the 1:1 Specialist and child will venture out into the community together to participate in recreational activities and to practice social and vocational skills. The 1:1 Specialist is supervised by the Caseworker and works closely with the foster family. PROFESSIONAL CONSULTATION The FACDD program utilizes professional consultants to help develop plans for addressing specific behaviors, problems, and/or developmental issues. Language specialists, behavioral specialists, and disabilities specialists are all brought in regularly to meet with AFS staff and foster parents both individually in the home and in group formats at the AFS offices. They conduct detailed assessments on a child's behaviors and needs, helping staff and foster parents develop a plan that can meet both the child's and foster family's needs.

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