Foster Services

Foster a Child, Siblings or Teen in Northern California

Become an AFS Resource or Adoptive Parent

AFS is committed to providing healing and equitable care to families, children, siblings, and teens in care. By becoming a resource parent (formerly known as foster parent) who opens your heart and home you can change the trajectory of a youth’s life. If you are interested in becoming an approved AFS resource parent in Northern California, you can inquire here, visit our blog post, How to Become a Resouce Parent in California, or the Frequently Asked Questions page.

Initial AFS Resource Family Qualifications

AFS seeks individuals, couples, and families who can offer warmth and understanding to children, siblings, and teens who are in care. AFS resource parents should demonstrate patience, guidance, motivation, tolerance, understanding, flexibility, and commitment. Resource parents through AFS have excellent 24/7 support, compensation, training, and agency accountability.

AFS approved resource parents must:

  • reside in the following Northern California counties: Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Kern, Lake, Marin, Napa, Placer, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Yolo or Yuba
  • have a stable source of income sufficient to meet your family’s needs
  • provide approved adult supervision for foster youth when they are in your home
  • have a bedroom for foster youth (individual or shared with a child of the same gender and similar in age)

In instances where reunification with biological relatives is not possible, AFS provides adoption services and support to help youth find forever homes.

CONTACT US
(800) 300-1022
rfarecruitment@afs4kids.org
Si necesita hablar con alguien en español Become an AFS Resource Parent

AFS offers the following foster care services:

Enhanced Intensive Services Foster Care Expand

Transform Lives with Our Enhanced Intensive Services Foster Care Program

Are you driven by a desire to make a significant difference in the lives of children facing unique challenges? Join our Enhanced Intensive Services Foster Care (E-ISFC) program and become a pivotal part of a child’s journey toward healing and growth.

As a resource parent in our E-ISFC program, you will receive a generous monthly reimbursement and additional financial support to cover basic needs-ensuring you have the resources to provide exceptional care. This initiative is uniquely designed to cater to children who need specialized services due to their specific circumstances.

In this role, you will contribute deeply to our mission, providing specialized care that includes therapy support, educational development, and a nurturing home environment. You’ll join a dedicated team committed to transformative outcomes, helping each child thrive and achieve their full potential.

The program offers:

  • Generous Financial Support: Monthly reimbursements recognize and support your dedication, enabling you to focus on meeting the child’s needs.
  • Comprehensive Training and Support: We provide continuous guidance and training, equipping you with the tools to address these children’s complex needs effectively.
  • A Chance to Make a Lasting Impact: Your love and commitment can help our children overcome their challenges, heal from their past traumas, and build a brighter, hopeful future.

We understand the challenges and rewards of working with children who require enhanced services. That’s why we are committed to supporting you every step of the way, ensuring you can provide the best care possible.

If you are passionate about creating a positive, enduring impact in the lives of needy children, consider joining our E-ISFC program. Your dedication and compassion can change their world and leave a lasting imprint on their hearts.

Connect with Us Today! Please contact us to explore this unique opportunity further and join our community of resource parents. Let’s work together to provide a nurturing and empowering environment for these children to thrive in.

Step Forward, Transform a Life-Join Our Specialized E-ISFC Program Now!

CONTACT US
(800) 300-1022
rfarecruitment@afs4kids.org
Si necesita hablar con alguien en español Homes for Youth: SF Juvenile Probation Expand

AFS Homes For Youth is a collaboration between the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department (JPD) and the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF). AFS coordinates, places and supports emergency and long-term placements for youth referred by the San Francisco Juvenile Court, in coordination with the Juvenile Probation Department (JPD). Resource parents are approved and licensed Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) caregivers in San Francisco, and the surrounding Bay Area. 

Program Goals

  • Improve outcomes for justice-impacted youth, particularly Black, Indigenous, and youth of color by providing them with intensive services in a home with caring resource parents.
  • Reduce and minimize the use of secure detention facilities for young people while the intensive services may provide better outcomes.

 Target Population 

Youth ordered to out-of-home placement by the San Francisco Juvenile Court, based on alleged or sustained charges for criminal conduct. Additional characteristics include:

  • Ages: 13-18, mostly 16 or older
  • Gender: girls, boys, and gender-expansive
  • Special Populations: Including but not limited to, youth who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation, monolingual youth, youth with behavioral health needs, and unaccompanied youth

Youth in this program will have immediate access to AFS’ array of SFDPH contracted mental health services including outpatient, therapeutic visitation, and Therapeutic Foster Care.

Common challenges faced by youth with juvenile justice involvement:

  • Substance abuse
  • Physical and mental health issues requiring individualized, comprehensive treatment approaches
  • Housing and employment instability

Our staff and families are trained in evidence-based practices including:

  • Wisdom Path Way, a reparative parenting approach
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
  • Strengthening Families-a protective factors framework
  • Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths.

Out-of-Home Placement in the San Francisco Juvenile Justice System: A Study Conducted for the San Francisco Juvenile Probation Department – click here

Intensive Services Foster Care Expand

ISFC Program Overview

The Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) program offers enhanced services for foster youth, requiring more than the standard support found in regular foster homes. This program caters to each foster youth’s distinct and individual needs and their respective foster families.

Key Features

  • Tailored Support: Services in the ISFC program are meticulously individualized to meet the distinct needs of both the foster youth and their families.
  • Comprehensive Resources: Foster families in the ISFC program receive extensive support, including specialized training, added respite, and intensive assistance from dedicated case managers and social workers.
  • Mental Health Support: A broad spectrum of mental health assistance is available to support the well-being of the foster youth.
  • Specialized Services for Youth: This encompasses family reunification, mentoring, life skills training, school liaison assistance, and other vital placement support services.
  • Ongoing Engagement: Monthly treatment meetings are conducted to ensure continuous alignment with the child’s needs. Moreover, there’s round-the-clock access to crisis response and management.

Target Audience

The ISFC program primarily serves:

  • Children and youth necessitating profound treatment and behavioral interventions.
  • Children and youth with particular healthcare needs.

Objective

While the goal is to ensure these children and youth reside in a family-based setting, the ISFC placement is envisioned as a short-term solution. Typically, the duration is between 12 to 18 months, aiming to stabilize the youth in their foster homes while fulfilling the objectives highlighted in their Needs and Service Plan.

Kinship Care Expand

Since 2017, AFS has been endorsing and assisting Kinship homes. The challenges kinship caregivers face mirror those encountered by other resource parents. However, the emotional strain of raising a relative’s child distinguishes kinship care. While most resource parents carefully plan the inclusion of a child into their homes, kinship caregivers often step in rapidly and without prior planning.

Understanding these unique challenges, AFS has been instrumental in preparing kinship homes for approval as resource parents. Kinship foster care places children with family members like grandparents, aunts, uncles, tribe members, godparents, or other individuals who, although not their immediate parents, share a familial bond with them. This is especially crucial when a child’s immediate environment poses safety concerns.

Every child deserves a family, ideally their own. If living with their direct parents is not an option for safety reasons, they should have every chance to reside securely with relatives or others who share a family-like bond.

Emergency Placement Programs (SF, SAC) Expand

The Emergency Placement Program provides 24/7 on-call emergency care to children and teens between 0 and 18. It is a temporary placement with specially trained resource parents, and the county identifies relatives for placement or a longer-term foster home.

Special training is provided for resource parents who receive emergency placements as they are often the first point of contact for foster youth after the trauma of being removed from their biological home. The care given by the resource parents in an emergency home provides youth in care with a stable and caring environment that sometimes leads to the kids staying with the emergency family for a longer duration until a permanent solution can be found.

Therapeutic Foster Care Expand

Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) Overview

Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) is an intensive, trauma-informed intervention tailored for youth with intricate emotional and behavioral needs. This program is designed to be short-term offers highly coordinated and personalized support delivered by specially trained parents.

 Key Points

  • Provider: Alternative Family Services (AFS) is the designated Therapeutic Foster Care provider for Alameda County.
  • Coverage: The TFC program falls under the Medi-Cal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit.

Target Group

TFC is aimed at children and youth, necessitating rigorous and regular mental health support within a family setting.

 Role of TFC Parents

TFC parents aren’t just caregivers but “therapeutic change agents.” These parents undergo intense training, receive comprehensive supervision, and are well-supported to ensure they provide the best care and services.

In essence, TFC is a robust system in place to provide healing and stability for youth in a nurturing family environment.

Treatment Foster Care Expand

Often, while authorities look into alleged abuse or neglect, children need short-term placements to ensure their safety during the investigation. In cases where abuse and/or neglect are verified and no immediate family is available care for the youth, short-term placements are converted to longer-term placements. A high proportion of AFS treatment foster placements begin as short-term emergency placements.

Certification Recruitment Intake Training Adoption (CRITA)

The CRITA team at AFS works tirelessly to:

  • Recruit, train & approve individuals or couples becoming resource or adoptive parents.
  • Facilitate orientations, pre/post-service trainings home walk-throughs for new applicants.
  • Interview applicants to review the fundamentals of the resource family process.
  • Verify applicants and adults living in the home are cleared of a criminal background.
  • Write a comprehensive family evaluation assessment of all applicants.
  • Confirm resource homes are in compliance with safety guidelines

Resources

  • CA Department of Social Services Resource Family Approval Written Directives – click here
  • CA Foster Youth Rights Handbook – click here
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