RockHaven Treatment foster care (TFC) provides a safe, stable and nurturing home environment for foster children who have emotional or behavioral needs. It is a family-based residential treatment program that allows the child to experience healthy parent-to-child relationships in an environment that promotes growth and healing. The goal of RockHaven is to place a child in a specially-trained RockHaven home with parents who had been educated on providing clinical-level care. Each child is evaluated before he or she is placed in a RockHaven home to determine a perfect match. A mental health professional will consider the child’s level of cognitive development, any traumatic experiences he or she has had and current health condition to find a home that suits his or her needs.
What's The Difference Between Foster Care And Treatment Foster Care?
A lot of children have already been placed in traditional foster homes but did not receive the care they needed because their foster parents did not have the training or support to understand and adequately care for the child.
RockHaven, unlike traditional foster care, combines in-home living with mental health treatment and support. RockHaven parents are taught how to address mental health issues in a nurturing and compassionate family environment. Traditional foster parents receive less-intensive training and may not be prepared to handle the complex emotions and behaviors that foster children often express. Also, traditional foster care focuses on changing the parents’ behavior, while RockHaven emphasizes treating the child. RockHaven parents are required to be knowledgeable about mental and behavioral health issues among youth, whereas traditional foster parents’ primary responsibility is providing a safe shelter for a foster child.
Why Is Treatment Foster Care Better Then Traditional Foster Care?
Children in foster care have a higher chance of experiencing mental health issues and developmental delays than the general population due to the lack of security in their lives. They often come from dangerous situations or homes where they were abused or neglected. For this reason, many foster care children need mental health treatment in conjunction with a safe place to thrive and heal. Traditional foster care, on the other hand, is meant to protect a child from harm and provide shelter — not treat mental health issues. RockHaven offers everything a traditional foster home offers, in addition to the mental health care that most foster care children need on a professional level. No matter how healthy a child may seem, being placed into foster care is a traumatic experience. Although every child experiences and reacts to a painful event in their own way, it is always good to evaluate a child’s mental health before placing him or her in foster care. In summary, the benefits of RockHaven include:
Each child receives a treatment plan to help them with mental health issues.
RockHaven parents are trained to be sensitive and understanding of a child’s unique emotional and behavioral issues.
Children in RockHaven programs receive care designed to help them grow into healthy, productive adults.
RockHaven provides the best home environment for children with mental health issues in need of safety and understanding.
RockHaven parents are available to provide mental health support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Children in treatment foster care know they have caring adults in their home who are always there for them to help them cope with painful emotions in a nonjudgmental way.
RockHaven parents work with other mental health professionals in developing and implementing the most effective treatment plan for their foster child.
In a RockHaven program, children often are not in homes with other foster children, giving them individual attention, supervision and care they need.
What Mental Health and Behaviors Does RockHaven Provide For?
Many children who were exposed to violence, abuse or neglect experience developmental issues that can affect their ability to cope with stress or process emotions. However, it is never too late for a child to learn coping skills, build meaningful family relationships and heal from past wounds. The goal of RockHaven is to treat a wide range of emotional, behavioral and mental developmental issues for foster children and help the child grow and become the person they are meant to be.
RockHaven commonly deals with the following mental health issues:
Depression
Anxiety
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Self-injurious behaviors
Bipolar disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Trauma-related disorders
Conduct Disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/ Effects
Trauma
Attachment Disorder
RockHaven is designed to help children with many different mental health and behavioural disorders, especially those that often result from abuse and neglect. RockHaven parents understand that happiness as a foster child is complicated, but not impossible.
Become A Treatment Foster Parent Today!
Have you ever considered doing something to help your community? Have you ever thought: “I am really good with children?” Have you ever considered that the key to our country’s success is our youth? If you answered yes to any of these questions – we need you! RockHaven is looking for parents that are looking to make a difference in the lives of youth in care. Join the RockHaven team in partnership by opening your home to become a therapeutic foster parent. RockHaven will work with you to complete the 3-week training program designed to give you the tools you will need to successfully parent children and youth previously traumatized by abuse and neglect. You won’t be in this alone as we believe the success of the program has everything to do with the team we build to work with each individual youth.
RockHaven is also looking for parents who would like to open their homes on weekends and for short time periods to parent a youth in the program who is in need of respite care. Respite services give much-needed breaks to families who are full-time caretakers for youth with emotional and behavioral problems.