Treatment Family Foster Care

The Treatment Family Foster Care program (TFFC) addresses the needs of children and adolescents in foster care who have significant behavioral and mental health concerns. The program provides extensive client contact and foster parent support, using trauma-informed practice, so that young people can safely remain in the community until they can be stepped down to a lower level of care or discharged from foster care. TFFC offers mental health services in both JCCA’s Bronx and Brooklyn locations.

Criteria for Referrals

Children referred to the TFFC program range in age from 5 to 21, with a psychiatric diagnosis and/or history of psychiatric hospitalization, and/or multiple placements in the system. Only two TFFC children can be placed in a foster home at a time to ensure that the foster parent has sufficient time to meet the special needs of the youngsters

Foster Parent Training

It is recognized that foster parenting a child with intense behavioral and mental health problems requires more training. Foster parents are thus required to attend a 27-hour Parenting Skills Training that teaches them a behavior modification program that they are required to use with the children placed in their care, and attend 15 hours of training per year for recertification.

TFFC’s Approach and Services

• Limited caseload sizes and significant contact with children and foster parents at JCCA’s offices and in the home
• LMSW social worker and Bachelor’s-level sociotherapist
• Mental health services
• Focus on behavioral and permanency issues
• Extensive JCCA support to help with the child’s educational needs and independent living skills