Department of Health, Department of Health Facilities, and Department of Human Services

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Children and Families (BCF), today announced applications will be accepted to establish a Therapeutic Foster Care Program, a multi-tiered Foster Family Care Model (Model) which will broaden the continuum of foster care services for youth ages 5-17 in the legal custody of DHHR.

West Virginia’s Therapeutic Foster Care Program will target youth who require an out-of-home setting as well as treatment and/or supportive services. The Model will expand the current specialized foster care model from one to three tiers of care: Tier 1) Traditional Foster Family Care, Tier 2) Treatment Foster Care, and Tier 3) Intensive Treatment Foster Care. BCF will provide startup grants for the purpose of recruitment and training of eight Tier 2 and three Tier 3 foster family homes in each BCF region during the grant period.

“Expanded foster care services provided by this new multi-tiered program will help keep more children in a family/community-based setting,” said DHHR Cabinet Secretary Karen L. Bowling. “Coupled with Safe at Home West Virginia, the Foster Family Care Model will provide treatment in home environments where children have an improved opportunity to lead safe, healthy and successful lives.”

The Model is a family-based, service delivery approach providing individualized treatment and services for children and their families. Treatment services are delivered through an integrated constellation of services with key interventions and supports provided by Foster Family Care Parents.

The goals of the Therapeutic Foster Care Program include allowing more children to be served successfully in a foster family care setting when out-of-home care is needed. The goals also include extending the ability of the foster family care system to provide children foster family care services and support that will maximize the child’s well-being and be less costly than out-of-home residential care.  

The Therapeutic Foster Care program is limited to agencies with child placing and behavioral health licenses with no less than three years’ experience delivering specialized foster care services in West Virginia. Initial grants to lay the foundation for this multi-tiered model will facilitate the recruitment and development of more specialized homes. The grant award will be for the period of November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2017. Renewal of these grants will be contingent on continued funding and grantee performance.

Application deadline is September 8, 2016. Visit http://www.dhhr.wv.gov/bcf/ for more information.