Stephanie & Rich truly had fostering in their heart.
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We see foster care as more than a temporary home. Until a child can return to their biological parents, it's where love is found and dignity is restored.
When a child is abused or neglected by his or her parent(s) or another family member, foster parents are able to provide a loving and safe home the child needs until their family situation can be improved.
Our goal is for the child to be reunited with their biological parents in a timely manner. When this is not possible, an alternative plan becomes the goal. Thus, foster care provides a temporary home for a child in special need of safety, security and a loving, supportive family.
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Become A Foster Parent
One of our greatest, on-going needs is having enough foster parents to provide homes for the children that need our help. As the number of children who come into our care increases, the need for foster parents increases too.
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Foster Care Supportive Visitation Program
Nurturing Parents is taught in 12 weekly in-home visits. Each session starts with learning a skill that is immediately practiced during the supervised visit, then a review of the skill following the practice session to reinforce the learning. Foster care workers are kept informed on a weekly basis of the progress of the family toward their goals. Families that are ready to accept instruction to improve their parenting skills are appropriate referrals to the program.
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Safe Passages
The Safe Passages Mentoring Program is in place to dramatically increase the family (child and parent) reunification rates within Kent County’s foster care system. Ultimately the program will provide comprehensive peer-based substance use disorder services for families.
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Foster Parent Central
Foster Parent Central is a page dedicated just to our Foster Parents where they can find great tools and resources in our community!
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Seeking Foster Families
D.A. Blodgett - St. John’s is seeking families who are able to care for school aged children and teens, as well as children with moderate to severe needs and medically fragile children.
Contact Us TodayWhat is foster care?
About 70% of all children in foster care are in care because their parents have a substance abuse problem. Adult substance abuse, mental illness, and child sexual abuse contribute to an atmosphere where more and more children need a safe living environment while their parents work on successful treatment. Homes for teens are always desperately needed as well as homes for siblings to be placed together.
*NEW* Enhanced Foster Care
Enhancing Services for Kids in Foster Care – and their Foster Families
For some children in foster care, the emotional impact of the trauma and loss they have faced becomes too much to take, and they start acting out, often in ways that challenge the adults in their lives – meltdowns, running away, destroying things or even hurting themselves or others. Besides the child themselves, Foster families often bear the brunt of these behaviors and wonder what to do. In a new initiative, D.A. Blodgett – St. John’s will respond with Enhanced Foster Care, an approach that provides specialized and targeted support for the child and family, along with strong coordination for all the people and programs involved in the child’s life. This includes trained Behavior Specialists, who will literally be there ‘in the moment’, providing feedback, direction and support when behaviors and emotions are at their peak – could be at wake-up, afterschool, nights or weekends – whenever the need and challenge is the greatest.
Mary Jo Sabaitis, retired Foster Care Program Manager, is excited about the possibilities - “Any time we can provide kids and foster families with the services and support they need, right when they need it, we increase everyone’s chance of success”.
Services started February 1st, and the program anticipates serving 50 children and foster families this year.
*This service is provided to all foster families on a case-by-case basis.
