Intensive Family (IF) is an intensive, family-focused service that helps keep children and families safe, prevents out-of-home placement, assists in reunification of families, and prevents unnecessary changes in placement. Services are available to families with children ages 0-18 who are involved with Crawford County Children and Youth Services or the Crawford County Office of Juvenile Probation.
Intensive Family at Family Services of NW PA is designed for families identified by Crawford County Children and Youth Services (CYS) as being at imminent risk of out-of-home placement, children who are placed outside of the home and cannot be reunified with their family without intensive in-home services, or children who are placed in kinship/foster care and the home is in need of stabilization to prevent a change of placement. Counselors are on-call 24/7.
Intensive Family aims to help parents create a safe, stable and nurturing home environment, prevent children from being placed outside of the home and reunify children who have been removed, and support families in becoming stable and independent.
Goals of Intensive Family:
- To enhance the parents' ability to create a safe, stable, and nurturing home environment that promotes healthy child development.
- To maintain children with their families, or reunify them, whenever it can be done safely.
- To provide, refer to, and coordinate services needed to achieve or maintain family safety, stability, independence, and unity.
Services Provided:
- Family Counseling sessions for individuals, couples, entire families or any combination of family members.
- Parent Training:
- Behavior Management
- Child Development
- Health and Nutrition
- Assessment and Recommendations using the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale (NCFAS) and NCFAS-reunification
- Skill Development, such as Budgeting, Stress Management, Conflict Resolution, Daily Living, Anger Management, and Communication
- Visitation in Reunification Cases
- Assistance in locating adequate housing or improving home conditions necessary to a child's safety
- Development of support systems and linkage
- On-call Crisis Intervention available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Crisis stabilization
Referrals:
Intensive Family serves families with children ages 0-18. The program lasts six weeks for 8-10 hours each week. Services are provided to children and their families who are involved with Crawford County Children and Youth Services (CYS) or the Office of Juvenile Probation (JPO).
Referrals to Intensive Family can be made by:
- Crawford County Children and Youth Services (CYS)
- Crawford County Office of Juvenile Probation (JPO)
