Child and Adolescent Therapeutic Foster Care Services

Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) can serve up to fifteen children, ages eight through seventeen, who have been placed individually in therapeutic homes
secondary to their emotional disturbance and/or significant behavioral disorders.Out of home placement is coordinated through the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS). The homes where children are placed and the children who are sent to those homes are approved by DFCS. The level of disturbance demonstrated by these children is so significant that it interferes with their ability to remain in their home.

Therapeutic foster care parents must undergo intensive parenting training and rigorous programmatic and environmental inspections as a part of their application to become TFC parents. Children may remain in care from three months to five years, depending on the child's need. Reunification with the family of origin is usually the goal where indicated, and staff work very closely with DFCS in monitoring progress toward this goal.