Programs

FUTURO INFANTIL HISPANO FOSTER FAMILY AGENCY

Futuro Infantil Hispano (FIH) was founded in 1995. We have since served families and foster children throughout the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange Counties. Since the inception of our agency, over 9,500 foster children have been served. We are a Non-Profit Foster Family Agency devoted to providing trauma-informed and culturally relevant services to improve the life of children that have been abused, neglected and/or abandoned.

FIH FFA ESC

FIH FFA Emergency Shelter Care Services (ESC) is a program that provides short-term homes for foster youth/NMDs who have an urgent need for interim shelter. FIH ESC resource parent will be required to maintain an agreed number of available beds that are readily available 24-hours, 7-days-a-week. FIH ESC resource parents will be required to respond within two hours to all calls for available beds, including calls received after normal business hours and during weekends and holidays.

Once a foster youth/NMDs is placed in an available bed, the FIH ESC resource parent shall ensure the safety and well-being of the child or youth by providing them with necessities such as meals, clothing, medical and dental care, and educational support.

FIH ESC resource parent must be prepared to care for a foster child/NMD or youth for as many as twenty-one (21) days, unless court proceedings and other scheduling factors require an extension.

FIH ESC services are intended for children (newborn-12 years), youth (13-17 years), sibling groups, or teen parents and their infants, who need interim shelter. These children and youth have been taken into protective custody because they have been reported to either law enforcement or Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) as being subjected to, or being in danger of, emotional and/or physical neglect, abuse, or exploitation. The following monthly stipend rates will be added to the monthly reimbursement rate provided to resource parents.

$400 per month for each bed you hold available for children ages newborn-12

$400 per month for each bed you hold available for youth ages 13-17

$400 per month for each bed you hold available for sibling groups ages newborn-17 (a 4-bed minimum is required)

$600 per month for each bed and crib you hold available for a teen parent and infant

LA COUNTY FFA ESC Documents & Brochures

FIH FOSTER CARE

The primary purpose of the FIH is to strive to achieve positive outcomes related to safety, permanency and well‑being of foster children. The primary goals of the FIH FFA program is to provide best practices as culturally relevant and trauma informed: to ensure children are provided with a safe and healthy living environment; a continuity of care, nurturance and services that will meet their individualized challenges, needs and situation; to work with their families to achieve reunification; or to achieve other designated legal permanency plans such as adoption, legal guardianship, emancipation or a permanent planned living arrangement for children when family reunification is not possible. FIH provides recruitment and training for resource families and core services and supports to our foster children.

FIH ISFC

The Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) primary goal is to provide a placement with treatment and stabilization for the children/NMDs referred and in collaboration with the placing agency, facilitate permanent placement, such as family reunification, adoption or legal guardianship. FIH ISFC will be designed to provide immediate short-term placement, assessment, and treatment services with an understanding of the children and their family’s cultural background; and to assist County placement agencies reduce the crowding at existing shelter facilities by being available for placement referrals in a Home Base Family Care (HBFC) setting. FIH FFA has many years of experience working with children/NMDs exhibiting high levels of emotional and behavioral needs and continue to encounter children/NMDs with a history that may include but is not limited to serious emotional and behavior management issues whose history and level of abuse has considerably impacted their ability to function and require a higher frequency of mental health support services in a one on one environment whenever and wherever possible as an ISFC resource family home. The agency will provide intensive reunification services to children and their families, using a Child and Family Practice Model (CFPM) that is child-centered/family-focused model within the structure of the Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) and Continuum Care Reform (CCR) and family systems approach as well as non-residential services with the goal to improve safety, permanency, and wellness outcomes for children/NMDs in the child welfare system.

FIH WFFH

The Whole Foster Family Home program is for pregnant and parenting foster youth/NMDs and their infant/child. The goal of the program is to assist the minor parent in developing the skills necessary to provide a safe, stable, and permanent home for his/her infant (child).

A WFFH resource parent is both a caregiver and a mentor to the parenting adolescent. The resource parent shares in the child rearing responsibilities of the adolescent’s infant/child based on an individualized Shared Responsibility Plan. The Shared Responsibility Plan is developed between the resource parent, the foster youth/NMDs, agency and the placing agency. The purpose of the plan is to create a successful, supportive and nurturing placement for both the teen and their child, to encourage the parent-child bond, and to assist the teen parent in their transition to independence. With the increased support and education provided through this specialized placement, the children of foster youth/NMD are less likely to become foster children themselves. The first step to becoming a WFFH resource parent is to complete the WFFH training classes which are held at local community colleges.

WFFH are considered “Best Practice” for pregnant and parenting teens, there are two main benefits to obtaining this additional certification:

1. Comprehensive training about this specific client population, including information and resources to help the resource parents provide the best care possible to pregnant/parenting teens.

2. Priority placement consideration when a home is needed for a pregnant/parenting teen.

Due to the higher level of training the unique role of WFFH resource parents has an additional $200 a month added to the monthly reimbursement rate. This is in addition to the $900 monthly stipend which the teen uses to provide for the needs of his/her infant/child.