Changing before your very eyes. More to come.

FamilyLight^sm supports the principle of keeping children and teens at home and turning to out-of-home resources only when the home resources aren’t doing the job. We also support the principle of turning to residential programs when necessary. However, when families decide to place a child outside the home, certain stresses enter the picture. Once that happens the family needs to be prepared to maintain a residential stay until the client is self motivated to move to a more normalized environment and has the skills to function responsibly under those conditions.

Parents who have not made some changes are not ready to bring their son or daughter home. See FamilyLight^sm Guidelines for Family Participation.

At the same time, clients in residential care are sheltered from some experiences and therefore learning experiences of normal life. So placement should never last longer than needed to meet the above.

We need to take more time to define specific guidelines, but these principles need to be kept in mind.

Here are some beginning steps:

To be completed　

Last updated November 8, 2008