children’s assessment and transitional services center
In February, 10 year old Chris * joined Home of the
Innocents’ Children’s Assessment and Transitional
Services (CATS) Center, one of the Home’s
Residential Programs for children in the foster care
system. He came from a crisis stabilization unit
where he had been for three months after his foster
placement was disrupted. At the time, he didn’t
meet the criteria for a hospitalization, yet wasn’t
stable enough to move to another foster home, so
the CATS Program was the perfect transition.
Opening nearly two years ago, the CATS Center
is a supportive, nurturing environment serving
children 11 years of age and younger at the time
of admission. Most residents of the CATS Center
move here from Our Lady of Peace. This Residential
Program gets them out of a hospital and into a
lower level of care with a significant amount of
supervision.
The projected length of stay for children in the
program is four to six weeks. The Center provides
four core services, utilizing the Home’s integrated
continuum of care. These include intensive
medical and mental health assessment; integrated
care coordination; individual, group, and family
therapy; group living in a structured and nurturing
environment; and educational services. Additionally,
there is on-site access to Open Arms Children’s
Health, providing medical; dental; audiology;
physical, occupational, and speech therapies;
psychological evaluation; psychiatric evaluation;
and medication management.
The CATS Program was a great transition for Chris.
Our team involved him in his plan of care and he
was educated about his next transition. He opened
up in the program, found his voice, and gained the
confidence to speak up and share his opinion about
what was happening in his life. He began attending
school regularly and doing well academically and
socially.
Communicating with CATS Program residents about
what is happening makes them feel more in control
of their lives. “I love being able to help empower
kids to have a voice, join meetings, tell us what they
think, and debate opinions about their progress,”
shared Brittany Cook, CATS Clinical Therapist.
“They have the confidence to speak up. I see a
huge change in kids who have transitioned through
the CATS Center. When they leave us, they can
better express themselves and understand how to
process their emotions with others instead of letting
it build up over and over.”
The goal of the CATS program is to provide mental
and medical health interventions and assessments
to help prepare children for transition to the
appropriate placement. “This program has given
us the opportunity to look at holistic care for
kids.” Explained Cook. “We can consider every
need they have and check all resources to see
what we can provide. A year and a half ago, we
only offered individual, group, and family therapy,
along with psychiatric care. Now we use Applied
Behavior Analysis, equine therapy, Eye Movement
Desensitization and Reprocessing, juvenile sex
offender treatment, and other treatments, on top of
the Home’s standard services. It is beyond helpful
to have the freedom of reaching out to learn what
options are available.”
Our Therapeutic Loving foster Care and Adoption
team worked to find Chris a loving foster home.
Over a six week period, he got to know his new
foster family, visiting with them on our campus,
then in their home, eventually going on overnight
and weekend stays before moving to their home.
He built a rapport with the family and felt safe with
them, instead of being disrupted and instantly
placed in a new home without any preparation time.
Chris is still living with the same foster family,
thriving in school and his community, and was able
to build a safe space and feel confident through the
services provided by the CATS Program.
*Name changed for client protection and privacy.