Purpose:
To provide planned short-term care for youth whose parents, kinship providers, guardians, or foster parents need reprieve and other natural respite resources, such as family or friends are not available. Respite Care allows time for families away from their caretaking duties if need be, in order to travel beyond state lines if the child is not approved to go, or in other situations in which the family is not able to care for the youth for a short period of time. The average length of stay for a child placed for Respite Care services is 1-4 days.
Treatment Procedure:
Each youth placed for Respite Care services participate in the daily routine, group activities, and responsibilities of the current group of clients at SHCS. The youth attends any educational and/or therapeutic groups held for the clients, including group counseling sessions that occur during his/her stay at the program. Individual counseling sessions are provided only on an as-needed basis or upon request from the placing agency and/or family.