Milford, CT –May 2014. Nationwide, more than 350,000 children and youth under the age of 18 are living in out-of-home care throughout the year. There are over 4,000 youth in the state of Connecticut awaiting placement in a foster home. The Boys & Girls Village currently serves over 60 youth and 70 families through its Therapeutic Foster Care Program. They have once again joined the National Foster Care Month initiative during May to raise awareness for the children in the state as well as the country who require foster care placement. Mayor Benjamin G. Blake recently presented Carra Conlan, LCSW, Director of Foster Care Services and Reporting, and President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Steven M. Kant with a Foster Care Month in Milford Proclamation in the City Hall auditorium.
With the help of dedicated and skilled foster parents, many youth have found permanent homes or have been able to reunify with their birth families. Boys & Girls Village has had more than eight youth adopted in the past year as well as more than seven return to their birth families. The Boys & Girls Village Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) program matches qualified foster parents with children 6 to 17 years old who are in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. They specialize in the placement of hard to place youth - teenage mothers, teenagers in general, and youth with behavioral and emotional difficulties.
Foster Care program leader Carra Conlan began her work at Boys & Girls Village in April 1999 - her first job out of college. She has excelled throughout the years, moving from child care worker in the BGV Kids Inn, to clinician in the Extended Day Treatment Program at the New Haven site, and then to the TFC program in which she now serves as the director.
Mrs. Conlan shares, “the children we place with Foster parents have been abused or neglected. Others are working to overcome learning, behavioral or emotional problems. But all are in desperate need of the comfort, love, safety and nurturing that only a dedicated and supportive therapeutic foster family can provide.”
Boys & Girls Village’s experienced Therapeutic Foster Care staff provides foster parents with:
- Training needed to become a state-licensed foster parent
- Ongoing, in-home support, including access to a masters level Boys & Girls Village's Care Manager
- 24/7 emergency support
- Paid respite breaks
- Continuing, post-placement education
- Adoption services, when possible and desired
- Access to special recreation, social and parent education services
- Referrals to community services
- A network of caring, experienced professionals dedicated to ensuring success for the Boys & Girls Village children and families
Foster parents also receive a tax-free, monthly stipend for food, clothing, childcare and other necessities. The amount is based on the level of care, age and needs of each child. Connecticut’s Department of Children & Families provides healthcare coverage.
While most of the parents choose to foster full time, qualified foster parents are also needed to provide:
- Short-term respite care (as little as one weekend or week a month)
- Temporary emergency care for children who’ve been removed from their homes
All of the children Boys & Girls Village place are in the custody of Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF).
For 72 years, Boys & Girls Village has been one of Connecticut’s leading caregivers for families and children struggling with significant emotional, behavioral and psychiatric disorders, permanency placement and foster care needs and special education needs. For more information visit www.bgvillage.org.