The Extra Mile Family Resource Center
The Extra Mile Family Resource Center
The Extra Mile Family Resource Center offers an array of services to stabilize families at risk of abuse and neglect by providing and coordinating prevention, intervention, and treatment services. Through community-based education and intervention programs, we promote child safety, wellbeing and permanency for children in foster care or at risk of going into care, and we provide support for foster and adoptive families so that unplanned placement disruptions may be averted.
The Extra Mile Family Resource Center provides services to biological and foster families to help ensure quality parenting for all at risk children. All referrals are made through the Department of Children and Family Services.
Services include evidence- based parenting programs designed to address abuse and neglect, targeted services that address family- specific safety issues, and visit coaching, which enables us to use family visits to teach and model safe, loving, appropriate family interactions.
FOSTER PARENT PARTNERS
Foster Parent Partner(s) are veteran foster parents with extensive experience fostering children who are in State’s custody as well as working with birth parents and the Department of Family Services. They are available to assist foster parents and relative caregivers in various ways, including offering support upon first or challenging placements, accessing services for the children in their care, understanding the role of fostering, working with birth parents and working within the system. The mentoring services can be provided one on one, in a home or community setting, or in a group. Both support and educational groups, including topics such as grief and loss, are provided. The Foster Parent Partners also assist birth parents involved with DCFS to better understand the perspective of the foster parents who may be caring for their children, and work with all parties to help the caregivers open lines of communication.
The Foster Parent Partners host a Foster Parent Support Group the first Monday evening of each month, at 6 pm at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Scott (426 Lions Club Road). Full Circle Parenting is an 8 week parenting education class that will teach parents how to adopt family-strengthening practices to meet their family needs, while improving decision-making skills and learning practices that create a safe and nurturing environment for children.
PARENT PARTNERS
The Parent Partner Program is a unique approach to empowering and engaging biological parents to work more effectively with DCFS and the child welfare system. A Parent Partner Mentor is someone who has previously been involved with DCFS due to child abuse or neglect and has since successfully resolved the issues that brought them into contact with the child welfare system. The experiences that the Parent Partners have had enable them to mentor and help guide families who are currently involved because they are able to offer hope, realistic advice and advocacy for families. In addition, they foster cooperation between the DCFS caseworker, other professionals and the family. Parent Partners also provide input and guidance to the child welfare system and the court system. They give parents and consumers a voice in decision and policy making.
KINSHIP NAVIGATOR PROGRAM
Kinship Navigator at The Extra Mile Family Resource Center empowers those who are providing full-time care to children that are not biologically their own. Kinship caregivers may be relatives or non-relatives who have an emotionally significant relationship with the child. These individuals are caring for children while their parents are unable to do so.