St. Francis & FCT featured in "Prevention in Kansas" newsletter
Prevention Provider Spotlight: Saint Francis Ministries
Saint Francis Ministries has been serving children and families in Kansas for nearly 75 years, beginning as the Saint Francis Boys’ Home in Ellsworth. Rooted in the Episcopal tradition, the organization has evolved to meet the changing needs of children and families. Today, the Saint Francis ministry is at work in eight states and internationally and encompasses foster care, therapeutic foster care, adoption, family preservation, residential care, international ministries, and community outreach services. In Kansas, Saint Francis offers services in the central and western areas, geared toward the needs of families in the urban Wichita area and in rural communities in the West. Saint Francis Ministries, Kansas, is offering two evidence-based programs as part of the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ new Family First awards. One of them is Family Centered Treatment!
Family Centered Treatment, is a four to six-month prevention services program for families offered by Saint Francis Ministries throughout the West and Wichita Regions. Family Centered Treatment, or FCT, is an evidence-based model of intensive in-home treatment services for youth and families using psychotherapy designed to reduce maltreatment, improve caretaking and coping skills, enhance family resiliency, develop healthy and nurturing relationships, and increase children’s physical, mental, emotional, and educational well-being through family value changes. The treatment is time-limited, with multiple hour sessions occurring several times a week, and is for treating a family system that is experiencing crisis. Sessions are held in the family home, and there is on-call, crisis support for families 24/7.FCT is built on the foundation of home-based intervention, which is among the most accessible, responsive, timely and intense forms of treatment. The client is the family unit, not the individual, which allows the family to focus on skills training, counseling, interventions and other options that create a more stable future. The focus is on family preservation unless it is determined that is not in the child’s best interests. Staff members carry small caseloads to permit more interaction with each family. The program is committed to empowering families to set and achieve their own goals. The services use a wide range of research-based interventions. Participatory assessments permit the family to be in charge of the process. Families in crisis receive services within 48 hours of referral. There are 4 Phases of Treatment:
•Joining and Assessment –offers dignity, hope and respect, assesses and facilitates motivation, identifies family functioning areas of need and personal safety.
•Restructuring –Facilitates practice experiences in individual, conjoint and family sessions.
•Valuing Change –Enables the family to see their own worth and change & assumes a less directive and more supportive role.
•Generalization –Offers hope and confidence in changes & assists in predicting future challenges and action. FCT is family systems work that specializes in joining with highly resistant families.
When warranted, Specialist will address immediate needs (safety, food, electricity, etc). FCT targets functions of behaviors not just symptoms of behavior and early setbacks or struggles are expected, predicted and when part of joining, can be a sign of progression that the family is willing to open up about concerns. FCT focuses on data-driven outcomes, and each family collaborates to determine the timing of closure, using an analytical process that evaluates the changes that have occurred and the family’s ability to use the strategies independently of external agencies. Data shows that 90% of families who complete treatment maintain family placement, are reunified with their family or move to independent living. What’s more, 91% of all families report progress toward their primary treatment goal. Impressive as those outcomes occur when admission policies accept 98% of all referrals, and they typically are of children and youth who didn’t respond to community-based services.