Family Health & Support Network, Inc.
Family Health & Support Network, Inc., is a private non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation, established in 2003 by founding members Sandra Austin, Robbie Peer and Michael Scott. Family Health & Support Network, Inc. (FHSN) is licensed by the State of California (facility number 336413117) to function as a Foster Family Agency. We are governed by the State of California Title 22 Code of Regulations as well as agency policies and procedures.
FHSN currently has contracts with Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange Counties for the placement and administrative oversight to children and youth who have been removed from their homes as victims of abuse and neglect. In order that we may satisfy our contractual agreement we must recruit qualified individuals and couples to serve as certified foster parents with our organization. Most importantly, we seek to become aligned with individuals who share our passion for helping children and youth.
WHO WE ARE
To lead and support a network of compassionate individuals in the provision of quality programs and services that empower vulnerable children, youth, and families.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
OUR MISSION
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To attract, develop and maintain quality staff and foster families who have a genuine interest and commitment to our children in foster care and the at-risk children and families in our communities;
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To provide children who have been detained/removed from their families with a safe and stable family/home enviornment;
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To help our children achieve permanency through reunification, adoption assistance, or through a stable foster home environment;
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To help all children develop trust, a sense of belonging, healthy identity, self-esteem, a passion for life, teamwork and social skills, and other qualities that contribute to healthy adulthood;
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To help our children strive educationally and vocationally and to generally help them develop skills and practices necessary to succeed as responsible adults; and
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To advocate for the needs of children in foster care and the at-risk children in underserved and improverished communities, and to increase awareness and support for their needs in the surrounding communities.
/ OUR GOALS
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/ DIVERSITY POLICY
Family Health & Support Network, Inc. does not discriminate based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or the perception of sexual orientation. Foster parents are evaluated based on their ability to meet the pre-certification requirements and all program participants are evaluated based on their ability to meet program requirements. Family Health & Support Network, Inc. serves a multi-cultural, diverse population of children and families. We embrace our differences and seek to cultivate respect for all cultures. We believe that all children deserve to be loved and it takes a village to raise a child.
Healthy and somewhat predictable experiences and relationships with others are a fundamental part of healthy development. Naturally, when a child is valued, supported and brought up in a safe and stable environment she is much more likely to thrive and to become a well-adjusted adult. However, there is little chance that a child who grows up without stability and without authentic experiences of being valued and supported (as an important part of a family or team) will actually develop into a healthy or fully functional adult. Consequently, children in foster care, the large majority of whom have been victims of abuse and/or neglect, and who have experienced very little support, belonging and stability, are in extra special need of healthy and supportive relationships.
FHSN believes that the level of support, guidance, and nurturing a child receives in her everyday interactions, is the most important factor affecting her healthy development. We hold that the most fundamental and critical “treatment” for our children in foster care is to embrace them in a structured and predictable environment that is not only rich in its support for them, but which also strongly encourages and demonstrates teamwork, cooperation and meaningful connection. We recognize that unless our children reliably experience that they are valued and important, then they will not be as motivated or available to learn, strive, grow, connect with others, or make the most of the services and or programs we provide them. A big part of our approach to treatment, therefore, involves providing our children and youth with the right type of social environment, programs and opportunities for them to experience healthy and meaningful interactions with staff, foster parents and each other.
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"Formed in a spirit of compassion for helping children and families"
In 2011 the Riverside County Department of Mental Health accepted our proposal to provide Prevention and Early Intervention culture specific programs and services to the African-American population of the Desert Region. BRAAF - Building Resilience in African-American Families is comprised of three evidence-based programs; Effective Black Parenting, Africentric Youth & Families Rites of Passage and Cognitive Behavior Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS).
Through this covenant, we as members of the board and staff of Family Health & Support Network, Inc. (FHSN) do make these following promises to each other, to our foster parents, and to the children in our care:
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We will remember that our sole purpose and existence as an organization is to effectively serve the needs of children in foster care;
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We will ensure that all of our decisions, actions, and policies, including our continued existence as a foster family agency, will be in support of the children we serve;
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We will measure our success as a foster family agency, neither by the number of kids nor dollars in our charge, but by the success of the children and families we serve;
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We will recognize that, beyond our professional duties, we also share a human responsibility to our youth;
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In each of our actions and contacts, we will strive to demonstrate and instill a message of love, hope, and commitment to children and families;
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We will remember that family and relationships play a central role in the lives and development of children, and we will strive to respect and improve the relationships that the children hold dear.
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In order to encourage positive relationships among the people we serve, we will strive to demonstrate and maintain a positive family environment in our office, in our communities, and in our homes;
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As individuals and as a team, we will work to continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of our care and services;
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We will maintain an atmosphere that welcomes and encourages constructive feedback and practical ideas towards increasing the quality and effectiveness of our care and services.
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We will encourage and help each other to remember and keep these commitments.
This is the first edition and incarnation of the FHSN Covenant, signed on the fourteenth day of August of the year two thousand and four.
We hold this covenant to be necessary to the mission and success of our agency. We remember that its purpose is to facilitate a spirit of family, and ensure an atmosphere of teamwork amongst us. Therefore, we each commit ourselves to sincerely embrace this covenant with a spirit of cooperation, and enforce it with a spirit of compassion.
It is our hope that the strength in our service to children and families, will endure the test of time, and become a positive contribution to the family of all humanity.
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/ WHAT WE BELEIVE
