We believe that children with complex medical or developmental disabilities should live with their own families in real homes within supportive communities. This is where they can have the bonds and social connections that enable them to live to their fullest potential.

It is all too easy, however, for their parents to become isolated and overwhelmed by the constant time and high resource requirements of their care. Our job at Childkind is to ensure that parents with children with medical or developmental disabilities are connected to needed community and neighborhood resources and are fully equipped to provide their children a safe, stable, and loving home. 

Childkind’s three program initiatives all lead to a common goal: that children with medical and developmental challenges live with their own family in a safe, stable, nurturing environment.

For children in state custody or for those who are at risk of institutionalization, Childkind can provide temporary Family Placement leading towards permanency, defined as:

• Reunification with their biological family,
• Adoption with their foster family, or
• A long-term host home arrangement

Families with children that have medical or developmental disabilities who need intensive support and time-limited care coordination can get help with Childkind. Through its Transition Support Service, Childkind provides:

• A three-part comprehensive assessment process
• Healthcare screenings
• Home-based medical training
• Information, referral, and service coordination
• Home-based parenting classes
• Assistance with equipment, home accessibility modifications, and needed supplies

Childkind’s Family Support Services program functions as a resource to biological, adoptive and foster families to ensure children with medical and developmental disabilities have Medicaid waiver services and other home supports they need. Childkind can provide equipment and minor home modification grants, emergency medical supplies and other critically needed resources.

Continuum of Care versus Cost of Care

“An ounce of prevention,” Benjamin Franklin wrote, “is worth a pound of cure.” While, Childkind provides a continuum of services supporting family and community based care, the sooner we can get to a family, the less complicated and costly the process will be.

For a child with medical or developmental disabilities who needs a home, Family Placement is not only better for the child than is institutionalization, it costs significantly less. At the same time, however, $5,000 spent on Transition Support Services, can stabilize a family and keep children out of the foster care system.

Federal and state funding typically is prioritized to highest level of emergency. Transition Support and Family Support programs are funded largely through private contributions. 

Our Family of Children

Children served by our programs have faced a wide range of challenges, including:

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