Professional Parenting is a program that trains and supports experienced foster parents to provide a therapeutic milieu for children with severe emotional and behavioral needs, in their home. Professional parents receive training on attachment focused parenting and trauma informed care, with the emphasis on implementing strategies in the home environment to support a child’s emotional healing. The premise is that children with special needs require specialized interventions in order to address the underlying causes for their maladaptive behaviors. Professional parenting is an alternative for higher levels of care, such as residential treatment settings. Professional parents receive wrap around services, which provide them and the child with the resources that they need in order to manage high risk behaviors safely in a home environment. There is a growing body of research that shows children with severe emotional and behavioral needs reach their behavioral goals more consistently in a structured family setting, over a residential treatment setting.

ACH is looking for experienced foster parents to participate in this program. In order to qualify the foster family must be willing to:

1. Limit the number of foster children placed in the home to one or two foster children who are assessed to have severe emotional and behavioral needs.
2. Participate in ongoing training on attachment focused parenting and trauma informed care beyond the minimum requirements.
3. Partner with other professionals such as a Foster/Adopt Specialist, therapist and intervention specialists to guide them in their practice.

ACH will provide additional training, compensation and support to professional parents.