Treatment Foster Care

Community Care Resources, Inc.accepts referrals from any of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. We serve youth ages birth to 18 who are diagnosed with a wide variety of child/adolescent disorders and may be at risk for residential placement due to moderate to severe emotional and behavioral disturbance. Our services include intensive case management and weekly personal visits by a Master’s level Clinical Case Manager; care and supervision provided by skilled and committed treatment foster families; and, individualized treatment planning and service delivery.

Contents: (click to expand)

• Specialized Group Care
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  Community Care Resources, Inc. also offers a three to four-bed hybrid model of care that incorporates the best of both Treatment Foster Care and Group Home Care. These homes offer the programming and structure of a group home setting but the “family like” environment of a foster home. These homes do not have young biological children. A maximum of four foster youth are placed in SGC homes. Program components include independent living skills training, point, level and charting systems, daily logging of youth’s behaviors and target goals; in-home individual, group and family therapy; psychological services; and, clinical case management services.

• Trauma Informed Outpatient Programs/Services
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  Community Care Resources, Inc. believes that Treatment Foster Care should be focused and supported by mental health principles, practices, and services. We are a State certified Mental Health Outpatient Clinic offering psychological and psychiatric evaluations, medication checks, and treatment programs. Our wraparound services provide quick access to services, quality assurance, and communication. Our outpatient clinic also serves as the foundation of our Sexual-Abuse Treatment/Offender Program.

• S.T.O.P. (Sexual-Abuse Treatment/Offender Program)
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  S.T.O.P. provides individualized outpatient treatment for male and female youth who display sexual acting out issues. S.T.O.P. emphasizes a team approach in addressing each youth’s individual treatment goals. This approach provides consistent treatment and communication with team members. S.T.O.P. also provides treatment to those youth who have sexual victimization issues. Services for both programs include group, individual, and family therapy/education. As a separate service, S.T.O.P. provides a comprehensive Psychosexual Assessment that details a youth’s perception of the offense, sexual attitudes and development, potential risk factors for committing future offenses and recommendations for placements, treatment, and registration on the juvenile sex offender registry.

• TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment)
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  On March 1, 2010, Community Care Resources, Inc. staff began in a year long learning collaborative with nationally recognized TF-CBT expert, Jennifer Wilgocki, MS, LCSW. The goal of this learning collaborative was to create a paradigm shift in clinical practice from generalist practice to trauma informed practice throughout the agency (foster parents, clinical case managers, and therapists).

  A national study of adult “foster care alumni” found higher rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (21.5%) compared with the general population (4.5%).

  Foster care alumni have higher rates of major depression, social phobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety, addiction, and bulimia (Pecora, et al., 2003).

  A study of children in foster care revealed PTSD in 60% of sexually abused children and 42% of physically abused children. 18% of foster children who had not experienced either type of abuse had PTSD (Dubner & Motta, 1999) possibly because of exposure to domestic violence or community violence (Marsenich, 2002). One out of three children entering foster care ages 6 to 8, met criteria for PTSD (Dale et al. 1999).

  Child traumatic stress is serious and Community Care Resources, Inc. recognizes that generalized practice does not adequately meet the needs of the youth referred to us. After careful research and consideration of TF-CBT as an evidence-based treatment model, Community Care Resources, Inc. now offers trauma informed services for every youth placed with our agency. Every youth will receive a trauma assessment within 30 days of placement. If a criterion for PTSD is met, the youth will be treated by one of our own in-house therapists or will be referred to qualified therapists in the community.

  If a youth’s tratment team would like to refer their youth for TF-CBT, there are several therapists trained to provide this specialized treatment program. These therapists are located throughout the State so on-site therapy is possible.

  Community Care Resources, Inc. accepts referrals for TF-CBT for youth placed in our treatment foster homes. Depending upon availability and location, Community Care Resources, Inc. can offer TF-CBT on an outpatient basis.

• Psychological Consultation and Evaluation
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  Community Care Resources, Inc. is unique in having the on-site services of a Licensed Child Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Donna A. Rifken. Dr. Rifken provides psychological evaluations for youth with mental health, ADHD, learning, and developmental disabilities. She tailors her evaluations to the specific and timely questions asked by clinical case managers, treatment foster parents, psychiatrists, and county partners. She also provides ‘just in time’ consultation for crises, pre-placement planning and placement adjustment issues. With youth who are aging out of the foster care system, Dr. Rifken can also provide Family Care and Guardianship evaluations. As a separate service, Dr. Rifken provides Parenting Assessments for teen parents and their children. She uses a multi-dimensional assessment tool specifically developed for young parents in crisis. This tool includes information from direct observation and from historical and collateral sources. Parenting Assessments can be requested by our county and community partners. Continuing our 20 year effort to provide specific and measurable treatment plans, Dr. Rifken coaches treatment foster parents and clinical case managers to create useable ‘road maps’ for our youth in care. The goal is to create a plan that treatment foster parents can use to guide their daily interactions with youth in care. She has traveled the state in order to coach all of our treatment foster family partners in our ‘road map’ effort.

  Dr. Rifken is an experienced cognitive behavior therapist who provides TF-CBT in-house to youth in our care. She also has over 25 years of experience in family therapy, eating disorders treatment, and working with young child victims of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. She is National Register certified and licensed in the State of Wisconsin.