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When family systems break down or a crisis occurs, we’re here to help. We work tirelessly to make sure every child is cared for in a safe and secure home—whether they need short-term care while a family is in transition or a permanent place to call their own.
Learn how we keep kids safe and help families heal.
Want to change a child’s life forever? Learn more about becoming a foster parent here.
Get all your questions answered here.
Treatment Foster Care (TFC)
Youth, ages 6-21, with a mental health diagnosis involving severe emotional and behavioral problems are placed in specially trained treatment foster homes that have the skills and resources to meet their complex needs. Treatment foster care is time limited and focuses on the goal of moving a child to a lower level of foster care or returned home. We address the youth’s functional disabilities, impact of past trauma, and their mental health and behavioral health issues in a team setting with the Nexus-PATH family, case worker, custodian, service providers, and other resources. Nexus-PATH families are trained and certified in medication management, crisis intervention, and trauma-informed care and are focused on building healthy relationships and developing life skills. Nexus-PATH case workers provide treatment consultation and behavioral management support alongside a youth’s Nexus-PATH family.
Regular Foster Care (RFC)
Through Regular Foster Care, youth ages 0-21 in the child welfare system receive support of their daily physical, emotional, and social needs by a Nexus-PATH regular foster family. These families are paired with a social worker who knows them well and understands how they can best help children in their home until they are reunited with their own family or another permanent option is arranged. Regular foster care families provide a lower level of care than our TFC homes. Youth do not need to have a mental health diagnosis in order to receive RFC services through Nexus-PATH.
Enhanced Treatment Foster Care (ETFC)
With one youth per home, experienced foster parents are able to provide the individualized care the child needs to be successful. These families provide care to youth who may show higher levels of aggressive behaviors, sexually problematic behaviors, or may be on the autism spectrum. Families and youth receive intensified case management from their Nexus-PATH social worker. The youth will receive specialized one on one time with a worker trained in behavioral skills management. Youth are also assigned a Behavioral Skills Worker as an extension of their therapist.
Independent Living Services
Nationally, youth who exit foster care are 47% more likely to experience homelessness than their peers, and 25% of these young people will be incarcerated within two years of exiting care. Our Independent Living Program challenges these statistics by preparing youth to leave foster care with the resources and skills they’ll need to live successfully as adults. Our Independent Living Coordinators work with youth who are preparing to exit North Dakota’s foster care system to help them find employment, housing, and/or education, including earning or finding housing deposits, shopping for furniture and necessities, and other tasks required to set up for success. We help these youth learn how to manage their money, navigate or find transportation, and build healthy interdependent skills. For many youth, our coordinators are their only tie to a trustworthy, mature, stable adult. This relationship serves a much greater purpose than simply securing the necessities of independent living—it’s a safety net for those who don’t have one and a springboard toward success in adulthood.
Family Support Program
Not sure if foster care is the right fit for your family? We believe many youth in the child welfare and behavioral health system could remain in their homes if they had access to timely and effective family-focused supports. The goal of our Family Support Program is to prevent youth from needing out-of-home placements by providing intensive case management, respite care, and parent-to-parent mentoring services. This program can also help youth successfully transition back home following an out-of-home placement.
Learn more about our Family Support Program.
