Parents and Families

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To serve the children who are the primary focus of our mission, the Village often must provide support for parents and families. Listed here are services designed to help mothers, fathers and caregivers build the strong families that children need to grow and thrive. If you want more information about the Village’s programs, please call 860.236.4511.

Please note, some programs are by referral only.

Institute for Successful Families
The Village’s Institute for Successful Families provides evidence-based parenting skills training, primarily through the Common Sense Parenting and People Empowering People curricula. The Institute is also serving as the backbone of the Village’s Integrated Early Childhood and Family Services model, which will provide young children and their families with mental health assessment and treatment services, case management, school-readiness programming, and parent training.

School-Based Programs
The Village has a wide variety of programs based in eight Hartford public schools.

Our 21st Century Community Learning Centers focus on engaging youth through high-quality academic support services, leadership and character development programs, and enrichment/recreational activities. Open daily after school, these Village Centers give students a safe place to do homework, learn new hobbies, and meet good friends.
After-School Initiatives provide high-quality academic, enrichment, and recreational programming as well as food distribution. Through research-based, high-interest curricula, after school initiatives give students the academic support they need, as well as ways to develop life skills, explore new interests, and contribute to their communities.
Finally, Village Family Resource Centers provide school-based support services for parents and children. Service options currently include parent education and support programs, adult education programs, family literacy programs and after-school and summer Positive Youth Development (PYD) programs. Resource Center staff also facilitate linkages to community services to meet basic needs, such as food, clothes and housing.

Friends of the Family (FOF)
Friends of the Family is a comprehensive program for pregnant and parenting adolescents (age 21 and under) and their families, which includes case management, mental health services, home visiting, parenting skills training, and career development services. FOF helps young parents build upon their strengths, obtain needed resources, and ensure better lives for themselves and their children.

Rambuh Family Center
The Rambuh Family Center serves parents of children aged 8 and under in the Upper Albany/Blue Hills neighborhood of Hartford through School Readiness services, family literacy programs, parenting skills and parent advocacy training, and adult education programs. Rambuh is also a Nurturing Families Network program site, which provides home visiting and parent training to new parents identified as being at risk of child abuse or neglect.

Adoption
The Village Adoption Program recruits and approves families for children with special needs whose permanency plan is adoption. The program also serves biological parents who need help with planning for themselves and their children. The program reflects the belief that it is the right of each child to be wanted, loved and to grow up in a safe and nurturing family. Children are placed primarily through DCF. Families interested in adoption may attend Village information sessions on the second Thursday of each month. Click here for a schedule of meetings or call 860.236.4511.

Adoption Search Services
Upon request, the Village will provide information to adult adoptees and birth parents. Adoptees age 18 or older can request non-identifying background and medical information or identifying information regarding their birth family. Birth parents can request identifying information about an adult adoptee. Consent is required for releasing identifying information. The Village also maintains an Adoption Reunion Registry according to Connecticut General Statutes, Sec. 45-68A-45-68p, where adult adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents can register.

Post Adoption Assistance Program
The Post Adoption Assistance Program was designed to assist adoptive families with a broad range of concerns and issues. The Village’s Post Adoption Case Manager specifically serves families in the Greater Waterbury area who have adopted children through DCF.

Family Economic Security Program
The Village's Family Economic Security Program works with low-income families, many of whom have significant debt or other financial challenges, to increase their personal assets, reduce debt, and improve financial health. Program services currently include free tax preparation through a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program that emphasizes securing such benefits as the Earned Income Tax Credit, budget coaching and customized case management, Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), and financial literacy education. Specialized services for low-income seniors are also available through a funded initiative.

Fatherhood Initiative
The Fatherhood Initiative works with young inner-city fathers—an historically difficult-to-reach population—by providing case management services that focus on building parental skills, increasing parental involvement, improving educational and employment opportunities, and securing necessary community-based services. Young fathers are matched with male mentors who serve as guides and role models. Click here to view the program brochure.

Enhanced Care Clinic
The Village’s Enhanced Care Clinic provides high-quality treatment for children and families presenting with psychiatric, behavioral, and emotional challenges. Services are guaranteed within a maximum of two weeks, depending on severity of need. Treatment methods include traditional individual, family, or group treatment; play therapy; and art therapy. Parents of children in treatment may also receive supportive services, including Common Sense Parenting classes specially designed to help parents maintain their children’s therapeutic gains.

The following programs are by referral only.

Intensive Family Preservation
Village IFP Workers provide intensive in-home, time-limited services to DCF-involved families whose children are at imminent risk of placement outside of the home. The program’s primary goals are prevention of out-of-home placement by reducing the risk of further harm to children and improvement in family functioning. Program staff and families work together to achieve these goals. This program is available through DCF referral only.

Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT)
MDFT is a family-focused, intensive in-home intervention for youth who abuse substances or have co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues. An evidence-based program, MDFT has been nationally recognized as a model program for its effectiveness; the Village is also a statewide trainer for MDFT program staff. This program is available only through referral from the Hartford Youth Project, DCF, or the juvenile court system.

Intensive Safety Planning
Village ISP Workers serve families in the Middletown and Waterbury areas whose children have been removed due to existing safety factors. The program’s primary goals are preventing out-of-home placement by reducing the risk of further harm to children and improving family functioning. Program staff provide intensive in-home services to each family for at least 14 hours per week, aiming for family reunification within 20-24 days. This program is available through DCF referral only.

Reconnecting Families Program
Village staff provide intensive support services for Hartford-area families with children in DCF custody whose permanency goal is family reunification. Service components include parenting education and skill building, parent-child relationship development, safety planning, and therapeutic visitation. This program is available through DCF referral only.

Extended Day Treatnent (EDT) Programs
The Village Extended Day Treatment Programs provide after-school and summer clinical treatment services for children aged 5 to 15 who exhibit emotional and behavioral problems. Children in EDT receive group treatment and therapeutic activities designed to improve behavior and increase social skills. The program aims to help these children remain in the community and avoid the need for residential placement; in some cases, the program assists children returning from an out-of-home placement with successful reintegration into the community. Because family involvement in therapy is essential to a child's treatment, the program requires active participation from parents. Programs are located on the Village’s Albany Avenue campus in Hartford and at Community Child Guidance Clinic in Manchester. This program is only available through DCF referral.

Foster Care - Therapeutic
The Foster Care Program places children aged 3 to 18 who are in need of special therapeutic care in family settings that provide stability and a sense of security. The program provides on-going training for parents, helping them through the process of becoming fully licensed to foster children. Foster parents are caregivers and teachers who help children manage their feelings, build positive relationships, and experience success. The job is rewarding and challenging and, throughout, the Village offers continuing support so that fostering becomes a positive experience for both parents and children. Child placement is available through DCF referral only. Families interested in providing therapeutic foster care may attend Village information sessions on the second Thursday of each month. Click here for a schedule of meetings or call 860.236.4511.

Therapeutic Mentoring
The Village offers therapeutic mentoring to children who need a consistent, caring relationship to support treatment goals and maintain or transition to community placements. Village Therapeutic Mentors provide one-to-one services to a child for 6 to 8 hours per week at flexible hours for extended periods of time. Mentors and children work together to achieve customized therapeutic goals, such as improved behavior, increased social skills, and decreased sibling conflict. Mentors also provide support to caregivers, advocacy for the family, and linkages to community supports. This program is by referral or as fee-for-service.

Empowering People for Success
The Village’s Empowering People for Success program provides intensive case management to recipients of Temporary Family Assistance, helping them remove barriers to sustained employment and achieve self-sufficiency. This program is available through DSS/DOL referral only.

Intensive In-Home Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Services (IICAPS)
IICAPS is an intensive home-based treatment model for children and youth with severe emotional/psychiatric disturbances who are stepping down from institutional treatment, are at risk of hospitalization or residential treatment, or are unresponsive to clinic-based services. The Village provides IICAPS services in partnership with the Yale Child Study Center. This program is by clinician referral.