They say that it takes a village to raise a child. When it comes to children and youth with complex behavioural and mental needs, it takes a carefully orchestrated team of specialists to plan and provide quality respite care.
Providing quality in-home respite care to children with complex behavioural and mental needs is not a form of daycare or babysitting. Likewise, our individualized children and youth care facility are not centres for correctional, imprisonment, or punishment for misbehaviour.
We, as a society, acknowledge how important it is to break the stigma on mental health. But it is also important to break the stigma on what mental health caregivers and respite care are. The best way to break away from the preconceived child mental health stigmas of yesteryear is to innovate new solutions that make an everlasting impact on our clients and continue to redefine what the benchmarks should be based on current models and frameworks.
Just as we are accountable to our clients, we also need to be accountable to an international level of excellence.
As of November 2020, we have received a 3-year accreditation for our respite care services from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Our association with CARF is more than just a stamp of approval. It is our commitment to evolve our commitment to our clients and their family.
Meeting Our Clients Where They Are At
Without caring for and listening first to our clients, we can never truly understand how to implement a care plan that caters to their needs.
Our clients are children who have dealt with physical, mental, and emotional trauma who otherwise need structure and care provided by understanding caregivers.
- safe
- we are trustworthy
- they have choice and control in their care
- Offer collaboration and connection
- Strength-based approach
By using positive teaching language, our CarePros team is better equipped to understand and address the needs of our clients.
Our 4 Step Delivery Program
The journey from child placement to family reunification needs a road map. Our unique approach to respite care is a daily process designed to optimize our client’s development into independent living. When it comes to meeting the needs of our clients, it is important we meet them where they are at.
We do this by implementing our comprehensive 4 step Care Delivery Program:
Assessment and Stabilization
We specialize in emergency and crisis situations. We act fast and can implement a solution that will help clients regain balance and safety.
We build a team of CarePros tailored to your family's specific needs, bringing in a level of consistency and balance. Our team includes at least 2 CarePros, a behavioural support team, a recreation therapist, and a senior supervisor. The team communicates with their senior supervisors daily to proactively identify opportunities and solve problems before they arise.With our stabilization process, we place children and youth in an environment where they can thrive, avoiding unnecessary mismatching of clients.
Relationship and Connection
We build a team of CarePros tailored to your family's specific needs, bringing in a level of consistency and balance. Our team includes at least 2 CarePros, a behavioural support team, a recreation therapist, and a senior supervisor. The team communicates with their senior supervisors daily to proactively identify opportunities and solve problems before they arise.
Safety and Trust
We find long-term solutions for your family. We do this by providing a variety of professional services including individual and family counselling. This drives growth and rehabilitation, all while providing the steps, guidance, and care along the way.
Self-Efficacy and Fulfillment
We mark our success on the ability to see our families reintegrate back into their regular lives, all while maintaining peace, balance, and the structure that they have learned through their care program.
We also include a Youth Transition Resource that guides youths into adulthood and independent living. Children's behavioural and mental respite care is, and should be, a transformative experience for these children and youth to develop into independent and self-sufficient adults. Our goal is to build essential verbal skills so our clients can reunite with their families and communities.
Breaking Down Barriers with Recreation Therapy
As the mental health best practices continue to evolve, so do our CarePros services. That’s why we at CarePros added a recreation therapist to our staff.
Recreation therapy helps eliminate the physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and/or spiritual barriers that prevent our clients from reaching their optimal life. Our recreation therapy program teaches our clients how they can accommodate their unique abilities to participate in healthy leisure activities.
To better assist our clients, recreation therapy support provides one-on-one time and activities for our clients. These activities can range from teaching a client how to cook a simple meal or taking the client on a field trip on video game programming. After all, it’s all about what the children are interested in and how we can invest in them.
Providing Care for Those Who Provide Care
Quality care is more than just how we care for our clients, but the CarePros team behind our clients.
After all, we need to invest into our frontline CarePros in order for them to continue providing top-notch respite care.
As part of our accreditation from CARF, we at CarePros have a respected international body to draw resources and guide our team. As a result, we evolved our orientation and provide ongoing training systems for our frontline Care Professionals. As we are accountable to our clients, we are also accountable to the international training and respite standards of CARF.
Like our clients, our CarePros voice needs to be heard. That’s why we provide avenues for our Carepros to voice their thoughts and ideas to the Service Delivery team leaders. Communication between the two happens daily, resulting in strong teamwork and proactive client planning. We also allow our CarePros a chance to give their honest feedback by participating in surveys.
Growing as We Grow
Since we began in 2016, it has always been our mission to provide industry-leading home care respite services. Evolving our best-in-class care services in an ongoing process that takes an entire dedicated team to accomplish. As we shifted our core services to respite care for children with complex behavioural and mental needs, we too evolved our practices and standards.
