Mobile Stabilization Program

Children in foster care are at an elevated risk of experiencing mental health challenges. It is estimated that up to 80% of the over 400,000 children in foster systems in the U.S. suffer from a mental health issue, compared to 20% of the general population of children.*

 

Past traumas, ongoing instability, and the emotional turmoil associated with separation from the biological family are contributing factors that often result in behavioral issues in foster children.**

 

The Hillside Children’s Center’s Mobile Stabilization Program was established to de-escalate, treat, and stabilize children aged 5-21 entering foster care in Monroe County who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

 

*childrensrights.org
**Psychology Times, November 2024

“The goal of the program is to prevent foster children from moving to another placement or divert them from being hospitalized,” said Ashley Swartzenberg, Supervisor of the Hillside Children’s Center’s Mobile Stabilization Program.

 

Initiated in November of 2023, the Mobile Stabilization Program has been operating for just over a year. Funded with both local and state dollars and implemented through a contractual agreement with Hillside, the program is the only one of its kind in the Rochester area to offer immediate conflict resolution and foster parent support and advocacy.

 

“Before this program was available, foster children exhibiting behavioral issues were either removed to another foster home placement or admitted to the Monroe County Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) at Strong Hospital on a mental hygiene arrest,” explained Swartzenberg.

 

Since its inception, for immediate same-night intervention, the program has preserved 87% of foster care placements, kept 96% of youth from mental health hospitalization, and prevented 96% of youth from law enforcement interaction.

 

“The goal of any foster care placement is to provide a stable environment for a child who has been temporarily removed from their home,” said Swartzenberg. “The intent of the program is immediate stabilization, to keep the child in the same foster home for a minimum of two months.”

A youth coming into foster care for the first time may have difficulty processing what is happening. During the day, the caseworker will assist with early intervention supports to ease the transition. If a foster child is in crisis after 5 p.m. or on the weekend, Monroe County’s Foster Care After Hours Program will dispatch a mobile response team to the foster home.

“Teens in particular can have a hard time adjusting to foster care, dealing with the new rules of a foster home,” said Contessa Noye, Supervisor of the Homefinding Unit of Monroe County Foster Care. “When After Hours staff receives a referral about a foster child who is upset and can’t calm down, the foster parent is usually overwhelmed with the behavior. We dispatch a team to the home for the purpose of conflict resolution, to salvage the placement and, ultimately, the relationship.”

 

A two-person team of a care coordinator (CC) and family peer advocate (FPA) meet with the youth for a crisis assessment and provide therapeutic crisis intervention supports to de-escalate the behavior, to bring the child back down to baseline. For younger kids, this might involve playing a game to get to know each other.

 

The family peer advocate then meets with the foster parents to get more information on the events precipitating the crisis and understand what interventions were used. Together, they brainstorm alternative methods of intervening and other management strategies.

 

“A family peer advocate is essential to the intervention process as they have lived the experience of raising a youth with some developmental, mental or behavioral challenges,” explained Noye. “Or it’s another foster parent who can relate directly to the caregivers.”

 

A FPA requires a certification, while a CC requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree and three years of experience working in a related human service field. All mobilization staff must complete a three-day training on verbal therapeutic crisis intervention that outlines effective communication practices, including how to read body language, how to avoid a power struggle, and instruction on tone, active listening, and summarizing.

 

“Conflict resolution doesn’t have to be something huge, it could be about curfew time, for example” said Noye. “For some kids who’ve been on their own, it’s often hard for them to answer to someone else. It’s important to listen to them, let them vent, assess their needs, and then explain each other’s point of view so they can understand that rules do exist, and this is why we’re holding you accountable.”

 

Post de-escalation, the team reconvenes to share insights and draft a safety plan outlining interventions and coping skills to be used in the future. A check-in is conducted within 48 hours, and the team continues with weekly visits to reinforce the safety plan. Additionally, Noye and Swartzenberg meet once a week to review cases and strategize best practices for interventions.

 

“The best thing about the program,” said Noye, “is that for children with big behaviors, we make referrals to therapy and community-based services for ongoing skill building.”

“The best place for children is with their families,” said Swartzenberg. “We’re all on the same page with how to get kids home safely. We do everything we can to lessen their trauma and keep them stable until they can go home.”

 

Noye describes success as returning a child home with skills, achieving the goal for whatever reason the mobile response team was called in.

“We celebrate small victories with these kids, like putting their clothes away at night, not leaving stuff on the bathroom floor,” she said, “in addition to big victories, like controlling their anger and using their words.”

Empowering foster children through recognition of their improvements and good choices goes a long way in stabilizing the child and letting them know that people care.

 

“Each foster care child is different,” Swartzenberg said, “and foster parents are learning at the same time.”

 

In its first year, the Mobile Stabilization Program has helped 42 foster youth, with a family satisfaction rating of 88% (per survey results collected from foster parents who’ve used the program).

Started on December 9, 2024, the Mobile Stabilization Program also services Monroe County kinship homes, with the aim of stabilizing these placements to prevent youth from entering foster care.

 

If you are working with a foster child or foster family struggling with behavioral issues, or kinship families involved with CPS who need support, reach out to a CPS caseworker or recommend to the family to ask their caseworker for a referral to the Mobile Stabilization Program.