CaringCouple|Basic Care vs Intensive Supervision|68.121.16.168|yes|yes|1074138723|

I would like to hear from some that have worked both.
My wife and I have only experienced intensive care type facilities where we deal with multiple diagnosed DCFS kids that have blown through numerous placements and have many issues or kids on Probation for rather serious crimes.

Our days are filled with Therapy Appointments, Court Dates at Juvenile Hall, Drug Court, Treatment Centers and Probation Officers. Although there are only 6 kids in our care we have not a moment for ourselves and seldom for each other between 7AM and 10PM.

We recently interviewed for a Basic Care facility with up to 12 kids in placement. Allthough the interviewing staff seemed impressed with our qualifications it all seemed so foriegn to us and I found it difficult to comprehend how we would ever have any quality time or moments with twice the kids.

Yet many of you not only do it AND you do it while raising your own children.

Can any of you relate experiences from working both? We love what we do and the kids in our care but there is nothing close to "homelike" in our current situation.

The Home we ran before this one settled in after about 4 months with the same kids but other than dinner as a "family" type unit it wasn't much more "homelike" either.


(Edited by CaringCouple at 4:01 pm on Jan. 15, 2004)

webmaster|Basic Care vs Intensive Supervision|24.117.29.208|yes|yes|1084743991|

My wife and I started in a group home that was primarily for delinquents and child in need of supervision (CHINS) kids, it had a level system, therapy, courts and all the other stuff that goes with that type of care. We did it for two years but found we didn’t want to raise our children in that type of a home.

We have been in Basic care for 5 years now at a home in Mississippi. Our children are now 10 & 13. It has been a good experience for them, for the most part. We have been able to experience things and places we never would have been able to in a 9-5 job setting. We were always home when they got out of school, they were able to attend camps I otherwise couldn’t afford to send them two, as well as all the extra activities that are donated that I couldn’t afford.

On the other hand there have also been some real sacrifices. We work a 29 day shift, with 6 days relief. Usually the second to last week we are pretty tired and downright sluggish the last week. :confused: The first day of relief is usually spent sleeping and resting. Also when it comes to being able to attend a function that the kids participate in, our birth children’s functions are usually trumped by our home children’s function. Because we don’t take government money and have to spend our funds thriftily, we usually have to wear several different hats (grounds keeper, mechanic, handyman, etc), so we are always busy doing something. On top of that in my cottage, our ages range from 2 years old to 13 years old, so we have to do all the things the little kids can’t do for themselves. We are very tired.

I believe that both types of care have their advantages and disadvantages; it just depends on what type you are comfortable with. My wife and I have decided after 7 years as houseparents to take a break from houseparenting in general. In one month, I will be the full time computer guy, for the home we are currently at, and she is looking forward to having her own home and a job with 8 hour shifts for a while.   When our kids are grown, we may go back into childcare, in a therapeutic type facility, we’ll see.

Tuxedo|Basic Care vs Intensive Supervision|68.94.173.61|yes|yes|1085019075|

My husband and I have been in three different facilities. The first was a very strict, we even had monitors to listen to them in their rooms at night. I felt like I was in jail. We then went to a facility in Waco and it had 12 boys, we started making it a family run home. We did have level systems and campus planned activities. THere were a lot programs. The Lord then led us to San Antonio where we are working in setting that is just like having our own children, they come and go like a real family. We take vacations, one year to D.C., this year to Atlanta and Destin, FL. They can drive the car with a learners permit, we buy their clothes, decorate the home with our taste. It is heaven. We work 10 days on and 5 off. We did however have to learn to balance our own time. It becomes so much like your family that you need to be aware of your own time. We do have an opening for a relieve. 5 days at girls house and 5 days at boys house. We only have two homes on this campus.