The focal purpose of the Professional Parenting Specialized Foster Care program is to provide healthy and transitional foster family placements for children whose problems require active and sustained intervention outside of their natural homes. At the core of the program is a network of carefully selected Professional Parenting couples (and singles) who, after a period of special training and with continuous support from program staff, open their homes and families to youth in need of the treatment and care they have been prepared to provide. In a phrase, Professional Parenting is intended to combine all of the best, family-centered features of specialized foster care with the most current and vigorous youth treatment methods available.

Distinctive program features include:

• Careful selection and licensure of foster parents
• Comprehensive pre-service training
• On-going in-service training
• In-home consultation visits by professional staff along with 24/7 crisis telephone support
• Vigorous youth/family matching
• Meaningful financial compensation

To Refer a Client to the Program: We accept referrals of children age birth to 21 who are in the custody of a county department of social services, whose placement needs are projected to be in excess of six months, and for whom special needs exist such as behavioral emotional problems and/or, special medical or physical conditions. Contact us at tammy.deitz@familyinnovations.org for additional information about the referral process.

To Become a Professional Parent: “We used to think that miracles were something that happened once in a great while and required great feats. Then we became foster parents.” Be part of a miracle. For more information in the Asheville area, e-mail tammy.deitz@familyinnovations.org or call (828) 236-2877.