Extra Special Needs
All foster children have special needs. They need support during their transition to help them cope with a new family. That support needs to continue if their placement changes or even if they are reunified with their family. Foster children with certain disabilities and medical disorders, however, have another set of special needs specific to their condition. As a result, relatively few resource families can properly care for a special needs child, and so some of these children are placed in group homes.
The group home setting differs from the individual family home setting in that children are not cared for by one family. Rather a group home can house many children cared for by trained staff. More individualized than institutional settings—such as hospitals—group homes are often better able to provide the individual emotional, medical, and psychological care foster children need.
In some cases, a child who has been in a group home can be placed in therapeutic foster care with an experienced family who can mentor the child and provide for his or her special needs after placement in a group setting. But the need for licensed resource families able to care for a special needs child is great. Specialty group homes may be available for children with intensive clinical care needs, such as those being treated for chemical dependency or psychiatric disorders.
Caring for a special needs child is challenging for any family. Sometimes parents of special needs children need services and support to enable them to properly care for their child due to the overwhelming challenges they face. New Jersey’s child welfare agency seeks to provide those services to families in need but doesn’t always know what is best for each family. Often, staying together is best for families with special needs children.
As a parent, it’s normal to have concerns about your child’s placement. The best way to ensure your child receives appropriate care is to stay involved. Speak with an attorney about what you can do to stay involved in the care of your child and what you can do to reunite. Staying involved by regularly visiting and communicating with the group home or resource family about your child’s needs can help you and your child. But you might need the help of an attorney to help facilitate those visits and exchange the information you need for peace of mind.
Are you worried about your special needs child? If so, Williams Law Group, LLC can help. Our skilled attorneys can help ensure your child’s best interests are protected, and he or she is placed in an appropriate home. Located in Short Hills, New Jersey, Williams Law Group, LLC provides compassionate and dedicated legal services to Union, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties, and the surrounding areas. Our knowledgeable attorneys handle divorce and family law, child custody, and child abuse/neglect cases. Call our office at (908) 810-1083, email us at info@awilliamslawgroup.com, or contact us through our confidential online form to schedule a consultation and ultimately get you connected with an experienced New Jersey divorce and child custody attorney.