Williams Life Center, Inc. (WLC) introduced the Child Placement Agency (CPA) in 2005 due to the expanded need in the State of Maryland for foster homes equipped with Certified Resource Families (Foster Families) who would provide a nurturing and supportive living arrangement for displaced youth. The Child Placement Agency works closely with Local Departments of Social Services and Judicial Systems to ensure that permanent and appropriate living arrangements for the youth may be established. The CPA is intended to be a temporary living situation for youth in foster care until such time as a permanent living situation is established. However, while the CPA’s primary responsibility is to place youth with Foster Families, other supports for the youth and foster family must be in place and operating efficiently in order to make this new living arrangement as comfortable as possible for youth, as well as the entire foster family.

Each Youth is assigned a Licensed Graduate Social Worker (LGSW) to assist the youth, biological family, and foster family in planning and coordinating services that will ultimately result in placement stability, emotional and physical well-being, educational achievement, and social skills development. The Social Worker’s duties include: weekly foster home visits, scheduling and monitoring biological family visitation, preparing treatment plans and all progress reports, attending court hearings, and advocating for the overall needs of the youth. The CPA Social Worker and other team members engage the youth and biological families with empathy, support, and professionalism; all of which are necessary components to establish a team centered approach that will yield positive life outcomes for children and families.

WLC has grown with respect to the type and intensity of the services offered to our youth and families. Below is a snapshot of the services we offer within the CPA, some of which are new and extremely exciting. These services include the following:

• Individual Therapy
• Group Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Mentoring
• Educational Advocacy
• Recreational Therapy
• Health Maintenance and Screenings
• Youth Vacations/Retreats
• Parenting Skills Training
• Treatment Team Meetings (TTM) involving family members and relevant others
• Independent Living Skills Trainings
• Foster Parent Training & Support
• Fun Activities involving youth, biological families, foster families, and CPA Staff

The Child Placement Agency is highly structured; however, our team considers all youth and familial situations based upon their unique circumstances. Each youth and family that encounters our Program is dealt with according to their Strengths. Although family challenges are what ultimately lead them to require our Services, the CPA team works from a Strength Based Approach. For every “One Challenge”, each youth has, he/she has “Two Strengths”!
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