Northern Family Intervention Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 398 - Gaylord, Michigan 49734-0398 - 989.732.6448 (Office) - 989.731.0670 (Fax)
HOME-BASED INTERVENTION PROGRAM
Northern Family Intervention Services, Inc., (NFIS) is a non-profit 501(c)3 charitable organization that offers intensive short-term interventions for children and families within their home, school, and community. Treatment is based on the Teaching-Family Model and is a family-centered approach that builds on existing family strengths and develops a partnership with the parent(s). This program is guided by a belief that children and families belong together, therefore, NFIS has a strong commitment to preserving, maintaining, and re-unifying families.
Referrals consist of children who are about to be placed out of the home, are returning home from a placement, or are otherwise at-risk because of family breakdowns, neglect, behavior problems, or physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. NFIS home-based workers, known as Family Specialists, spend two to four visits per week with a family over eight to twelve weeks, while providing 24/7 hour on-call availability, to resolve problems, teach new skills, and secure services to provide for the family's basic needs.
NFIS's home-based program focuses on the family, in the context of the larger community, in order to help solve a variety of problems that bear upon the upbringing of children and the self-sufficiency of the family. The program represents an intermediate level of care that is based on the family (like case work) but also provides intensive support and treatment (like residential treatment). Instead of removing the child from the family to deliver intensive services, these services are delivered to the child in his or her family, neighborhood, and community. Thus, the program combines some specialized residential treatment procedures with generalized casework services necessary to deal with a wide range of individual and family problems.
To do this, state-licensed and certified Family Specialists sensitively and respectfully use tools to improve family functioning and meet family-centered treatment goals; working to maintain positive changes over time. The services offered to families are comprehensive in that the family's physical, social, and emotional needs are met and opportunities for new learning are facilitated. Parents remain in charge of the treatment process in their families and learn skills necessary to effectively meet the needs of their children and to determine the course of their lives within the context of their own values and beliefs. Family Specialists advocate on behalf of families and encourage parents to develop effective long-term supports within their communities.
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