Children's Home Services
Delivered April 20, 2020. Contributor: Terri A.
Goals
To provide an overview of Children's Home Society of North Carolina, including information about the agency, its mission/focus, data regarding placement of children, and any special or unique information available about this agency. A particular focus on discerning the specialization of this agency, or any information that could be construed as a challenge for this agency, is desirable. This data will be used to guide a marketing strategy.
Early Findings
- Children’s Home Society of NC (henceforth "CHS"), which serves all 100 counties of North Carolina but is headquarted in Guilford County, outlines their mission as "To promote the right of every child to a permanent, safe, and loving family." They also highlight their ability to support and provide resources for families, including parent education, teen pregnancy prevention, and post adoption support. They characterize themselves as "one of the most comprehensive and seamless child welfare service arrays in [North Carolina] to help children and families thrive."
- According to CHS, their current focus is shifting with "the changing population of children," including those who had been referred to them by North Carolina's Department of Social Services after experiencing abuse and neglect, and that generally, there are fewer newborns available for adoption and growing numbers of older children needing families to "attend to their special needs." Thus, CHS has developed programs to provide "specialized training and support" for the potential adoptive parents of these children.
- They particularly promote their "The Wise Guys®" male responsibility and teen pregnancy prevention program, which was taught to over 5000 adolescent males last year (though the number on their main page is slightly different, citing 4,800 participants).
- A section of CHS's website is dedicated to the children currently associated with CHS, most of whom are older and/or have special needs. If a child has experienced trauma, that is noted within the details of that child's dedicated page (e.g., Emilee).
- CHS reports that they have placed over 16,000 children in "permanent, safe, and loving homes" throughout their history, with 203 children being placed with permanent, adoptive families last year. They also report that 92% of their children in foster care had only one placement, and 99% of children remained with their families due to family preservation services.
Summary Of Early Findings Relevant To The Goals
This hour of research was spent looking through the presentation, history, and statistics cited within CHS's website pages in order to gather a holistic sense of the agency. Overall, what stood out about CHS in terms of how they promote themselves was that they provide not only foster and adoptive services, but also prevention and support services to the communities that they serve (e.g., The Wise Guys® program). They also openly recognize that the children that the agency is serving are older and many have special physical or psychological needs, which is noted within the agency's history page, and also on the page for each child within the agency. Thus, the connection to community, as well as the focus on finding the right family for each child, and support through the process, appear to be the specialized strengths of CHS.
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