Foster Care Services

When a child is in an abusive or neglectful environment, the Burke Center is here to help.

Emergency Services

Burke Center Case Managers are available 24 hours a day to respond to emergency calls from state workers when a child has been removed from an abusive or neglectful situation. When a call is received in the middle of the night, our Case Managers are hopeful that they will have a foster family willing and ready to receive children in crisis. These children are usually quite traumatized by their abrupt removal from family members despite the abusive and neglectful circumstances that were deemed serious enough to warrant removal of the child. Our agency is always grateful to find more foster families with a heart for children who need them.

Foster Family Services

Burke Center Adoption and Foster Family Services provides high quality foster families for abused children. We work hard to locate families who have the desire to open their hearts and homes to give children a safe place to live. We carefully screen, select, supervise and support qualified families. We provide the necessary pre-service training that all families are required to have before becoming licensed. The home study process is done in conjunction with the foster parents preparing their home for prospective new family members. With the information we are given about a child, our team attempts to pair the child and their needs to a family whose attributes will ensure a successful match. Siblings are placed together whenever possible. We accept children with a wide spectrum of needs from newborns and toddlers to teens with substance abuse, pregnant teens and teens with babies. While providing a caring family, foster parents work to reunify the child with their biological parents or other caregivers whenever possible. The goal for any child is permanency.

Treatment Foster Families

Burke Center Adoption and Foster Family Services offers Treatment Services that care for children rescued from abuse and neglect who are in need of a family with special skills. Our Treatment Director and Case Managers supply additional oversight and training to the family in order to equip them to give quality care focused on the specific needs of the child. Thus, we are able to deliver this specialized care within the nurture of a family home. We are licensed to provide treatment services for children with Emotional Disorders, Mental Retardation, Autism and for children who are Medically Fragile. Children placed in these homes do not pose an immediate threat to themselves or others and are able to be managed in a family home.

Transitional Living Services

Burke Center Adoption and Foster Family Services offers Transitional Living Homes which are geared toward providing teens and young adults with opportunities toward building life skills necessary for independent living. It offers participants guidance, support, and exercises set up to develop self sufficiency, preventing their long term dependence on the social services system. The program is taught primarily by the foster parents within the family home setting. The beauty of this program is its ability to meet teens and young adults at their level and help them progress toward the goal of independence. The crucial life skills taught in this program run the spectrum from personal hygiene to consumer awareness to character development. A formal Transitional Living Plan is individually designed using the youth’s goals to direct the course. The plan delineates benchmarks and timeframes. Some examples of benchmarks might include taking a driver’s education course and attending a state mandated “Preparation for Adult Living” class. All youth and young adults age 14 to 22 are assigned a Transitional Living Coach who tracks all benchmarks and provides guidance to the Youth and their Foster Parents.

If you have any questions about our emergency services, foster family services and transitional living services, contact the Burke Center now. We are here to help 24 hours a day.