Foster Care
WhimSpire specializes in providing foster family care; WhimSpire concentrates its efforts to provide high quality foster care in its homes. Provision of care within families is in the best interest of most children who cannot be cared for by their own parents or kin. This is a valuable service provided to society by WhimSpire families. WhimSpire places children of all ages with a wide variety of needs. WhimSpire strives to match the needs of the child with the strengths and interests of the family foster family. WhimSpire staff and foster parents work together to provide the best quality care for children. Foster parents will have regular contacts with WhimSpire staff both by telephone and visits in their home. Foster parents have an assigned Foster Home Coordinator that is available for consultation, collaboration and encouragement by telephone and email. The Foster Home Coordinator will also visit the foster home at least twice monthly and attend meetings in the community. Emergency crisis service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Kinship Care
WhimSpire realizes and values the importance of kinship care for children in the child welfare system. Kinship care can often be important to the wellbeing of children in the long run as it helps to maintain children’s family connections. WhimSpire works closely with several counties in Colorado to provide support to kinship families through certification. Once kinship families are certified they receive in home support, training, and a care stipend. WhimSpire will continue to guide the family through the duration of the case. WhimSpire also works with counties to provide home studies for kin families that may not meet the certification requirements.
Adoption
WhimSpire offers both public and non-public adoption services to children and families in the United States. We view adoption as a road to permanency for children and are committed to helping in the decision making process of placing children for adoption. We place healthy infants and children in adoptive homes. Services are provided to clients in a confidential, positive and proactive atmosphere where the rights of all clients are protected.
We provide non-judgmental counseling and services which allow birth parents to gain knowledge of the adoption process. Our staff ensure that birth parents are well informed as to their rights and options, including community resources and alternatives to adoption.
Home studies are provided to adoptive families who are then matched with a birth parent. Counseling to birth and adoptive families is offered throughout the adoption and birth process. Upon placement, WhimSpire staff maintain services to the adoptive family until the adoption is finalized.
Community Programs
Through the Youth Advocate Program (YAP), WhimSpire works closely with the Division of Youth Corrections to provide mentors for youth who are currently incarcerated. The Youth Advocate Program offers children/youth a chance to spend time with a mentor while in detention, as well as in community placements and on parole status. The YAP program gives the child/youth someone positive to connect with while in detention as well as someone when they are released. YAP mentors often times are the only visitors some youth have, due to lack of family involvement. YAP mentors are a vital part of a youth transition plan when they leave the facility as they provide guidance to get set up in positive community activities, Medicaid services and help to research educational and vocational options.
Proctor Care
WhimSpire works closely with the Division of Youth Services (DYS) by providing proctor homes for youth nearing parole. We give these youth a chance to transition back into the community, allowing them a chance to secure employment, their education, mental health services and drug and alcohol services, etc. Proctor care also allows these youth a chance to go from a secure placement to a medium secure placement, prior to parole, which helps them achieve success in the community.