Children and Families
Together, we help children and adolescents with complex problems made worse by the overwhelming environments. Often, they have lost their sense of place in the world and have a view of their future that is trapped in the present.
Our goal is to support and strengthen families to keep them together. We work with struggling families and newly formed ones to help them thrive.
When children enter foster care they are often traumatized for a variety of reasons. The need to enter foster care causes added trauma which can trigger additional emotional distress in these youth. Often, these circumstances will present as problematic behavior when placed with another family.
Our goal is to help these children and adolescents create a lasting sense of family, home and community, and prepare them for a promising future. We help them build a truly durable foundation of skills and experiences that allow them to thrive and become contributors to their communities as they come of age.
Children on the Edge
The problem at this moment is that more children and adolescents than at any time since 2008 are in need of highly skilled professional intervention to create productive futures (Annie E. Casey Foundation; KIDS COUNT Data Center).
Children with complex needs will not ‘bootstrap’ themselves out of their plight and into prospering futures. Nor are their typically struggling families and guardians, if these exist, equipped to help them do so.
Current research on societal cost and outcomes is clear. Family settings for children are superior to institutional settings. Yet, at this moment, more children are likely to find themselves in institutions without the intervention of professional agencies like ours (Annie E. Casey Foundation).
The need: investment in our work and their futures
At Abbott House, our philosophy and mission are geared to providing children and adolescents with the foundational development of healing, safety and opportunity they need to thrive in these preferred family settings. Through counseling, health care, life skills, academic support, employment training and the like, we help them find their place in the world.
