New Day Ranch

February 2008 -- In March of 2006, New Day prepared and submitted a licensing request to the State of Montana to provide Therapeutic Foster Care services. Our request for licensure was granted on June 1st 2006. A Social and Economic Development Strategies (SEDS) grant from the administration for Native Americans (ANA) provided the funding for the New Day, Inc. Native American Therapeutic Foster Care Project.

Foster youth could be anywhere for lest than a year to 21 years of age and are carefully matched with licensed and trained therapeutic families. Therapeutic families are the foundation of this model and an integral member of the treatment team. Biological and extended families are vital to the treatment team.

Therapeutic foster care is a system of care that includes planned, time-limited placement with a treatment family for children and youth diagnosed as Seriously Emotionally Disturbed. Foster families are specially trained to be members of a multi-disciplinary therapeutic team that serve the needs of these children. These families receive support from a professional therapeutic team that includes Treatment Management, Targeted Youth Case Management, Therapeutic Day Treatment, and the Behavioral Outdoor Program.
New Day will support the Foster Care program with unique respite and learning activities to foster families via our Horse Program and our American Indian Cultural Program. Youth in foster homes will be invited to join age-specific youth groups, the Jumping Mice Society for little kids and the Eagle Society for older youth. Both of these symbols are taken directly from a traditional Northern Cheyenne story that is used to illustrate New Day's Recovery Medicine Wheel model. Youth groups are held every Wednesday evening 5:30-7:00pm at the downtown office located at 2906 3^rd Avenue North.

Therapeutic Foster Care Services:

·         Evaluation and assessment

·         Culturally appropriate individualized treatment plans

·         Outdoor Recreational activities

·         Native American cultural training

·         Horsemanship Program

·         Drumming, singing, sweats, Talking Circles, Pow-Wows, social gather lings

·         Treatment and Case Management

·         Individualized and group therapy

·         Educational planning

·         On-call professional therapeutic staff available to foster families

·         Respite Care

·         Immediate access to 24-hour crisis intervention

·         On-going training and development for treatment parents and staff

·         Monthly therapeutic support groups

·         Respite care available to treatment families

Make no mistake; this will be challenging work for any family that chooses to get involved. Only families and individuals who clearly understand the challenges of this work will be properly prepared to make a difference in a troubled young life. We intend to seek out and find families that will join with us as partners in our therapeutic team. These homes will provide the children with care, structure, support and focused mental health intervention. Potential families must be:

·         Open, honest and caring

·         Willing and able to commit to 33 hours of training (3 hours orientation, 15 hours general, and 15 hours therapeutic)

·         Willing to be part of a TEAM that develops individualized care for the children

·         Willing to be involved in Native American Cultural activities

·         Willing to undergo a background screening

·         Willing to provide physical, emotional and spiritual support for a child

Because foster parents have an especially challenging job, they need support from caring members of the community to best serve the children in their care. Respite foster care parents provide foster families the break they need. Respite care providers offer foster children the supervision the need for a short period of time (usually a 24-hour day or a weekend); which allows on-going foster parents a chance for some time off or assistance with emergencies. Respite care offers both child and caregiver time for renewal. It is available to all foster families to ensure continued stability of the child’s primary placement. If you are considering foster parenting but are not ready to make the long-term commitment, being a respite care provider may be right for you. A stipend is provided to defray the expenses of the foster child’s care for that time period.

If you want to get on our Foster Care mailing list or you want to learn more about how you may be able to help, call New Day Inc. Family Based Support Services at (406) 294-2330. Children are in need now. You can help.
Bookmark this page and check on us often as we will continue to update our information and provide you with additional resources.