Thompson Partners with Vaya Health for Expansion of Therapeutic Foster Care Services

Charlotte, N.C. – Thompson Child & Family Focus (Thompson), Charlotte’s leading human services organization, is partnering with Vaya Health to expand its range of services to meet the needs of adolescents who need foster care within the state, using an innovative treatment model.

With support from Vaya Health, Thompson will implement the Treatment Foster Care Oregon (TFCO) model in the 22 western North Carolina counties Vaya Health serves. TFCO is an evidence-based model of therapeutic foster care services that provides high-intensity clinical services to youth who are otherwise in psychiatric residential treatment facility placements. Services are provided on a short-term basis, ranging between six to nine months.

TFCO has more than 30 years of implementation success across the world and shown not only results in reducing long-term cost benefits as compared to usual care, but also in showing a demonstrated reduction in criminal justice involvement. TFCO youth have lower rates of arrest, 30% fewer court convictions, and are half as likely to be convicted of assault, among other eye-opening statistics.

Thompson is the first and only provider of TFCO within the state of North Carolina. Thompson intentionally invests in evidence-based programs/practices and was the first in the state to bring another evidence-based program, Friends of the Children, in 2018 – which matches kindergarteners with high risk factors with a life navigator/Friend for 12.5 years, no matter what.

Through usage of the TCFO model, Thompson will expand its therapeutic foster care services to adolescent and teenaged youth in a way that allows them to stay in a family setting in their community.

“Youth in therapeutic foster care frequently experience significant behavioral health symptoms that require high-quality, timely treatment services,” said Rhonda Cox, Vaya Health’s Executive Vice President and Chief Population Health Officer. “It’s critical for these adolescents to receive specialized care to increase their wellbeing and reunite with their families, as appropriate. Thompson will help us meet this need for young people in Western North Carolina.”

Thompson will be implementing the model for 12 to 17-year-olds in foster care, and this partnership with Vaya Health will create a need for additional foster homes.

“Substantial unmet needs have been present within the realm of foster care for a long time, and Thompson has strived to close those gaps,” said Libby Foster, Vice President of Foster Care Services at Thompson. “We are excited to partner with Vaya Health in meeting those needs. The support from the Vaya Health team has been refreshing. As we expand the reach of our therapeutic foster care program, our needs continue to grow, and we are grateful for this partnership to broaden our impact.”

The proposed rollout for the program expansion will be early Fall 2021. You can positively impact the lives of foster children. Ideal foster parents for Thompson are openminded, strong youth advocates, and willing to be trained in trauma-informed care.

Learn more about becoming a foster parent at our ‘Become a foster Parent’ page, or by contacting Libby Foster, Vice President of Foster Care, at lfoster@thompsoncff.org or call her at (704) 238-3293.

About Thompson

 Headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina (Mecklenburg County), Thompson Child & Family Focus is a human services leader transforming lives through early childhood, family stability, and mental health services. As a solutions-driven organization committed to rewriting narratives for the most vulnerable in our community; Thompson achieves this by providing comprehensive, evidence-based services, and trauma-informed care, for children (ages 0-18) and their families, virtually and in-person. Thompson employs over 270 staff across several locations in Matthews, Charlotte, Arden, and Wilmington, NC, and is led by President/CEO, Will Jones.

To read more about Thompson’s continuum of services online, go to thompsoncff.org, or email news@thompsoncff.org.