Kids Herkimer
Program Overview
Kids Herkimer follows the Wraparound model of care and approach to help youth succeed in their home, school, and community while addressing family and social issues as well.
Since 2008, our program has grown substantially in size and programming, due to its great success in keeping families together. Kids Herkimer now houses five programs that could be easily replicable in counties throughout the United States with similar needs:
- The Family Reunification Program: focuses on shortening the length of stay of out-of-home placement for identified “at-risk” youth in Herkimer County.
- Return Home Early Program: Herkimer County children in residential placement care are assessed for their readiness and appropriateness to return home prior to their court-ordered expiration date.
- Intensive Preventive Program: designed to work with the highest intensity DSS families that have at least one child at risk of placement outside the home due to PINS/JD issues or neglect/abuse in the home.
- Service Provision for Individual Needs (SPIN): referrals are made for single “a la carte” services to complement other preventive services already working with the family.
- Detention Diversion Program (DDP): developed in response to the need for decreased use of non-secure detention days in Herkimer County; a DDP coordinator advocates for those youth at risk for court ordered detention and possibly long term out-of-home placement.
Criteria
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We provide services for youth from approximately 5 through 17 years old, and up to their 18th birthday.
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All clients must live in Herkimer County and need to be referred by a Herkimer County DSS program representative, such as a Preventive or CPS Case Manager, PINS Supervisor or SIP worker.
Making A Referral
All referrals are made from within the Department of Social Services. If your child is not currently involved with services within the Herkimer County DSS you can access services by contacting the Herkimer County DSS Administration for further discussion of eligibility.
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2012Herkimer County was chosen as 1 of 9 locations in the U.S. — and the smallest of them all — to receive recognition for the use of ICAN’s innovative Return Home Early program by the White House Council for Community Services.
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88Total youths returned home early due to the efforts of the Return Home Early program, from 2012-2018.
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$5,284,290Gross Cost Avoidance provided by the Return Home Early program from 2012-2018.
Kids Herkimer Age Group
- Children
- Transitional Youth
The Program office is located in the Herkimer County Department of Social Services building, 301 North Washington Street, Herkimer, NY 13350.
Why Consider Kids Herkimer
Our Team Approach
We embrace the Wraparound model for all of our care, services and programs. Our staff works collaboratively to develop and implement customized treatment plans for the individuals and families in our programs, and each team member contributes to our clients’ successes.
Empowerment & Support
At ICAN, we strive to empower and support individuals and families facing life challenges, by providing them with the tools to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. We assist them with succeeding in any goal they may have set, whether it be recovering from addiction, finding success in the classroom, creating a healthy home for their family as they anticipate the birth of a child, or seeking support and community resources, all while keeping families together as they process through their traumas.
Access To Resources
We connect individuals and families with critical community resources, such as access to physical and mental health providers, employment opportunities, housing options, peer support groups, and Wraparound services. We understand that access to some of these services can be difficult to attain during certain life challenges, and we are here to help individuals and families overcome this obstacle.