ChildNet Youth & Family Services

ChildNet Youth and Family Services

ChildNet Youth and Family Services is a private, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that offers innovative programs to young people and their families with significant needs for various types of assistance. Recognized for its care and treatment of abused, neglected and abandoned children; ChildNet’s “Continuum of Care” services include: Family Support, Special Education, Foster Care, Adoptions and Mental Health programs. The impact of our support is often powerful and life-changing. By providing meaningful assistance, our families are able to stabilize from a crisis situation, and, with individualized support, they can establish normalcy and structure for their once broken family.

For over 40 years, ChildNet has been at the forefront of providing innovative and quality care to thousands of deserving children and their families. For these reasons, ChildNet’s programs are not only unique, but absolutely necessary. Without ChildNet, most of these families would have nowhere else to turn.

Wraparound Support Services As one of the newest program in ChildNet’s “Continuum of Care,” Family Support Services is designed to help children and adolescents with serious emotional and behavioral problems successfully live with their families and communities.

Wraparound Support Services staff work as a team with the child, his/her family and other significant support persons in the child’s life to identify family needs and strengths, teach new skills, and help access the community resources they need to instill hope and increase their sense of competence. Family members participate in developing plans and goals, and all services are tailored to the unique needs of each family. Issues may include meeting needs such as housing or medical care, parenting skills training, child care, medication support, and individual, family or group therapy.

Special Education ChildNet provides troubled young people, both boys and girls the opportunity to attend a school that provides a rigorous curriculum and daily routine designed to meet special needs. Zinsmeyer Academy opened its doors in 1990 in response to the special educational requirements of residential treatment clients, as well as students attending public schools in the surrounding communities. Zinsmeyer Academy is state-certified and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Individualized curriculum and a student/teacher ratio of 6:1, means students are given special attention that leads to maximum opportunities for learning. Academic progress is measured by periodic testing with standardized tests. In addition the learning environment is designed to develop, social skills communication skills, problem-solving, decision-making, anger management and impulse control. Fine arts, athletics and other enrichment programs are emphasized as well as age appropriate life skills such as job search, resource budgeting and health maintenance.

The Behavioral Health Services program (BHS) at ChildNet was launched in 1999 to meet the mental health needs of under-served and at-risk youth and families in the greater Long Beach community. BHS provides an array of community-based services including in-home individual and family therapy, group therapy, psychiatric evaluation and medication support when needed. BHS works in collaboration with the Long Beach Unified School District providing mental health services at nine Long Beach school sites. The goal of all BHS services is to improve the child’s functioning in home, school and social settings.

Foster Family Network was established in 1986 for the purpose of providing quality foster homes for children who are victims of parental neglect or abuse. The children arrive with an array of medical, emotional, and behavioral problems. The Foster Family Network mission is to recruit volunteer foster parents, train them to meet stringent standards of care, match them with available children needing homes, and provide clinical and financial support to the new “family.” Foster Family Network provides services to thousands of foster children a year; 80% of these children are united with their families and an average of 25 children a year is adopted. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, Foster Family Network provides foster care services to six counties in California. Satellite offices are located in Fresno, Kern (Bakersfield), San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

Adoption ChildNet’s most recent addition to the Continuum of Care is our Adoption program, created to assist children and families through the adoption process. ChildNet is working within the requirements of the Department of Children and Family Services to make sure all new foster parents are fully approved resource families, which means they are certified foster parents and approved for adoption.However, they are not required to adopt any children.Having our Certified Foster Parents become approved for adoption, gives our adoptable foster children a greater opportunity to find a loving, stable home and to gain permanency in their lives.ChildNet’s new adoption program is maximizing the opportunity for more children to be adopted, creating lifelong family connections.