Foster Care & Adoption Services

Foster Care &

Adoption Services

The Family Focused Initiative (FFI)

FFI offers success to families facing the challenges of child abuse and neglect by providing parenting education and supports, that rely on family strengths and community resources to assist parents in providing a safe, nurturing home environment where children can grow and thrive, and when necessary, a continuum of culturally competent family-based care outside of the home.

FFI engages the birth family with a holistic approach, addressing social justice barriers, the compounded impact of trauma, and provides opportunities to gain parental confidence, economic stabilization, mental and physical wellness, and an ability to lead their family, independently.

The FFI team works with children from the District of Columbia who have been removed from their birth parents and placed in licensed foster homes in Maryland. The children we serve may have been left home alone or lived in deplorable home conditions; are coping with educational delays and medical neglect; many have been physically or sexually abused, and/or left with unwilling caregivers. Some children have witnessed their parents struggling with drug dependency, domestic violence, or serious emotional limitations that affect their ability to parent safely.

We recruit foster families to become our partners in providing safe and temporary homes to support children and youth. We help them heal from their traumatic and difficult experiences, breaking the cycle of intergenerational childhood abuse and neglect.

The FFI team has a holistic approach to assisting children.

Combats educational delays through educational advocacy, providing school transportation and tutoring services.

Ensure therapy and psychiatric services are in place and behavior management in the foster homes.

Conducts workshops that support and build on adolescent resiliency (independence, autonomy, necessary life skills, improve self- esteem/concepts).

Search and identify kin to reunite children with their own extended families.

Increase the capacity of birth parents to reunite with children through parenting education, building up their support system and teaching them self-care to deal with their own traumas. Our team links birth families and children to community resources to build up and strengthen the family in the community once their children are reunited.

Provides opportunities for birth families and children to have fun during visitation, allowing space for them to create positive memories with their children by taking them to circus, Easter egg hunt and a catered Thanksgiving dinner. These activities enhance the bond between parent and child when it is needed the most.

When children cannot be safely returned to their birth parents, we identify permanent, forever adoptive homes for children ages 0-21.

Contact information:

(657) 522-0770 or fostercareinfo@nccf-cares.org

Paula Sherman (Foster Care and Adoption Administrator),
Email: psherman@nccf-cares.org

Greenleaf Treatment Foster Care (GTFC)

Greenleaf Treatment Foster Care serves Maryland youth who are placed in licensed foster homes in the state of Maryland. We provide intentional therapeutic services that focus on the social, emotional, recreational, and spiritual needs of the youth. The Children we serve experience layers of traumatic events that occur over extended periods of time. GTFC staff are trained in the Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approach and specialize in treating youth with complex needs.

GTFC helps heal the trauma of the child’s separation from the birth family due to abuse or neglect.

Our team provides intentional/wraparound treatment for youth and loving skilled foster parents that receive tailored trauma training.

Services include referrals to substance abuse services, vocational and employment support, sexual trauma therapy, psychiatric assessments, and clinical case coordination.

The GTFC staff partners with local departments of social services across the State of Maryland to provide advocacy and access to targeted services for children with medical needs, young children with complex trauma, and adolescents who need someone to commit to them.

Contact information: