Proctor (Foster) Parenting

WHAT IS A PROCTOR HOME?

A Proctor home is a highly trained, specialized foster home. Proctor homes are screened and trained professional Proctor Parents who are an integral part of the Service Team. They must be flexible, have a high level of tolerance and, above all, a good sense of humor. New Proctor Parents typically receive a minimum of 32 hours of in-depth training provided by staff, current proctor parents, and resources such as OYA and DHS before youth are placed and are involved in on-going monthly training. Proctor Parents attend weekly and monthly staff meetings, log behaviors, implement Service Plans, and write Progress Notes.

Your home is the treatment environment. They live with you. Watching you handle life improves the youth's ability to function as a successful person in the community. You provide consistency, structure and limits. You give them firm, fair and consistent discipline. Through you, they learn a process that allows them to deal with problems and issues, and find a solution.

We will hold all youth accountable for their actions while in Polk County Youth Programs. You, the Case Manager, and Youth & Family Counselor will fill the role of significant adult authority figures whose main goals are to:

Encourage change by placing direct emphasis on the youth's personal responsibility for his/her own actions,
Provide a closely supervised framework of daily activities that clearly defines the limits of what the youth can and cannot do,
Provide a strong role model to the youth,
Provide logical, reasonable, proportional consequences for failure to meet responsibilities,
Develop a relationship with the youth as a person, based on positive regard, and,
Teach the principles of rational thinking.

Values of Working with a Youth

We provide the youth with a well-supervised, supportive, stable and safe living environment.
We seek to assist the youth in changing behaviors that interfere with success at home, school, and community.
We believe the best way to change behavior is to reinforce the youth’s strengths and recognize their efforts.
We think consequences for negative behavior should be immediate, well specified, brief, and delivered without anger or violence.
We attempt to separate the youth from negative peers and help him/her develop new skills including recreational hobbies and interests.

Values of Working with the Youth’s Family

We acknowledge the potential of the youth’s family resource to provide guidance and support for their youth’s positive behavioral changes.
We respect the family relationship and whenever possible attempt to support and promote it.
We know communication with family members is essential to the effectiveness of our work with the youth. Program staff is available to family members during business hours for questions, consultation and support.

Values of Working with the Proctor Parents

Proctor parents are the primary facilitators of the behavioral modification plan and socialization for the youth in our program. The central role and the daily influence of the proctor parents on the child are key aspects in the youth’s service plan. We work very hard to establish and maintain a collaborative and supportive relationship with them and continuously include the proctor parents’ concerns and input into the youth’s service plan. We build on the strengths of the proctor parents and provide constructive feedback to help them improve their therapeutic effectiveness.

If you are a Proctor Home for Polk County Youth Programs, you will sign a Personal Service Contract with Polk County and up to two youth may be placed in your home. Payment for services provided each month is disbursed on the last working day of each month.

As a Proctor Parent, any money you receive from Polk County Youth Programs is tax exempt (you pay no taxes on it).

Payment is based on a full month. If a youth is not in Program for the full month, the payment will be prorated to a daily rate. The payment is paid from two different accounts. The first is identified as a “Difficulty of Care” payment. This is the payment that is for you as the Proctor Parent. The second is identified as “Maintenance.” This money is to be used for the maintenance of the youth in your home.

Contracted Proctor Homes

Currently, we pay our beginning contracted Proctor Parents the following:

For each youth placed in your home:
$700.00 “difficulty of care” payment
$450.00 – maintenance: full month Maintenance Covers:

room and board (includes toiletries for daily hygiene needs)
clothing - $60.00*
allowance for youth - $31.00
incidentals – $39.00* (school fees and supplies, sports fees, specially scheduled Program activities, special grooming items requested by youth (specific shampoo, cosmetics, etc.), transportation (bus tickets, etc.), any unexpected needs.)

* There may be times that a youth is not in need of clothing and items such as a backpack can be purchased from the clothing allowance fund. Or the reverse, if a youth needs all of the clothing money, the backpack would come out of incidentals.

Respite Homes

If you were not interested in being a full time Proctor Parent, our programs also need Respite Homes. These homes provide back-up for our regular homes when they have requested time off. Normally the request is for a weekend, although there may be times they request a more extended time off. Our Respite Homes are not contracted to the Program and therefore are not obligated to be available 24 hours a day. You are not obligated to do Respite if you have other plans.

Payment is processed when the Billing Statement is received and the payment process is started. Payment for each youth is as follows:

For each youth placed in your home:
$35.00 payment for one day (12+ hours)
If less than 12 hours, payment is then $3.00 per hour.

PLUS $6.50 per day (24 hours) maintenance from the Proctor Parent you are providing respite for broken down as follows: