enCircle / Lutheran Family Services of Virginia

Developmental Services: Encircle's community-based Services for people with developmental disabilities focus on quality care, with the goal of supporting meaningful life experiences in the setting of their choice. Our staff act as mentors and friends to help people attain their goals, while ensuring their health, safety, and medical needs are met. Our 15 group homes (in Virginia and west Virginia) provide around-the-clock support for women and men in comfortable, community-based houses. We also support adults living in their own homes through individualized in-home Services. Skilled nursing and therapeutic consultation Services are available to support clients in any setting to ensure their medical and behavioral needs are met. We also contract with and support more than 200 Family care providers, people who support adults with developmental disabilities living in their homes. To ensure people are integrated into their communities as fully as possible, we offer day support and community coaching programs as well. Our developmental Services are licensed through the Virginia department of behavioral health and developmental Services (dbhds) and the west Virginia office of health facility licensure and certification and are accredited through the commission on accreditation of rehabilitation Services (carf). During the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, we helped 320 adults with developmental disabilities lead more abundant lives.

Treatment foster care, adoption, and counseling Services: at Encircle, we wrap support around children in foster care who have experienced trauma to help them heal and find permanent Family connections. We are a licensed child placing agency through the Virginia department of social Services and our treatment foster care program is carfaccredited. We recruit and train adults in the richmond and tidewater regions who are eager to share their skills, strengths, courage, and "life firsts" with children in foster care. Many of the children we serve are teens, part of sibling groups, or have behavioral challenges or other special needs. In some cases, our foster families adopt children in their care, and in other cases, children return to birth families or other placements. Frequently, our foster parents provide long-term stability and connection for young people, which greatly increases their chances of becoming successful and contributing adults. Our highly trained staff also offer post-adoption case management for families who have adopted children either from foster care or through private agencies. We understand the unique and ongoing needs of families created through adoption. Finally, we also provide visit coaching to mentor families through visits with their children with the goal of reuniting parents with children in foster care. During the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, Encircle supported 17 children in foster care, and 2 children in care were adopted. We also supported 59 families through postadoption case management and 6 families through visit coaching. Encircle also provides outpatient mental health Services, which we call counseling. Encircle's experienced counselors offer a trauma-informed and integrative approach to individual and Family counseling. We conduct comprehensive assessments and highly individualized treatment. Our counselors are trained in trauma-focused treatment interventions for children, teens, young adults, adults, and families dealing with emotional and behavioral issues. Our clinicians offer in-person and virtual counseling options. In the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, Encircle clinicians served 188 people, including 7 military families.

Minnick schools: Encircle's minnick schools help students ages 5 to 22 who have experienced challenges in public schools reach their academic, behavioral, vocational, and developmental goals. Minnick schools, licensed by the Virginia department of education as private day schools and accredited through the Virginia association of independent special education facilities, are located in roanoke, harrisonburg, wytheville, wise, grundy, and bristol. We partner with more than 20 local school districts, which refer students to our schools, and work collaboratively with students' families. Our highly trained educational and support staff provide individualized instruction in small classrooms, incorporating the latest technology. We serve students with a wide range of disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum, to reach academic and behavioral milestones. Our goal for students is that they transition successfully back to public school, or in our vocational programs, to the work world. In the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, we served 248 students, 8 of whom successfully returned to public school and 5 of whom graduated with their high school degree.

Immigration and refugee Services: Encircle works to make our communities welcoming places for immigrants and refugees through our growing array of programs. Our bilingual staff assist immigrant children who arrive in the u.s. unaccompanied in reuniting with Family and sponsors in this country. We provide fingerprints and conduct home studies as part of the background check process for Family members and sponsors who are taking in an immigrant child to ensure their safety. Additionally, we provide case management for these children and their families for several months after reunification to ensure children who are relocating have their educational, health, legal, and other needs met. During the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, we fingerprinted 84 Family members and assisted 505 children and teens through our home study and post-release case management Services. We also provide transitional foster care in richmond for children who need a safe home while awaiting reunification with a sponsor, as well as long term foster care in tidewater for those children who cannot be reunited with their sponsor. In the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, 43 children were reunited with sponsors through our transitional foster care program. These programs are all provided in partnership with global refuge, formerly Lutheran immigration and refugee Services (lirs). We also provide counseling and other supportive Services for adult immigrants who are seeking asylum as they await immigration hearings. This program is provided in partnership with Lutheran social Services of the national capital area (lssnca). In the fiscal year ending june 30, 2024, our bilingual staff served 99 people.