Wayfinder Family Services

Foster Care and Adoption: Wayfinder's statewide Foster Care and Adoption programs match children and youth who have been displaced from their homes due to abuse or neglect with families that can provide safe, caring homes. Wayfinder recruits, trains and certifies resource (foster) families, some of whom ultimately adopt the children they foster. Also, Wayfinder offers therapeutic adoption support that includes case management, mental health therapy and mentoring to children and their adoptive families during and after adoption to promote stability and permanency.

Group Homes for Children and Adults: Wayfinder operates five Group Homes in single-family homes, each housing up to six children or six young adults with multiple disabilities. Residents receive round-the-clock care. All group homes are conveniently located in the South Los Angeles neighborhood near the Wayfinder campus so that young residents can attend the Special Education School, use Wayfinder's recreational facilities or receive care from the 24-hour medical center.

Temporary Shelter Care Program, also known as The Cottage, is a 10-day shelter on our Los Angeles campus for children, ages 0 through 17, who have just been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. These children need temporary refuge until they can be placed with family members or foster families. Our professional staff stabilize children in crisis so they are ready to transition into placement. Wayfinder is one of only four agencies selected by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services to provide this service - and the only one that accepts infants and toddlers.

Mental Health Services: Wayfinder offers therapy to children, youth, adults and families in our programs, including traumatized foster youth in The Cottage. Wayfinder remains one of only a handful of organizations in the state that offers mental health services to people with disabilities. Our counselors help clients build skills to cope with vision loss, traumatic experiences, unstable environments, abuse, neglect and more. Wayfinder's community mental health program assist residents in need in Los Angeles, Butte and Shasta counties. Our mental health care in the community is focused on preventative services to help build resilient individuals and families.

Transition Services: Wayfinder's Transition Services enable teenagers and young adults who are blind or visually impaired to explore careers and successfully transition to independent living, college or the workforce. The program offers virtual trainings, quarterly weekend workshops, and a four-week, in-person summer program in classrooms and dorms on the Cal State Los Angeles campus to increase workforce readiness and academic preparation.

Camp and Recreation: Camp Bloomfield provides children and youth who are blind, visually impaired or multi-disabled with memorable experiences in the outdoors. The camp program offers activities adapted for children of all ages and abilities that develop self-esteem and build independence. Also, Wayfinder offers sports, recreation and outdoor adventures that are adapted for child and teens with disabilities.

Adult Services: Davidson Program for Independence on Wayfinder's Los Angeles campus and the Hatlen Center for the Blind in San Pablo in Northern California are comprehensive residential rehabilitation programs for adults ages 18 and older who are blind or visually impaired, many with recent vision loss. Participants learn assistive technology, orientation and mobility (white cane and safe travel), braille, and independent living skills so they can successfully transition to education or employment and enjoy productive, fulfilling lives.

Strategic Initiatives: Initiative funds are used as seed funds for new programs or for the expansion of existing program. This year, initiative funds supported merger integration work, statewide impact efforts, data driven technology enhancements, and research of new funding opportunities.

Special Education School: Wayfinder's Special Education School offers children and youth, ages 5 to 22, who have multiple disabilities, including vision loss, a safe, positive environment for learning and growth. In the least restrictive environment in our state-certified, non-public school, teachers develop students' communication, mobility and independent living skills.

Child Development Services: Wayfinder's statewide Child Development Services provide in-home early intervention services to children with vision loss or multiple disabilities, ages birth to 6. Young children maximize any vision they have and reduce developmental delays. Parents learn to provide their child with therapeutic stimulation and to advocate for their child's education and care.

Public Education Program: Through public education, Wayfinder informs and educates students, families and professionals about important issues surrounding disabilities and child welfare.

Kinship Support Services Program: Wayfinder provides Kinship Support for grandparents and other relatives who step up to raise children so they avoid the trauma of separation from their birth family. The program also assists kinship families that form voluntarily, without the assistance of a child welfare agency. Our program offers counseling, assistance with basic needs, support groups and workshops, respite resources and more. Kinship families are more stable, and children maintain their family connections, which produces better long-term outcomes. Our Family Finding services search exhaustively for relatives or people close to children in foster care so they can establish supportive connections. "Upfront family finding" strives to locate relatives or family friends soon after a child is removed from the home, rather than the older model of finding connections when a youth is in danger of leaving foster care without family connections. Upfront family finding increases the likelihood of permanency for a child with a family member or maintains connections to siblings and extended family. Other small programs include Promoting Safe and Stable Families and Child and Family Development provide counseling and support services to prevent at-risk children from entering foster care. Parents whose children are in foster care receive Supervised Visitation and Coaching services to strengthen parenting and sustain family ties.