EVIDENCE-BASED, TRAUMA-INFORMEDSupport Services for Families

At The Children’s Institute, we believe strong families are at the heart of healthy communities. Our dedicated team provides a wide array of family support services (formerly Project STAR Pittsburgh) to help families and children grow stronger, from prevention and reunification services to care coordination services. All of our programs are built around the idea of permanency — supporting safe, nurturing, and lasting families — and putting the health and safety of the child first.

County-Referred
With the primary goal of keeping each child safely with their birth family, our In-Home Family Services team provides evidence-based, trauma-informed services to preserve families at risk of having a child removed from the home and to reunify families who have had a child removed. Our experienced team accepts referrals for a range of services, including:

• Preservation and reunification services
• In-home, intensive family support
• Individualized care to meet family needs

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When children have been removed from their parents’ custody, our Visit Coaching program works to unite the family sooner and more safely. Using an evidence-based, trauma-informed approach, our compassionate and dedicated team empowers parents with the tools and resources they need to succeed. Using proven strategies, our team works toward:

• More normalized family time 
• Increased flexibility of visits
• Improved parent/child interaction
• Reduced time in foster care 
• Faster family reunification 

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County-Referred, except for Post-Permanency
As a State Wide Adoption Network (SWAN) affiliate, we bring more than a decade of experience to providing individualized, trauma-informed permanency services to both children in the child welfare system and the families who care for them. Our services include:

• Child Profile
• Child Preparation 
• Child Specific Recruitment
• Family Profile
• Finalization 
• Older Child Matching Initiative
• Post-Adoption Contact Agreement (PACA)
• Placement
• Post-Permanency

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County-Referred
Our community’s youngest members are also among our most vulnerable. That’s why when families with children under the age of 3 (or who are expecting), experience challenges that threaten their ability to remain intact, our Infant Parent Empowerment Program provides our most intensive, evidence-based support services. We accept referrals for a wide array of services, including:

• Prevention and reunification services 
• In-home, intensive family support
• Individual and group sessions
• Plan of Safe Care development

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Teaming Together for Teens is a 12-16-week program providing family preservation, reunification, and prevention services. The goal is to strengthen and improve parents' connection to their teenage children and for parents to learn about different types of parenting strategies.

• Evidence-based Teen Triple P Parenting Curriculum
• Connection to Community and natural supports
• Transportation assistance to appointments
• A focus on mental and emotional wellness