Exploring Intensive In-Home Services: Empowering Families in Crisis

Any number of life circumstances may plunge a family into a time of crisis, and when serious situations arise, Intensive In-Home Services can provide concentrated, stabilizing, all-around supportive care for families and children in need. As the name suggests, Intensive In-Home Services is intensive, trauma-informed therapeutic care that is provided by therapists in the home for children from infant age to 18-years-old. The frequency, intensity, and duration of the care will be determined by the child’s needs, each agency’s program, the family’s treatment plan, and the progress experienced. Typically, Intensive In-Home Services last six to nine months and may be several days a week for one or more hours.

What makes Intensive In-Home Services unique?

Intensive In-Home care is a family approach, meaning direct involvement of key caretakers is considered paramount as they are the ones supporting the child on a daily basis. Services are typically provided “in the home” and in the child’s primary environment, although due to COVID-19 protocols, care may be administered virtually. 

Additionally, Intensive In-Home services are sometimes referred to as “wrap around services” because they may be provided by a state contracted agency within the child’s community or a therapeutic program. Often, certain therapeutic programs provide or offer In-Home Intensive care along with other therapeutic services such as crisis stabilization, family therapy, individual talk therapy, skills training, parent coaching and training, case management, and advocacy representation for the purpose of coordinating with other service providers in the community such as school, other therapists, providers, etc. 

Benefits of Intensive In-Home Services

The purpose of Intensive In-Home therapeutic care is essentially to encourage emotional stabilization, manage disruptive or unsafe behaviors, and improve overall family functionality. Other benefits of Intensive In-Home Services include:

• Promote a child’s healing and post-traumatic growth
• Help prevent out-of-home placement or re-entry into out-of-home placement. (Note: Sometimes before committing to out-of-home placement such as therapeutic boarding schools or residential treatment centers, there are other options, and in-home, intensive treatment is one example of these pre-emptive options.)
• Provides “step down” and transitional support for when children are being discharged from a psychiatric hospital program or residential treatment center.
• Prevents placement in foster care by acting as a family preservation service. 
• Facilitates family reunification support to families with children returning home from foster care. 

Find Intensive In-Home Services

Intensive In-Home Family care may or may not be covered by insurance, and many variables factor into coverage and out of pocket cost. There are also many different program options available, so it is important to research for what program format may be most compatible for you and your family’s needs. It is also important to seek references and reviews for each provider to determine a particular program’s effectiveness. 

Visit www.KidsTherapyFinder.com and search our directory to find an Intensive In-Home Service provider for your family and child today. If you need any help or have any questions, use our Contact Us feature.