DePelchin has opened two residential programs for older children and teenagers — a critical population that can often be difficult to place in foster care.
The two new programs will be at DePelchin’s Today’s Harbor Campus in LaPorte, Texas. DePelchin has been preparing to open the programs since last year, when it assumed the assets of Today’s Harbor for Children, a longtime child-serving organization serving at-risk children and youth.
The Pregnant and Parenting Teen Program is a special and safe place for pregnant and parenting foster youth who are between 12 and 18 years old. Our highly trained and professional staff will guide our teen mothers through building relationships with their babies with the goal of ensuring health, stability, and safety for both the mother and her child(ren).
The Transitional Living Program provides a safe place for at-risk youth who are between 14 and 18 years old and aging out of foster care. The program is designed to assist youth who cannot reunify with their birth families, and who have decided that adoption is not an option for them. Our goal is to work with these young adults to prepare them for independence. Through this program, residents develop the coping methods, internal control, and social skills needed to function independently now and in the future.
With around-the-clock staff support, residents of DePelchin’s Today’s Harbor Campus will receive education, skills training, mental health services, and guidance in independent living.
“There is a major need for high-quality services for older youth in foster care,” said Jenifer Jarriel, DePelchin President and CEO. “These new programs represent a direct response to that need. We are grateful to the supporters who have made this expansion of our services possible, the staff who have worked diligently to prepare the Today’s Harbor campus, and the LaPorte community that has welcomed us so warmly.”
