Program Director: Sandra Hodge Executive Director: Richard Chapman Placement services provided by Juvenile Justice Center of Philadelphia Foster Care Services to School Aged Children (SSAC) Foster Care Services to School Aged Children is a foster care program that provides care and services to about 145 children aged from 6 years to 18 years, to their foster parents and to their natural families. Children are placed in the five county area and in New Jersey. Children referred to SSAC have either mild or moderate problems in their social, emotional, physical or intellectual development, and usually have complex natural family issues. SSAC focuses on counseling the child and supporting the foster parents while we work intensively with the natural family in order to resolve problems that necessitated placement and to achieve the goal of re-unification. In situations where this is not possible, adoption is pursued through our Adoption Department, or, for the older child, independent living may become the goal. Social workers provide a minimum of every other week counseling to the child, natural family and foster parents, and Home Coordinators also work with the latter. The use of community resources and our mental health clinic also play a large part in stabilizing and aiding the child's emotional growth to achieve the desired goals. Kinship Care SSAC also provides services to North Philadelphia families who are providing care to children from the extended family. If it were not for a grandparent or aunt, for example, these children would be in regular foster placements away from their own families. JJC screens and approves such homes as "kinship" homes and supplies counseling and supportive services to child and family. The family is visited every other week by a social worker and monthly by a home coordinator, to help secure a stable, long term home for the children and to help the parents cope in often quite stressful situations. JJC can provide kinship care services to about 30 children. Groupwork SSAC, in addition to regular one-on-one counseling, arranges various fun-focused groups to help our young people with socialization, independence and self-help skills, and in other interest areas. Examples of such groups have been a pre-teen group for females focused on health and life skills, a photography group, a group for male adolescents, and a cooking group. Tutoring Through fund-raising, we are able to obtain tutoring for some of our foster and kinship children. Many of our children are behind in basic skills such as math and reading. Through one-on-one help from a skilled tutor, our children have made rapid gains in learning and self-esteem. Referrals Call Joanne Petro at (215) 849-2112 ext. 5111 or fax your referral to her at (215) 849-0393