This article is more for administrators than houseparents, unless you know your facility is looking for case/information management software in which case pass this on to your administration.

Measuring outcomes, keeping records and managing the piles of information that has to be reported to social workers, licensing agencies and even board members is becoming more and more important in modern residential care.  Many agencies are discovering the flat paper file is not the best way to manage information and are turning to computer based systems.

I have been helping my agency look at different systems and have looked at some very good ones.  However, the problem with most of them was that they are so far out of our agencies budget we will never be able to implement any of them.  I am pretty sure there are other agencies out there like ours that can’t afford many of those systems.  The good thing for us and for them is that there may be an alternative. 

Back in 2005 I posted about an Open Source Case Management System called Freemed-YiRC, yesterday the developer of that package released a new updated version.

Freemed-YiRC is a software project which provides a fully-integrated, web-based, secure, modular, and customizable web-based product capable of providing Child Caring/Residential Care/Foster Care agencies with a fully functional internal case management/information management system.

Freemed-YiRC is FREE/OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE.

• The software/source code is freely available for download from the FMYiRC site.
• Freemed-YiRC is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL)
  • In short, the GPL states that you are allowed to freely download, use, copy, and modify this software.

I am still fairly early in my research of this system and there is a lot I still don’t know so there isn’t a lot of information I can give.  However, there is a great deal of documentation as well as a live demo available on their website.  For those facilities that don’t have the technical expertise to implement it themselves or need modifications done the publisher is available for consultation and programing.  He can be contacted through the website.

ComputerTime™ is parental-control software for Microsoft Windows that lets parents set limits on the amount of time and the time of day when their children can use the computer. SoftwareTime believes that the computer is an amazing tool for children, both for educational and social purposes. However, children need to have reasonable limits set for them, and that’s what ComputerTime allows you to do, quickly and easily. Parents no longer have to keep track of the time their children spend on the computer, ComputerTime does that for them. It takes just a few minutes to set limits for each child. ComputerTime gives back to parents the control they need over computer use.

I have used ComputerTime in my cottage as well as personally in my home for over 5 years.  It has been the best program I have found to control the amount of time our children spend on the computer.  Most other parental controls control the times your children can be on the computer, this program does that but also controls the AMOUNT of time your children can spend on the computer. 

Features Include:

• Limit the amount of time in a day, week, or month (or combinations of these limits)
• Set specific times during the day when the computer may be used
• Allow only a certain amount of time on the computer at one sitting
• Disable the use of the computer entirely
• Alternate Limits – Set different limits for things like vacation week, or as a punishment
• Time Tokens – Provide additional time, without changing settings, as incentive or reward. The token can be provided from anywhere, even over the phone
• Can be use by any number of children in the household on the computer
• Automatic updates over the Web
• Password protected
• Different time limits for weekdays and weekends, or even individual days

We have started using version 3 at our facility and the fact that it works on networked computers is a great feature.  Set one time limit and it doesn’t matter what computer your children log into, their time is deducted from that one limit.  No need for separate time limits on separate computers. 

For families, you can purchase a single license for $39.95, or get a family pack to cover all the computers in your home (up to 5) for $49.95.  For those that would be purchasing it for their facility, I recommend contacting the publisher at info@softwaretime.com for site pricing, otherwise the cost is $39.95 per license.

Get more information about ComputerTime by visiting their website @ www.softwaretime.com.

The final facility from my Mother-in-law was in the hospital tour is McCrossan Boys Ranch in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  I didn’t get a chance to visit the facility and had to shoot the pictures from the interstate, so there is not a lot that I know about it.  They have never advertised job openings with me, though they do advertise openings on their website.

From what I can tell from their website, they are a therapeutic facility that uses shift workers, so this may be a good option for singles and individuals.  The Sioux Falls area is nice and offers a great deal of outdoor opportunities.  However, from my experience from living in that part of the country the winters can be very brutal.  You can visit their website at: www.mccrossan.org.

This is their ranch sign with a sizable herd of horses in the background.

I believe this to be a barn or indoor arena.

Because of time restrictions, I only had time to take pictures from the interstate so I don't know what this building is.

Because of time restrictions, I only had time to take pictures from the interstate so I don't know what this building is.

 Unfortunately I will have to make another trip out west here in the very near future because my mom is dying from brain and lung cancer.  I will be passing some more facilities during that trip and will post pictures when I get back.

Another stop on my Mother-in-law was in the hospital tour was St Joseph Indian School in Chamberlain, SD.  Actually it was kind of on accident that I ended up visiting there but I am really glad I did.  We were on our way home traveling East on I-90 and I saw signs for the Lakota Museum.  I thought my wife would enjoy the museum and we had been traveling for a while so we decided stop.  I knew that St Joseph was in Chamberlain but I didn’t know the Museum and School were one in the same until I got there.

The Museum was very nice, though I wish I could have taken pictures (photography is not allowed in the museum).  The displays are very informational and well prepared, and the admissions price can’t be beat because it is free.  The gift shop has some nice stuff, some of which we brought home with us.

We were in a hurry to get home so we couldn’t spend a lot of time visiting but I did take some time to take pictures of some of the facilities, which appear to be top notch.  You can find out more information about the school by checking out the job listings section of the website or visiting their website @ www.stjo.org.

The School main building.

A statue outside the front gate

The Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center

The St. Joseph Indian School Chapel

One of the Dormitories on Campus

The Freimann Health Care Center

 I was just wondering if you knew how hard it is to become a houseparent? I know it would be pretty demanding to be one, but I was wondering what the requirements usually are, like how much experience you need. Would there be any chance of a single 21 year old getting a job or do most places want older people? And if you were single, would you have to do relief work, or could you actually be in charge (or partly in charge) of a cottage? Rebecca B.

Mike’s Response

The requirements to be a houseparent vary greatly by facility.   All that I know of require at least a High School Diploma or GED however, some facilities require a college degree. All require that you be at least 21 years old, many require that you be 23 or 25 because of insurance issues.  Most require that you be able to drive, so that you can take children to their appointments.  Some require that you pass extensive training before you start working others will turn you loose with no training.  It just depends on the facility and the State the facility is located in.

As a general rule, in most live in facilities, singles work as assistants and relief staff, however that is not always the case.  Some facilities will pair up singles into teams that serve as primary houseparents.  I know of a facility in Florida where most of the staff is single males.  Another option for singles is to work in facilities that do shift work.  All the staff work as one team and it doesn’t matter if you are single or not.

And yes being a houseparent is one of the most demanding jobs I have ever had, but it also has been one of the most rewarding.  I have had the opportunity to travel around the country and work in different facilities as I explored our country.  I have also made some outstanding friends with the various staff members I have worked with.  But most importantly, I was able to make a difference in the lives of many children, some that I continue a relationship with today, years after they or I have left the facility. 

If you really want to be a houseparent or residential childcare work, chances are pretty good that there is a facility out there that could use you.

 My husband and I just became houseparents this past Sunday! All is going well, except for some issues with one 4 year old girl. She has been at this facility since she was 1. She is believed to have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and there is some sexual abuse in her past. The biggest problem we are having with her is bedtime. She goes into a total temper tantrum every night and naptime. She will tense up and we have to carry her to bed, kicking and screaming. Then there’s the hour long pattern of her getting out of bed and us repeating the whole thing over again. She is actually a very sweet girl the rest of the time. Any advice on how to handle this? I really want her to feel comfortable at night. We have a good bedtime routine of baths, Bible, songs, etc. But it’s still not working
Thanks!
nogreaterluv

Mike’s Response

It all boils down to two things:  Consistency and Time.  Let me answer your question with a story.

Several years ago we had a young lady that came to live with us.  She had just had her first birthday and was completely hand spoiled.  She never had a bed time and was just allowed to go to sleep when she chose.  Our fist night with her was horrible and after about two hours of screaming, my wife got her out of bed and spent the next two hours rocking her to sleep.  The next night was a repeat of the first. 

I convinced my wife that we needed to let her stay in bed until she finally went to sleep and get her in a routine of having a bedtime.  She wasn’t very good at listening to her cry and wasn’t looking forward to it at all.  Fortunately for us we were on relief when she arrived and came to stay with us in the relief apartment.  We had four days until we had to go back to the cottage so I had four days to work through this.  (Side note it didn’t happen in four days, but)  The next evening I sent my wife and birth children to the movie and stayed home with our young lady to put her to bed.

Before my wife left she gave her a bath, and got her ready for bed.  I then spent some time rocking and snuggling with her.  Then we went back to the room where her bed was set up.  I spent a few more minutes holding her and then laid her in bed.  She immediately started crying and throwing a fit.  It continued for over four hours.  I would come back and check on her and find her standing up in her crib screaming.  I would then lay her back down, say good night and walk back out of the room.  I tried not to go into the room too often, but if she saw me checking on her I didn’t want her to think I was going to get her up.  She finally went to sleep, but it turned out that the movie wasn’t near long enough, my wife still had to listen to her scream for an hour or so.

For the next few nights it was almost a repeat of the previous night.  When we went back to the cottage it would still go on for over two hours every night.  After a couple of weeks we had it down to about an hour and after about a month it was down to ten or fifteen minutes.  She was only with us for about 5 months, but even on the night before she left, we would go through our normal routine with bath, pajamas, snuggling and rocking, and finally our final snuggle in her room before I laid her down for bed.  In which case she would cry for two or three minutes and then go to sleep.

That whole time we, mostly me, remained patient and just remained consistent.  We did bed time the same every night and it eventually got easier.  Through the process that young lady stole my heart and I still find it hard to describe my love for her without chocking up, but getting her into a bedtime routine was extremely difficult and time consuming.

You just have to stay patient and consistent.

 If anybody has any other ideas or you would like to add something, just register and add your comments.

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Traveling further east on Interstate 94 right after you cross the border into North Dakota you will find “Home on the Range”.  They have advertised positions in the past on The Houseparent Network, but hire most of their staff locally.  They are a shift work facility that does NOT have any live in positions that I know of.  It is a very nice place and they have a great program director.  You can visit their website at http://www.gohotr.org.  My only recommendation is if you need gas buy it in Glendive, MT or Medora, ND it is at least 10 cents a gallon less than in Beach, ND the nearest town to HOTR.

A panoramic view of the ranch

This is the original building at Home on the Range

Their newest dorm is for Girls

One of the Boy's Dorms

Ranch and Maintenance Buildings

You may have noticed that I have started posting pictures and a small write up about facilities I come across in my travels.  There is no way I can find them all on my own, however I would be happy to post your pictures of your facility.  I can’t pay you any money for them, but I would be happy to give a link to your facility’s website when I post them.  Hope you will send me some.

Another facility we stopped by on our Mother-in-Law in the hospital tour was Yellowstone Boys & Girls Ranch in Billings, MT.  When we worked at the group home in Cody, WY we had several youth that came to our facility to transition home from YBGR.  They are a shift work facility and I don’t think they have any live in houseparents.  They have also never advertised openings here on The Houseparent Network but they do advertise openings on their website.  I wasn’t able to stay long and get many good pictures but they have some very good ones on their website:  www.ybgr.org

 My husband and I are looking in to becoming houseparents in south Texas. My husband has been a school teacher in Texas for 25 years. He was also a youth minister part time. We have 2 grown sons and a 12 year old son that I am homeschooling now. My parents are so against us pursuing this because they are afraid something will happen real bad to our son. I understand there concerns, but I want to at least go to the home and check it out. Any advice on things to look for in the home to make my parents feel better. My son is my number 1 concern, but i see it as more of a positive thing than a danger. Thank you for anything you can say to help us.

Thanks,
godlives38

Mike’s Response

Convincing the family can sometimes be difficult.  When we became houseparents we had friends that thought we were joining some kind of cult. 

We have been houseparents for 14 years so my children have grown up in residential care and for the most part it has been a positive experience for them.  My daughter has caught the bug and wants to go a step further and work in children’s homes in Mexico.

Before giving you some advice about convincing the family let me share some advice about the facility you should look at if you are going into this with children.  You want to find a facility this is strictly a residential foster care or basic care facility.  I would avoid any type of therapeutic facility.  The behaviors that have to be dealt with in those facilities are just too much to expose your children to.  We worked our first to years in a group home that had mostly juvenile delinquents, and although we learned a ton about being a houseparent, we also exposed our kids to some pretty bad stuff.  The day the young lady that was coming down off of a meth high threatened to slash my children’s throats with her broken mirror was the day I realized it was time to do something different.

We have spent the last 12 years (11 at one place) working in homes that were basically residential foster care. Our children have never been assaulted or abused, though it’s not all roses either.  They will be living with children that have street experience and have some behaviors that they otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to, at least  in the home, if they were not living with them.  Our son learned to smoke, and took on some of the behaviors of the less compliant children in the home like: drinking, sneaking out, and skipping school.

I’m probably not helping your case much so far, but on a more positive note.  We have built relationships with two children we have cared for that will continue for the rest of our lives, they now consider us their parents and our children their siblings.  Our children were to able to experience recreational activities that we never could have provided for them if we were not houseparents:  Camps, amusement parks, fishing trips, etc.  We as parents were able to spend more time with our children.  Though they had to share us with 8-10 other kids, we were there for all their school stuff and they never had to come home to an empty house because their parents were at work somewhere.

There is a whole category in the “forum archive” devoted to staff/birth children that will give you a lot more information and should be helpful.  http://houseparent.net/NewForumArchive/?cat=6  Many of the posts deal directly with this subject.

  If anybody has any other ideas or you would like to add something, just register and add your comments.

If you would like to ask your own question CLICK HERE to go the submission form.