EPIC Therapy Project
Developed in 2014, the EPIC Therapeutic Approach model provides client-centered, trauma-informed therapy to children in crisis and their foster, adoptive, and biological families. Based on research in trauma-informed care and innovative therapeutic models, EPIC equips families with tools to tackle mental and emotional trauma and create lasting change. Our client-centered therapeutic model focuses on the Emotional (E), Physical (P), Intellectual (I), and Character (C) needs of children who have experienced trauma as a result of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. EPIC utilizes methods that assist children holistically and address root issues of attachment, social competency with peers, language, and self-regulation.
EPIC is based on cutting edge, evidence-based research in the field of child development, as well as the Trust-Based Relational Intervention® Model (TBRI) developed by Texas Christian University’s Institute of Child Development.
On average, over 250,000 children in the United States are removed from their homes due to abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Only a third of these children are placed in the homes of relatives, leaving the remaining to await placement in unfamiliar, overcrowded places, such as group homes and institutions, where mental and emotional trauma are likely to develop. Studies show children in foster care are twice more likely to suffer from PTSD than a U.S. war veteran and tend to suffer from high rates of depression and low self-esteem. Children in foster care are also 16 times more likely to have a psychiatric diagnoses and utilize psychiatric services eight times greater than their counterparts from similar socioeconomic backgrounds. This causes an array of educational, social, emotional, and mental health challenges that have a profound impact on a child’s future.
1b. 4KIDS Amount $50,000
Foster Family Recruitment and Family Advocacy Ministry Foster Family Recruitment and Family Advocacy Ministry are key elements in what we do. Recruiting, licensing and training stable, dedicated foster families to do this work is an ongoing need. Even with all our foster homes, we currently have a 4 year old and 8 year old sibling set in a shelter waiting for a loving, caring, equipped foster family. 4KIDS spends a great deal of time looking for nurturing foster parents, training them and supporting them through their journey. The FAM, Family Advocacy Ministry is an effort to engage the faith based community in creating support groups in neighborhoods near each foster family. These FAM teams drop off meals, help with birthday parties, gather items that are needed like strollers, car seats, etc. They wrap around each family with loving support to help them in their fostering experience. It encourages these families when times are tough and members of the community receive great joy in supporting families in their own backyards.
