What is Enterphase?
Enterphase is made up of a bunch of people who all work together to help kids. Kids at Enterphase are there mostly because difficult things have happened to them in their lives. It was not their fault, but it might have effected them and made things harder for them. To help kids with these kinds of problems, Enterphase has residences (houses) where kids can live when they can’t live at home, and classrooms for kids who may be having problems at school.
Some kids need a place to live and a classroom, while other kids may just need a place to live and may go to a community school. The Enterphase houses or residences are long term homes. That means kids can stay as long as they need to.
It is important that every kid feel safe. When kids feel safe, they can focus on other things that are more fun or on things that needs to be talked about to help them. So, there is an important rule in all homes and class-rooms about violence. Violence is when people use their words or their bodies to hurt other people.
So, no violence is allowed, whether that is verbal violence (with words) or physical violence (with body). This is taken very seriously by ‘staff’, who are the adults that help kids in the homes.
SO, WHAT CAN YOU DO AT ENTERPHASE?
It is important to the people at Enterphase that each kid has a plan that fits them and is good for them. This is called individual house planning. So, each kid’s plan will look the same in some ways and look different in some ways. Some kids may want to do sports, some art or music and some may want to be in scouting. Each plan is different because each kid is different.
Your individual house plan can change too, and that is okay. Kids like to try new things and have new experiences and the staff at Enterphase support that. Visits and phone calls with your family are also part of your individual house plan.
Your plan might also include having a therapist. That’s an adult that is trained to help kids through talking or playing.
MEETINGS THAT ARE ABOUT YOU
It is important that when decisions are made for the kids at Enterphase, that the decision is good for the kid. So, all decisions about a kid’s individual house plan are made as a team and nothing is done unless it is done in a planned and organized way. Plans are not made at the last minute, and decisions are made at Plan of Care Meetings. A Plan of Care Meeting is a meeting that is about you and how things have gone for you during that period of time. There is a plan of care meeting every month for six months and then one meeting every three months after that. It is at these meetings that your individual house plan is made.
To help make a plan that will be good for you, we have people attend that are important to you. These people make up your Family Team. This might include family members, your Social Worker, your Therapist and even friends and or teachers that are important to you. You get to have some say as to who attends.
Each kid at Enterphase has an assess-ment done to help the adults in making good decisions for that kid. An assessment is done with you and a Psychologist. Your assessment will be explained to you by the Psychologist.
TIME TO GO TO SCHOOL
For kids who are having trouble in school, Enterphase has some classrooms that can help. These classrooms have only a few kids in them. There is not usually more then 10 kids in the class. There are also more adults that can help. Usually there is a teacher and staff to help the kids with their school work, as well as help the kids with life skills.
Life Skills are skills that you can learn to help you get along better with other kids and adults. Some of these skills might include anger management, problem solving, and learning how to make good decisions.
Kids in the Enterphase classrooms work at their own level and could move to a regular school program if this is a good plan for that kid.
SO,WHAT DID YOU LEARN?
You learned that Enterphase Child and Family Services is an agency with adults that helps kids. There are homes for kids to live in and these homes are safe places. Kids can live there for as long as they need to or for as long as it is good for them.
In Enterphase, kids can do lots of different activities and try new things. There are Plan of Care meetings where Individual House Plans are made for each kid. Plans and changes to plans are made at these meetings with your Family Team. Kids also get assessed so that the adults can make good decisions for them.
A school plan will be put in place that will work best for kids. And you get to see and visit the home before you move in. You would come for a visit with your social worker to make the move as comfortable as it can be.