Service Plan
Texas Pythian Home is available to help families in crises who need temporary short term or long term care for their children. Placement can only be made by the managing conservator. Open CPS cases are not eligible but we can provide placement before CPS removal depending on the circumstances.
Any family that is unable to care for and provide the basic needs for their children are eligible to apply for placement. An application must be filled out and the children’s shot records and a current physical must be included. The Child Care Director will then schedule an interview with the conservator to determine eligibility.
The Child Care Director takes the information on the application along with information taken during the interview process to determine if the Home will be a solution for the family’s immediate need. Texas Pythian Home policy requires that the children be placed for a minimum of six months to give the family enough time to establish a plan of action for the future.
Once the children are placed there is a six week probationary period during which the children do not have contact with the family. This allows the children to adjust to the rules and regulations of the Home and to the staff who enforce the rules and regulations.
There are separate boy’s and girl’s dormitories that are roomy, comfortable and “homey”. The children will live in the dormitories with a married couple called Direct Care Staff. The role of the Direct Care Staff is to provide consistency, nurturing, discipline, and counsel. The staff will work with the children and the Child Care Director during the first 30 days to develop a plan of service that is individualized for each child. The plan will consist of short and long term goals to work on with the child in five areas: family, social, educational, emotional and physical. The Childcare Director will review the plan every six months with the managing conservator.
The Pythian Home children attend Weatherford public schools and are required to maintain passing grades. The Child Care Director and staff all work closely with the school district to ensure that every child is working to their potential. The Home provides tutoring for children who may extra help. A no pass, no play rule is enforced at the Home as well as the school. Children cannot participate in extra-curricular activities if they fail a class. They are restricted to campus until the next report card is issued with passing grades. Texas Pythian Home believes that a good education is the foundation of a successful life.
The children are encouraged to participate in extra curricular activities such as soccer, football, baseball, band, choir, basketball, boy or girl scouts, ballet and 4-H, etc. Our goal is to provide a happy and memorable childhood filled with social opportunities.
On the second weekend of each month the children will spend the weekend with a sponsor family. Sponsor families are an extension of the Home and have gone through a thorough background check. The child will be assigned to the same sponsor family during the duration of their stay at the Home. This gives the child exposure to a role model of what family life is all about and helps them develop friendships outside the Home environment.
On the fourth weekend of each month the children go home with their own families as long as there is a suitable place for them to stay. It is important for the children to remain in contact with the family working to have them return home. The family may also visit every other Sunday that the children are at the Home. Families are asked to schedule visits in advance.
Texas Pythian Home is here to meet the individual needs of every child in our care. While they live at the Home they are provided for in every way: housing, medical needs, dental needs, nutritious food, clothing, social opportunities, physical, spiritual, extra curricular opportunities, emotional support, structure, discipline, guidance and nurturing.
Once placed in our care, children may live at the Home for as long as they need to all the way through college age if they have no where else to go. The Home will help find scholarships for any student who wants to attend college and continue living here until they graduate.
Texas Pythian Home does not handle adoptions. The children who live here do have families and the ultimate goal is to reunite them with their family once the conservator has their life back in order and are able to provide for their children once again.
