
The Cost Of An Underfunded Mental Health System
Fighting to end mental health stigma has been a career goal for the last twenty years, so why does it feel bad as we progress?
Strong families are the foundation of strong communities. To help stabilize our community’s foundation, we are committed to improving the well-being of families and children by providing a strong framework of services helping them heal, have hope and thrive — all critical threads in the fabric of a strong community.
Since 1994, SAFY of South Carolina has cared for families and children, providing a brighter today and strength for them to carry throughout their lifetime. We’ve built our reputation on delivering clinical services that produce positive outcomes for families and children in South Carolina. Our impact on the individuals we serve in Family Preservation, Therapeutic Foster Care, and Behavioral Health programs continue to build resiliency throughout our communities.
Our Therapeutic Foster Care (TFC) services provide a stable home environment with families who care for and believe any child or teen can achieve their full potential. Utilizing a team of highly-qualified treatment foster homes, we support each youth’s greatest needs. Our foster families are equipped with tools such as parental skill building and behavioral coping skills to ensure each child’s physical and emotional well-being needs are met. Our foster parents serve as Agents of Hope, a mentoring bridge between youth and their biological or adoptive family, securing the child’s future.
Our Behavioral Health services provide dynamic, effective mental health treatment for children and families who have endured trauma, reducing stays in placements such as foster care, residential treatment and juvenile detention. Our services are aimed at mitigating the youth and family’s trauma experience, helping individuals build the skills and support to engage in their community.
In partnership with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, we offer quarterly one-day trainings on caring for children with a mental health diagnosis. Trainings are open to the public and available to biological, foster, kinship, grandparents and other individuals who are significant in the lives of children with mental health needs. The training is aimed at increasing caregivers’ knowledge and understanding of behaviors related to a child’s mental health diagnosis and providing appropriate parenting techniques and strategies. To support caregivers’ success, one-on-one booster sessions are provided with a parenting coach for caregivers who have completed the one-day training.
The storms of life can threaten the stability of any family’s foundation. Our In-home Family Preservation and Reunification services put families on a path to creating and maintaining a safe, healthy and sustainable environment for every member. We work to help families overcome short-term barriers which can threaten the stability of the family structure.
Our Strengthening Families Program is funded by Children’s Trust of South Carolina to provide a course of fourteen sessions for parents and children ages 6-11. Our clinical staff work with families to:
Fighting to end mental health stigma has been a career goal for the last twenty years, so why does it feel bad as we progress?
by Veronica Farris, SAFY Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer Ms. Farris also chairs SAFY’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, a team dedicated to building
“Home for the holidays” is a phrase that brings up images of nostalgia, warm holiday decorations, and families gathered around a cozy fire. It’s warm