Foster Care Primary Medical Needs

About Primary Medical Needs

Pathways’ Adoption and Foster Care programs serve children who have been removed from their families due to abuse, neglect or an otherwise unsafe environment. Some of these children have medical needs and require special care and services. Pathways’ Primary Medical Needs Program exists to recruit, train, and support individuals and families who desire to open their home to nurture these children on a short or long-term basis.

The Purpose of PMN

The purpose of Primary Medical Needs (PMN) foster care is to enhance the quality of life for medically complex foster children – allowing them to develop to their fullest potential in a comfortable, home environment.

For too many of these children, the State is forced to place them in institutional facilities to manage their specialized medical needs. This institutional environment cannot supply the children’s need for love, emotional support, encouragement and hope, but our families can and do. It is the ‘nature of nurture’ our families provide that brings healing. PMN families care for foster children who cannot safely receive care in their own homes. They are in need of medically necessary services to be stable for care in a home setting.

Pathways’ dedicated PMN Treatment Director supervises the oversight and training of foster parents to provide services for children with medically complex needs.

“It was never our intention to foster special needs children, but once those babies came into our home, we realized it was our calling.”

What We Do

Contracted by the State of Texas, we recruit, train and support individuals and families who want to partner with us in creating a safe, nurturing environment for these children. We act as a support umbrella, advocate and liaison between our families and Child Protective Services.

Specific PMN services include:

  • Training Before and During Placement
  • Development of Treatment Plan
  • Ongoing Nursing Case Management
  • Coordination of In-Home Services
  • Liaison and Advocate for Family
“It brings you and your family closer together. It teaches your other children compassion and it can show you a part of yourself you did not know was there.”

About the Children

There are currently more than 20,000 children in the Texas foster care system; several hundred of which require some form of special care related to medical needs. The medical needs may be related to injury from abuse, neglect or conditions that were present at birth. Some of these conditions may be visible while others may not be readily apparent.

Looking beyond their diagnoses will allow you to see wonderful children who deserve safe and loving homes in which to develop to their full potential. Each child is unique, having their own smile, personality and special health care needs. Children with primary medical needs will usually require a combination of medications, treatments, equipment and/or services in the care of their conditions.

PMN Family Testimony

“To see Him work miracles in their lives that you know only He can do is the most rewarding experience of your life.”
“When we received her, I didn’t know she could not yet smile. It took about a month, but it was worth the wait! When a baby smiles at you an instant bond forms.”
“We saw a small fragile baby that suffered severe abuse and brain damage turn into a thriving, smart little boy.”
“We accepted him as if he were born to us and took it one day at a time. We knew there had to be a reason he was placed on our home.”
“We began caring for a very fragile little boy in 2003. He was 3 years old at that time and his life expectancy was 5 years. He will turn 10 in July and every day we are thankful that he is still with us.”
“I have done the very best I can to see that their medical needs are met in the best possible way, and to see them make tiny little improvements is all the reward I need to keep going.”
“I didn’t think that I had what it took to care for a child with special needs. What I forgot was that God would supply me with what I needed and He would do the rest.”

 

Inquire About Becoming A Foster Family

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Pathways Youth & Family Services is licensed, contracted, and funded by the Department of Family and Protective Services