Hands On Services Of Indiana-Edward & Regenia Jones
Regenia and Edward Jones recently retired from being foster parents over the last 19 years and have moved into a new venture which includes respite care. Regenia has worked in the social service field most of her career which made this transition very easy.
Respite care has always been an important need for families but the pandemic has made it more necessary. She saw the opportunity in 2018 as one of her colleagues from Crossroads had a discussion about her getting into respite care. At that time, it wasn’t feasible for her to get involved, but she and her husband started their organization (Hands on Services) in 2018 and opened their facility (Hands on Haven) in 2022 after being contacted by the state to see if they were still interested in opening a respite home.
The organization was originally operating as a social service agency providing habilitation, skilled training for youth, family support, and day respite.
Hands on Services is the parent company which is a husband and wife team who work hands-on with the child and family we are serving. They work to be role models as well as coaching and providing hands-on experiences for every family and every youth.
The grand opening was December 2022 and they opened doors January 2, 2023. Hands on Haven is the facility-based respite home.
They are a mental health agency working very closely with families who are caring for youth with mental health disorders. Some of the disorders they see with young people are depression, mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum and PTSD. They also serve other families who are in need of respite services for various other reasons.
Respite is defined as a short-term break for caregivers to be able to emotionally recharge.
They operate under the Division of Mental Health and Addictions (DMHA) which has several programs including the child mental health wrap-around (CMHW) which is the program they service. Under the CMHW they provide habilitation services, family support and respite. The child does have to have a diagnosis in order to receive services under this program and for them to cover the fees.
Additionally, they provide fee-based services for all others in need of respite care and we are working with local agencies in Fort Wayne to eventually be able to provide a sliding scale for the fees.
Program details are:
- Open Thursday-Sunday currently.
- Accept ages 6-17 youth.
- Staff to youth ratio is 4:1.
- Can house 11 youth comfortably in the home and have separate rooms for boys and girls.
- The three services available are: emergency respite, hourly respite, and routine daily respite. The hourly respite is scheduled per the family plan. For daily respite the youth stay overnight. Emergency respite is when the caregiver has an emergency (hospitalization, mental health crisis for the adult, homelessness, etc).
What they offer:
- Arts and crafts
- Activities with the local YMCA
- A safe place, as respite is not a punishment, but an opportunity for youth to build relationships and work on social skills and coping skills.
- Computer room, a coping loft, and we teach mindfulness skills
- Centering and self-regulation.
The youth are enjoying the respite home and the ability to just be a kid. The staff wanted it to be a home-like setting and feel very comfortable, different from a hospital or a residential respite.
The staff are highly skilled respite providers. There’s criteria that has to be met by the state to ensure that everyone they hire meets certain standards.
Respite is for EVERYONE. We have all types of families who need support for respite care.
The main goal is to connect families to community resources and natural supports for long term connections in our community.
The contact info is: www.hosoindy.com and people can make a request online for an assessment of the child. The phone number is: 260-258-9922.
Right now they accept self-pay or the CMH program pays as well but children have to be diagnosed, the referral info is on the website to request assessment of the child. They are also working with local Fort Wayne agencies to provide a sliding scale fee- coming soon!
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