PCCYFS Press Release: Congregate Care for Youth: A Review of its Benefits,Principles and Use in Pennsylvania

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 16, 2023

PENNSYLVANIA REPORT EVALUATES THE NEEDS ADDRESSED BY CHILDREN’S CONGREGATE CARE SETTINGS

(HARRISBURG, PA) The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth, & Family Services (PCCYFS) released a report today, Congregate Care for Youth: A Review of its Benefits, Principles, and Use in Pennsylvania. The report includes an overview of the principles and processes applied when identifying an appropriate placement setting for youth in Pennsylvania. It also outlines the various types of oversight to which congregate care settings are subject and other sources of data regarding the use of congregate care settings for Pennsylvania’s young people.  

“There is a lot of dialogue lately around the need and use of congregate care settings. While the children’s services system continues to move in the right direction by emphasizing community-based and home-like settings, there is still a subset of young people and children who continue to need more intensive support,” said PCCYFS President and CEO, Terry L. Clark. “This report gives our system an idea of where service gaps exist. As we emphasize placement in community-based and home-like settings, it is important that we also build a comprehensive network of services that ultimately means that no young person, regardless of how complex their needs, are left behind.”

The report covers the results of a survey completed by children’s behavioral health congregate care providers, which included qualitative feedback from workers around practices that they have employed to support youth’s complex needs. It also summarizes data regarding the profiles of youth who were served through congregate care providers, various needs they have supported, and successful discharges.

Read the Press Release below:

Read the full report below:

###

About PCCYFS: The Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth and Family Services (PCCYFS) is the collective voice for private agencies that serve Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable children and their families. PCCYFS represents nearly 100 private agencies employing more than 12,000 professionals statewide. These services include foster care/kinship care, adoption, residential treatment, behavioral health services, education, counseling, independent living/transitional living services and others. For more information, visit www.pccyfs.org.