This page has recently (April 2016) been created, and information on the Old Format website copied here. We are in the middle of the process of reviewing and revising the wording below.
The standard goal at FamilyLight with all clients is to help those families think strategically as they develop a plan to address the problem that brought them to us. We are partnering with families as they go through their own planning process. We help families take the "long view," not just proposing an initial intervention. With many and probably most client needs that come to the attention of a special needs consultant or therapeutic consultant, there is no guarantee that initial intervention will lead to resolution.
Keep in mind that historically most educational consultants think of a "school search" as their paradigm and understand that as their entire job. That is appropriate for most clients whose only concern is optimizing educational opportunities for young people who did not fall into any high risk categories. Special needs and therapeutic consultation developed as side issues for educational consultants who did not readily change their paradigm when their clientele moved in the direction of special needs and therapeutic consultation. A school search as a stand alone product is very different in principle from partnering with a client to develop a strategy to solve a problem. It may be very different in practice, depending upon the specific situation. At FamilyLight we include school search in our range of services (when applicable) and do that as well or better than the others. Recently (May 2016) more newer consultants are moving in that direction, but certainly not all. But that is only a part of what we do.
The paragraphs that follow, including the links associated, describe our service in detail. We offer this as a package for a single fee. We are often approached about providing a part of the service for part of the usual fee. We decline those requests except as noted. We have attempted to work with families without applying the entire package, and have never been satisfied with the results.
When FamilyLight begins with a new client, we begin with a Record Review. We ask you to provide us with copies of all educational and clinical records. We also ask you to prepare a short biography for us. For more detail, please follow the link in this paragraph.
After we have an opportunity to review the records, we usually schedule a Home Visit. Our consultant will spend the better part of the day with the client -- usually the young person and her/his parents, usually in their home. If this is an older person, what we do varies with the situation; please inquire. If the person is already in a residential facility -- say boarding school, wilderness program or hospital -- the visit can take place at that location. For more detail, please follow the Home Visit link in this paragraph.
Following the Home Visit, we are prepared to offer coaching at home or refer to residential school or treatment or both, as might be needed. Our service package involves six months of availability to our client families. When families hear this, it often leads to a concern that we might plan to take six months before offering specific referrals. Not to worry. Normally referral takes place very soon following a home visit if referral occurs at all. However, we don't really need to quit altogether at the end of six months. We always welcome updates and contacts from former clients and will respond to occasional questions indefinitely. We want to monitor any placement we initiate for as long as the person remains in that placement. However, we do ask for a renewal fee from clients who continue to need frequent and moderately intense support. These renewal charges are much less than the initial start-up fee.
If your family is in need of parent coaching, we can do that.
will help you work out a family contract if appropriate and guide you through difficult situations. For more detail, click here.
In all cases, we remain available for follow-up throughout the service agreement period. If your son or daughter is in residential placement, usually that school or program will remain in contact with us for the duration of that placement, so our information is at the ready if we need to become involved again.
We always welcome hearing from you about your son or daughter. Service agreements expire. Our concern for your son or daughter does not.
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Last Update May 14, 2016