PATH Minnesota
About Us
PATH is one of the oldest providers of treatment foster care in the nation. PATH was created in Minnesota by a group of innovative foster parents who shared a vision about a new, more personalized approach to treatment foster care for children and youth with special emotional, behavioral and medical needs. They believed these children and youth could be better served through treatment in family-based settings, rather than in more restrictive institutional placements. They believed there must be a better way and they did find a better way. What started as a small agency grew as the reputation of PATH’s high quality services and dedicated staff became well known. The commitment to the well-being of the most vulnerable youth, those whose families are in crisis, has remained a constant of the organization.PATH serves children from birth to age 18 in treatment foster care and community-based programs. As noted, PATH initially entered the service arena by providing treatment foster care. This is available to children and youth from birth through age 18 with emotional, behavioral, intellectual, developmental or medical needs who can benefit from specialized help in a family setting. PATH foster youth are dealing with severe challenges that are the result of physical abuse, chemical dependency, sexual abuse, mental health issues and significant physical disabilities. Youth in care are also typically from families living below the poverty level or families living with complex challenges and system involvement (e.g., child protection, criminal justice, special education services, etc.). The stable environment provided by a PATH treatment foster family and social worker, allows children at-risk to be raised in a family; rather than in more restrictive or institutional settings such as residential treatment facilities, group homes, hospitals, juvenile detention, or other non-family-based settings.
As PATH became better known for quality programs, the agency began to offer complimentary services to provide a continuum of care; this allows PATH to meet family’s needs, no matter where they are at. To address the root causes of out-of-home placement, PATH has developed family preservation services to assist families whose children are currently living at home; however, they are at risk of entering the foster care system. PATH also offers adoption when family reunification is not possible. PATH works hard to meet the changing needs of children and families and does so by working cooperatively with counties and the state. Samplings of other services provided across the state include:
Bridge Builders: A youth-centered, future-orientated program for youth 16 and older who are transitioning out of foster care. Bridge Builders supports youth in their transition to adulthood by addressing the psychological, emotional and concrete coping skills necessary for self-sufficiency
Crisis Nursery: The Nursery serves Wright County by providing short-term care and coordination of services for families and children experiencing a crisis situation. Parents voluntarily place their children in a safe and nurturing environment for emergency over-night or daycare while they work to resolve their crisis situation. Trained staff helps families to identify solutions to solve their crisis situation, and provides counseling and referrals.
Whole Family Foster Care: Intensive support and collaborative services by skilled foster parents working with biological parents with their own children. The goal is to teach parenting skills through modeling example and education by the foster parent.
Why We Need a New Website
Our most recent website was completed five years ago. Upkeep has been difficult since there is not a website designer on staff and limited financial resources. The overall agency (which is comprised on three states) has a Communications Assistant, who is able to make text changes, but does not have the capacity to do more complex tasks and she also handles all other communication materials. With limited funding available for website development the site has become stale and lacking the life it needs to be relevant.We would like to make a site that is more interactive and responsive to foster parents, county contacts and other contractors. For example, we would like web pages for each of our ten offices that could list the programs offered at that site and the staff carrying out services. At this page we would also like links that would give a full description of the program. We would also like the option of having a Contact Us for each office and not one overall one which actually goes to the Communications Assistant who is then responsible for forwarding it to the appropriate person. An intranet is important to us where we could have blogs for foster parents and staff and allow them to get the latest information on the agency. Lastly, the ability to do more chat sessions for foster parent and staff education would be an asset as we deal with such a large geography.
Our services require strong partnerships with county contacts as we are a fee for service provider where the county refers youth to our care. Working with all 87 counties we need to have clear information on what we can offer and how we can meet the county’s changing needs. Better detailed programs and locations would make it easier for counties to access a full spectrum of services so we can serve children and families most appropriately. The intranet and chat sessions would assist in the necessary on-going training of foster parents and staff. PATH requires rigorous training annually to best care for these children with exceptional needs. Our quality of care would be positively impacted through this website creation.
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PATH Minnesota2021 E Hennepin Ave Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Our Mission
This past year PATH Minnesota celebrated its 35th year of service having cared for thousands of youth. The agency first began offering services in 1972 in the Twin Cities and as the organization’s reputation grew so did its service delivery area. PATH now serves the entire state of Minnesota and provided care to nearly 1,500 children and families last year through 16 services. PATH Minnesota’s mission is to empower children and families to achieve lifelong successes.PATH Minnesota’s Vision:
Deliver the best culturally competent family and home-based treatment and transition opportunities to children and families, reflecting the diverse identities of client populations across the agency.
Provide highly effective leadership as an educational, advocacy and support resource, preparing parents and families to best nurture children.
Lead the child welfare field in the use of family as the core therapeutic environment.
Anticipate community needs for services to children and families by creating innovative and collaborative family based solutions.
Be the organization of choice for foster and adoptive parents, community partners and employees.
PATH Minnesota’s Values:
CHILDREN AND FAMILY-CENTERED SERVICES
Children develop best in healthy family environments
Children’s families are valued as partners in treatment and care
Diversity is respected, embraced and celebrated
PATH recognizes the essential role of a child’s culture in healthy development
TEAMWORK-FOCUSED ENVIRONMENT
We actively support parents, families, children and employees in caring for our clients
We rely on and value the integrity of employees, parents, clients and volunteers
We achieve inclusiveness through communications, teamwork and role clarity
We value our relationships with community partners and stakeholders
We deliver outstanding customer service and internal partner support
ORGANIZATION LEADERSHIP
We build excellence through continuo8us quality improvement
We act as responsible stewards of our financial, human and technology resources to build a strong foundation for the future
We continue our national growth to help more children and families
Cultural competency is a core value integrated into all PATH services
We advocate for policies and services that nurture development of health children and families and communities.
