PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY

The philosophy of the Guadalupe Project is based on principles found in the Family to Family initiative founded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the principles of Wrap-Around Service as defined by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, and the client-centered practice model developed by Carl Rogers.  Using these elements as our guide, we have developed a community-based, privately managed program which draws from a skilled roster of community practitioners to build a treatment plan and provide services to achieve a successful outcome for that plan for each family we serve.  Our services are delivered in the homes and communities of the families we work with, whenever possible.  Any services which must, by necessity, take place away from these settings, are delivered in a client-friendly and relaxed setting at our office, which is set up to accommodate child and family needs and to reproduce a home-like setting.  Our practitioners also participate with the families they serve in community activities and outings.  

The practice model we have developed allows our clients to see the practitioner as a parent model and community member.  The practitioner will enter the family system as a functioning member, in order to develop a helping relationship with the family.  We provide role modeling, parenting instruction, and counseling in a non-threatening, client-centered fashion.  At the same time, we make very clear that child safety is paramount, and that we will quickly report any conditions or circumstances which would endanger the children in the family, or any other vulnerable family member.  Because we work hard to develop trust with the families we serve, they accept our participation in their lives, and they understand that our goal is to help them address the issues that brought them to the attention of the “system,” and to then move out of their lives as quickly as they can demonstrate that they have mastered and incorporated the new skills they have learned.  For a short time, we provide a support system, and then we help them identify a support system of their own in their family and community which can help them after our services are ended.  Finally, we remain available to the families we have served for a period of at least one year, often longer, for support, crisis intervention and referral for services.

Our program has been developed as an “outside the box” alternative to more structured, traditional methods of intervention.  We welcome questions and inquiries about our services and the way in which they are provided.

Agency Information

The Guadalupe Project was founded in 2001 in response to a need expressed in our community over many years for viable alternatives to out-of-home placement.  During our administrators’ time in child placement work, we personally observed hundreds of children who suffered emotional damage and possible life-long after-effects from family disruption.  We worked closely with and supervised the foster families who cared for these children.  In order to help these foster families succeed, the child placement agency provided a wide array of services and support.  It was easy to identify that these same types of services and support could help the families of origin that these kids came from, and perhaps keep families together as they worked out their problems and issues.  We offered specific family service and support plans for some of the foster-care clients we were serving, and Denver County responded positively and allowed us to work with several families in this fashion.  We facilitated family reintegration, and worked with several families to prevent disruption.  It became apparent that this was a type of service that could benefit many of the children and families of Colorado, and The Guadalupe Project was developed and incorporated as a new entity.   Over the past sixteen years we have served approximately eighteen hundred families.  Currently, we have fourteen direct service providers and one twenty-four hour on-call worker, as well as two administrators who can, and do, provide direct services