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A program to thrive

Steady Roots

When a placement starts to shake, we move: fast, in-home, and on the child's side.

Steady Roots starts from a simple conviction: behavior is communication, and every behavior reflects an underlying need. A child in crisis is telling us something. This program exists to help everyone around that child hear it, and to steady the placement before it breaks.

How we know a placement is wobbling

  • A caregiver reaches out and asks for help
  • The quiet signs of caregiver burnout
  • Escalating or unsafe behaviors at home
  • School suspensions or an IEP in crisis
  • A history of placements that didn't hold
  • A recent major transition in the child's life

What we bring through the door

  • Functional behavior assessments
  • An individualized behavior support plan, crisis procedures included
  • In-home, parent-mediated behavioral coaching
  • De-escalation and crisis support
  • Help coordinating in-home assistance
  • One team: school IEP staff, psychiatry, and the wider circle of care, working from the same plan

Referral-based and rapid. DCFS caseworkers, caregivers, and child-welfare partner agencies can all refer a child, and the earlier the call, the more we can protect. Timing is everything.

Every behavior is a message. Our job is to help answer it.