extendedReach Foster Care Software Blog

In the world of social service – especially foster care – money can be tight for agencies. There are always so many more opportunities… if only there was more funding. Of course, there are grants for foster care and group homes… but many find applying for funding to be fruitless as they always get passed over. Maybe you’re wondering how to even apply for foster care grants? Here’s how you can put together a strong application so you can get the funding you need. Read on to get your hands on a list we put together of foster care-related grants to make things even easier. extendedReach always has you covered.

If you ask the extendedReach foster care software team about the most rewarding parts of their job, there is a good chance they will talk about our inspiring customers. Social work is not easy, but our clients are truly making a difference. We are particularly impressed by the work of St. Vincent Family Services and wanted to highlight them in a blog post. Program Director Theresa Van Dootingh took some time to answer our questions so you can learn more about SVFS.

At extendedReach, we pride ourselves on providing unrivaled customer service to our customers, but we wanted to take things a step further. We are so excited to announce KCare Academy!

extendedReach proudly serves over 25,000 case managers and Ari Knight oversees the Customer Experience team to ensure every experience with extendedReach is a good one. Ari is a pillar at extendedReach and kindly took the time to answer a few questions of ours so you can get to know her more.

For many kids, turning eighteen is an exciting milestone consisting of graduating high school, becoming an adult, and beginning the next chapter. For foster youth, it may feel more like being pushed out of the nest into the unknown, which can lead to feelings of anxiety and self-doubt. Aging out of foster care can be scary and supporting youth at this time is of the utmost importance. As many of our customers are absolute heroes with their contributions to the foster system, we’ve compiled a list of things both agencies and foster parents can do to help ease the transition.

More than 407,000 children and youth are currently in foster care in the U.S. 

Using a company-wide software system can be a heavy lift for any organization.  Staying updated on new releases and trainings can be complicated when there isn't a single person in charge of managing the software for an organization.  That's why extendedReach recommends that each company has a System Administrator for extendedReach's foster care software.

The extendedReach team is a passionate group of industry experts, and we are excited to share a little more about them. As a customer, if you have met with our Customer Experience team, there’s a good chance you’ve met Shane.  

extendedReach Study

In July 2019 extendedReach completed a study that analyzed standard deficiencies over the past 36 months for foster care agencies in Texas. The study used audit data publicly available from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) website. Texas DFPS defines a "deficiency" as any failure to comply with a rule, including a minimum standard, a statute, a specific term of a permit, or a condition of evaluation, probation, or suspension. A standard deficiency is also referred to as a violation.