Presbyterian Home for Children strives to provide a safe, supportive, comfortable, Christian environment for children who are dependant, neglected, abused, or who otherwise cannot live with their families. 

Our Single Goal
The overarching goal of Presbyterian Home for Children is to prepare children for transition to a permanent home, whether that is with family members, a foster or adoptive family, or a home of their own as they become adults.

Presbyterian Home for Children is very proud of our ability to help prepare children for a permanent home.  The Home will facilitate more children to adoptive homes this year than in the last ten years combined.  The high school graduation rate is excellent.  The Home is also proud that children who come here make significant progress in their learning and in their behavior.  Children, when they realize they are in a safe, caring environment, begin to exhibit more normal behaviors and can learn at a more normal rate. 

The Importance of Community
Children, whatever the crisis in their lives, deserve to have normal childhood experiences.  The heart of Presbyterian Home for Children's program is the community.  Presbyterian Home children attend public schools, participate in community sport teams and clubs, and have off-campus jobs, friends, and mentors.  The children and houseparents all attend Black Mountain Presbyterian Church regularly. 

The Importance of Family Life
Children also deserve to know what healthy family living is like.  Children and teens live in one of four houses on campus.  These houses look like an average family house.  Each house is staffed by married houseparent couples.  There are up to nine children in a house.  The houses are not segregated by age or sex, but are a variety of ages and gender, just as one would find in any family.  Each house has a van of their own, plans separate activities just for that house, vacations together, plans and shops for their own meals, and does their own cooking and cleaning.  The Home keeps sibling groups together, unless that would be detrimental to their wellbeing.

Support Services

Assisting the houseparents with other needs is the support services team.  This team of professionals sees to the educational, recreational, spiritual, and clinical needs of the children.  

Education
Children from abusive or neglectful homes are usually either failing, very behind in school, or have large gaps in their education. Two full-time Education Coordinators, both of whom have special education training and experience, serve as a liaison with the local public schools.  The Education Coordinators provide individualized education assessment and planning for each child.  They advocate for the best and most appropriate placement for in school for each child. They also coordinate daily afterschool tutoring, and operate a large library and computer learning center.

For higher education, children who live at the Home for a designated period of time may receive tuition assistance to the college or vocational school. 

Recreation
The support staff also includes a full-time Recreation Coordinator.  The Recreation Coordinator serves as a liaison between the Home's children and community activities.  The children play on community ball teams, belong to clubs, participate in community events, and work and volunteer in the community. In addition, the Recreation Coordinator provides on-campus art and recreation activities.  Children have the right to interact in the natural world and in the community.

Spirituality
The Home has a very unique relationship with Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.  This Covenant Relationship is a concerted effort to forge a relationship between the members of the congregation and the Presbyterian Home staff and children.  The children and staff from the Home are an intentional part of the congregation, and church activities are an intentional part of the Home's life.  The Covenant Coordinator is a staff member at both organizations. 

Clinical Intervention
Most children who have been abused or neglected need some type of therapy to assist in overcoming their trauma. Each child is assigned a professional staff social worker when they arrive at the Home.  This social worker assesses and plans for each child's treatment, works with the Department of Social Services to monitor the progress of the child's family toward reunification, and helps plan for a permanent family if reunification is not possible. 

Presbyterian Home for Children's stated Program Design is as follows:

Presbyterian Home for Children helps each child entrusted to our care to live a happy and hopeful normal life.  Presbyterian Home for Children will help children:

1)      Experience emotional intimacy with caring adults and children.

2)      Benefit from community-based challenges and opportunities.

3)      Move forward through the normal stages of childhood development.

Presbyterian Home for Children will assess and plan for essential services to meet the needs of the individual child.  Presbyterian Home for Children will help each child face the loss, anger, sadness, and abuse by:

1)      Tackling individual and special needs for healing.

2)      Building a bridge to a safe, permanent, and happy family.

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