Specialized Care

Respite Care is a home away from home for children with developmental disabilities that allows parents the opportunity to rest and rejuvenate. Our staff is trained to meet the specialized needs of each child at Respite Care, but most importantly kids at Respite Care find an environment of love and acceptance the minute they walk through the door.

We provide short-term childcare before and after school, on evenings and weekends. We also provide overnight care up to 14-days for vacations or emergency situations. By giving parents the opportunity to take care of themselves and their other children, Respite Care enhances the quality of life for the entire family.

Providing peace of mind to parents is important to us. While our goal is to maintain a 2:1 staffing ratio, we carefully assess each child and their unique needs and carefully schedule with staff to ensure each child receives the undivided attention and highest level of care possible.
Respite Care is open 24 hours, seven days a week, with the exception of a few national holidays. We are fortunate that Poudre School District voluntarily buses to our facility, which is a tremendous help to our parents and their schedules/transportation issues. For weather and emergency situations that fall on a Monday-Friday, we close with Poudre School District. Weekend closures are the decision of either our Executive Director, or the weekend on-call Admin Team Lead. For these decisions, we follow recommendations of local authorities and the Department of Transportation.
Our “home away from home” features six bedrooms and specially designed bathrooms in our back wing which allows us to provide overnight care for up to a two week stay at a time. This extended care gives our parents the opportunity to find respite, take the vacation they have been putting off, or have the time and energy to spend with siblings that often must take the back burner.
We keep documented files, along with medication administration instructions, seizure management protocol and additional information on file for each child. If an emergency happens to arise and child care is needed, parents can rest assured that their child will have a place to go where the staff all know them and are equipped to provide the proper care.
It is important to us to be able to provide quality care to our families at an affordable rate. Parents pay on a sliding fee scale according to their income, with an average hourly rate of only $4.50/per hour per child. Our cost to provide this care is significantly higher. With the help of local community support in the form of individual contributions, grants, in-kind donations, our Respite Giving Society and fundraising events, we are able to subsidize this cost and keep the rates as low as possible.
All of our Childcare Specialists go through many different levels of highly specialized training. In addition to first aid and basic health and precautions, we are overseen by a Registered Nurse who conducts training sessions for staff in medication administration, seizure management and gastrostomy tube feedings.
Respite Care is open 24 hours, seven days a week, with the exception of a few national holidays and extreme weather situations.

“Approximately four years ago Jillian began having seizures. I will never forget that night. I had just returned home from a business trip. It was around her bedtime so I looked in on her to tuck her in and kiss her goodnight.I noticed she was looking at me as though she could see right through me. She was expressionless. I cradled her head in my hand and asked her if she was ok. She immediately had a Tonic Clonic or Grand mal seizure. It was terrifying. Absolutely, terrifying. Along with the uncertainty of what was causing them, we knew Jillian would need to be at our side more than ever. We certainly never expected to find someone to assist us with her care. But, to our surprise, Respite could. Not only did the staff have the skills to give her medicine that vital to her health and care for her condition if an emergency were to arise, they also provided her with an environment of belonging, acceptance and engagement. In other words, a home away from home.”
Herman L, Respite Dad