TRAC Services for Families
Michael Van Ness is an experienced mental health professional with a focus on psychotherapy for children and adolescents. Currently serving as an Outpatient Supervisor and Therapist at TRAC Services for Families since November 2020, Michael previously worked as a Child and Adolescent Therapist at Pittsburgh Mercy, implementing psychotherapeutic services for consumers aged 6-18. Michael's background includes roles in property management, mobile therapy, staffing, and case management, with expertise in utilizing evidence-based therapeutic models and cross-cultural communication. Educational qualifications include a Master's degree in Social Work and dual Bachelor's degrees in Nonfiction English Writing and Philosophy, all from the University of Pittsburgh.
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TRAC Services for Families
Three Rivers Adoption Council dba TRAC Services for Families has served as Pennsylvania’s foremost resource for adoption information, referral services, support, and education. As we grow, we will continue to spread our mission of improving adoption opportunities for children awaiting permanency throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Since 1979 TRAC has worked so that no child will have to face a life without permanency. TRAC was founded by adoptive parents and professionals and established as a volunteer staffed project of the Junior League of Pittsburgh. Today, TRAC is a United Way Agency that serves as the central resources for permanency information, family recruitment, placement of special needs children, post-permanency support, education, and referral services. Adhering to the permanency standards of the Child Welfare League of America, TRAC is a multi-service agency serving children who cannot remain with their birth families and the resource families who provide these children permanence. Primarily, the children served fall into several categories. More than half are African America; many are older and/or part of a sibling group who need to stay together; and others have emotional, physical, or mental disabilities. Most of these children have experienced multiple moves in the foster care system and high percentages have been victims of abuse and neglect. TRAC works with public and private agencies to implement cooperative, cost effective programs to meet the placement and post-placement needs of these children. TRAC provides recruitment, information and referral services, counseling, family preparation, post adoption services, and parent and professional education services, to achieve and maintain maximum permanency opportunities for children and their families.