Open a Licensed Youth Group Home in Indiana — the Right Way

If you're reading this, you probably already feel the pull. Maybe you've worked in the system long enough to see what's missing. Maybe you've fostered kids and kept asking yourself, what happens to the ones who need more than a family home right now? Maybe your congregation or your community has the space, the heart, and the will — but you have no idea where the paperwork even starts.

I've been there. I know what it feels like to want to do something real for high-acuity youth in Indiana and to run headfirst into a wall of acronyms — IDOH, DCS, ISPs, PRTFs — that nobody bothered to translate into plain language. I built this course because that translation shouldn't be gatekept. The steps to open a licensed, compliant, DCS-contracted youth group home in Indiana are learnable. They're not easy, but they are clear — and clear is all you need to get moving.

What you'll find inside Group Home Blueprint is exactly what I wish I'd had: a straight-line path from "I want to do this" to "I have a licensed facility, a staffed care team, and a signed DCS provider agreement." Not inspiration. Not a 30,000-foot overview. The actual documents you need, the actual inspections you'll face, the actual questions DCS will ask you before they hand you a placement — and what to say. We go through business entity selection, dual-track licensing, facility setup, hiring and training staff who meet Indiana's ratio and credentialing requirements, trauma-informed care policies, incident reporting obligations, per-diem billing, and what to do when an auditor shows up at your door. All of it.

I want to be honest with you about something: this work is hard, and it is regulated for good reason. The youth placed in your home will be among the most vulnerable in Indiana. The licensing process is rigorous because it should be. I'm not going to tell you there's a shortcut, because there isn't. What I can tell you is that when you follow these steps — all of them, in order, without cutting corners — you end up with a program that survives audits, earns DCS trust, and builds a reputation that keeps your beds filled. That's sustainable. That's a business and a mission.

If you're willing to do the work, I built every piece of this course to carry you through it. Come in ready to take notes, ask hard questions, and build something Indiana's kids genuinely need. I'll meet you at every step.