The Butterflies Program

Infants and children who have been diagnosed with life-limiting or life-threatening illnesses need special care that can be provided in their home where they can be most comfortable. Valley Home Care’s Butterflies Program provides comprehensive home care services that focus on comfort and relief of suffering for the child and support for their parents, siblings and extended family members.

The Butterflies Program provides:

• Hospital visits and discharge planning to smooth the transition from hospital to home
• Home care services focusing on comfort and relief of suffering as well as curative or disease management treatments - Pediatric Palliative Care
• Follow-up visits in the hospital during readmissions
• A pediatric interdisciplinary team approach to enhance the quality of life for the child and family throughout the course of the child's illness
• Occasional respite care
• Hospice services for care at the end of life with bereavement support for families after death

Professional services can include:

• Nursing visits
• Physician consultation
• Clinical social work for support and resources
• Rehabilitation Therapists (PT, OT, ST)
• Art therapy for ill children and/or their siblings
• Spiritual counseling
• Home health aide services
• Trained volunteers who offer support and assistance
• Grief counseling
• Bereavement follow-up program

The Butterflies team includes:

• The child’s parents or guardians
• The child
• The child’s physician
• A Butterflies core team consisting of the medical director, nurse, social worker and chaplain
• A volunteer, home health aide, art therapist and dietitian if needed
• Physical, occupational and speech therapy if required

Additional information:

• Valley Home Care accepts Medicaid (home care or hospice benefit) and many private insurance plans. All children in Bergen and Passaic Counties are accepted regardless of ability to pay.
• Appropriateness for admission to The Butterflies Program is determined by a team consisting of the child’s physician, the Butterflies core team, and the child's parent(s) or guardian(s).

For more information or to refer a child to The Butterflies Program, call (201) 291-6000.

This agency is proud of its participation in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) national Eighth Scope of Work (8SOW) Home Health Quality Initiative. CMS is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Through this initiative, Valley Home Care’s focus is to provide continually improving quality of care to its clients.