Residential Services FAQs

We have the capacity to serve boys and girls between the ages of six and 18 years old. The number of homes in operation is dependent on needs and staffing. Our homes are co-located on a 70-acre campus alongside the Mount Dora Christian Academy in Mount Dora, Florida.

Our residential children’s program offers support to children from many different backgrounds. These include children coming from dependent or neglected backgrounds who may have been exposed to physical and/or sexual abuse, neglect, abandonment, and dysfunctional or broken family lifestyles. We also serve children who have little hope of reconciliation with their parents/guardians and need a comfortable, stable, structured, and supportive living environment and who have demonstrated an inability to function and handle the emotional demands of their current living environment. Children who meet these qualifications are candidates for our program.

Residents attend Mount Dora Christian Academy, located on the same campus as Mount Dora Children’s Home. The Academy is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges and a member of the National Christian School Association. In addition to receiving a quality private education, the children in our residential children’s services program receive private tutoring, individual or group therapy by a licensed counselor, testing and psychological evaluations as needed, career/college planning, and training in independent living skills by trained child-care workers. Each home is staffed by Christian house parents who offer guidance and stability in a home setting. Children and house parents attend church together and children are encouraged to take an active role in youth groups and other church activities.

If you or someone you know is interested in our residential services for children, please contact Chuck Shepherd, director of social services, or another member of our Social Services staff at 352-383-9906.

No child is refused admission to our residential services for children program because of the inability of the parents or guardians to pay the full cost of care. Payment is based upon a sliding fee scale.

To begin the process, the parent/guardian can complete the online program inquiry questionnaire or contact the Mount Dora Children’s Home Social Services Department at (352) 383-9906 to speak to a social worker. Once the program inquiry questionnaire has been submitted and reviewed, you will be contacted for additional information, and if appropriate, an interview will be scheduled. After completing the paperwork and interview, an admission decision will be determined. When considering a child’s admission, we will evaluate every child without regard to race, color, sex, handicap, age, religion, or national origin.

Mount Dora Children’s Home is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization and is fully licensed by the State of Florida, Department of Children and Families as a Child-Caring and Child Placing Agency. We have been serving children continuously in Mount Dora since our founding in 1945.

When a parent/guardian enrolls a child in our residential services for children program, the parent/guardian retains custody. Mount Dora Children’s Home does not seek custody of any child placed in our program.