Abra Prentice Foundation Proposal

Narrative

Safe Families for Children - Chicago began out of a desire to help children and marginalized families before children are harmed. Instead of waiting for children to be abused or neglected, Safe Families was created to come alongside under-resourced families by mobilizing the local community to serve others and provide prevention and support.

Safe Families is not about handing out help and leaving, rather, Safe Families partners individuals from within a community to build relationships with families facing need. Safe Families combats the social isolation at the root of many dire circumstances and inequities. Community members, churches, and others come forward in response to our recruitment, to be trained volunteers who will serve as a Circle of Support – a small group of volunteers who rally around families in need, caring for children, mentoring the parent, and providing a safety net for low-income families facing a crisis in Chicago.

Parents we serve are primarily single mother families facing difficult circumstances ranging from homelessness, mental health crises, fleeing domestic abuse, immigration, a need for substance disorder treatment, unemployment, a cycle of poverty, regrouping after incarceration, among others.

Safe Families has had enormous impact across the nation, serving in more than 120 communities, helping marginalized families, preventing child abuse, and supporting families. Nationally, more than 27,000 children and 55,000 families have been served and connected to a Circle of Support since 2003. Safe Families is a national movement with the goal of disrupting the child welfare system by preventing the need for it in the first place and providing families with needed social supports and preventative factors to help children thrive.

Safe Families believes every family who needs it, should have a “Safe Family” in their network of support to help them thrive, keep their children in their care, and build stronger communities. By doing so, families who have historically been victims of systemic inequities will have the resources for upward mobility, a method of ending the poverty cycle, and long-term stability for themselves and their children.

Safe Families has grown to be a national model of caring for families in crisis.  A national office provides oversight, training, and assistance for all sites nationally.  Last year, over 6,000 hosting arrangements were facilitated across the country, with a large increase expected in 2022 due to record high intake calls in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Other accomplishments include:

·         19 states have approved the Safe Families Law which allows families in crisis to have the right to voluntarily place their children with Safe Families volunteers until they are ready to care for them again. New York state is poised to pass legislation soon, which will make it the 20^th state with approved Safe Families Laws.

·         Safe Families received the Program of Excellence Award in 2020 by Prevent Child Abuse Illinois and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services.

·         In 2019, the Aging Out Institute awarded Safe Families PLUS with a “Relationships” award for their work addressing the needs of youth aging out of foster care with little to no support through building mentoring relationships.

·         Safe Families piloted its evidence-based model in Illinois and is credited with reducing Illinois’ foster care population from 52,000 to just 14,000 kids over the past decade-and-a-half. Our aim is to expand Safe Families into every area of the country so that every under-resourced family in crisis has access to a community of support and preventative care when needed.

Safe Families for Children – Greater Chicago continues to serve in our ongoing program of providing trained, volunteer host families, trained volunteer family friends (parent mentors), and other volunteers who wrap around and support families in need. Through a detailed intake process, families are vetted, assigned to volunteers, and overseen by professional staff with social work backgrounds. Our timelines revolve around our fiscal year, and the objectives we monitor fit within the July to June dates for the purposes of evaluation. By providing a Circle of Support – a small group of four to five volunteers who wrap around the family with care – each family has layers of support from different individuals that help meet a variety of the parent’s and children’s needs.

Recent Story

Jazmine was referred to Safe Families by another agency in early 2022. Jazmine aged out of foster care when she turned 18. A few years later, she was disconnected and had no family and few close friends. She had two toddler daughters, struggled with mental health psychotic episodes and clinical depression, lost her job, her car broke down and she could not afford to fix it, and she was sidestepping homelessness by sleeping on a friend’s couch – a very temporary fix with two daughters to care for.

Jazmine was reluctant to leave her girls with a host family she did not know but she also recognized the chance to address her areas of need and help her stabilize so she agreed. The original plan was a hosting arrangement for three weeks. That time came and went, and Jazmine realized how many challenges she had to overcome in order to provide for her girls well and get back to a place of wholeness herself.

The girls continued to stay in their host family, sometimes being babysat by a respite host family and participating in regular in-person and video calls to see their mama. The two girls began to thrive, increasing their weight, saying their first words, and increasing their desire to play and eat. Jazmine got help with her unemployment and secured two jobs with the help of her circle of support. She secured an apartment with subsidized housing and her family friend helped connect her with subsidized daycare near to her new home.

Jazmine used money she was able to save while her girls were being hosted to purchase a reliable vehicle. Some volunteers within the circle of support provided clothes, diapers, furniture for the apartment, and kitchen supplies. Another volunteer helped the host family buy car seats for the girls, along with some toys and books.

 After three months, Jazmine brought her sweet girl’s home to their new place. They are adjusting, and different volunteers continue to regularly check in on them. Other volunteers provide a night off for Jazmine now and then by offering some babysitting. Helping Jazmine care for herself and her mental health is giving this family hope for long-term stability and remaining together thanks to the support of the Benjamin B. Green-Field Foundation. Thank you for partnering with Safe Families for Children to support parents in need, keep children safe and families together.

Goals, Process, and Strategies

Safe Families for Children (SFFC) hosts vulnerable children and creates extended family-like support for desperate families through a community of devoted volunteers motivated by compassion to keep children safe and ultimately together with their families.  SFFC has three primary objectives: 1) prevent child abuse by providing safe, temporary homes for children from families in crisis while the parents seek to restore stability in their lives, 2) support and stabilize families in crisis by providing mentoring and referrals to appropriate resources, and 3) deflect children from entering the child welfare system by keeping healthy families intact and reunifying children with their parents. 

Safe Families engages a network of volunteers who serve as host families (who open their homes to children from families in crisis), family friends (who provide mentoring and emotional support to families until they can get back on their feet), family coaches (who support host families and assist placing parents in reaching their goals), and resource friends (who provide goods or services to help families through their crisis).

Volunteers are recruited and undergo an application and screening process that includes a background check, home study (for host families), and a reference check.  After approval, volunteers are trained in program-related topics.  Parents in need of assistance voluntarily approach SFFC through various referral sources.

At intake, the placing family assesses their need for assistance in areas that may include parenting problems, the welfare of their children, and needs for assistance or referrals (financial, housing, legal, counseling, etc).  This helps equip parents to identify the best options for resolving their crisis and to better care for their child after reunification.  In some cases, those seeking assistance come from homes where domestic violence exists and we work on developing a safety plan with them to reduce the risk of abuse.   Families develop personal goals that help them through their crisis (like find housing, obtain employment, complete treatment, etc.).

The placing family willingly places their children with a host family and can opt to reunify with their children at any time.  Documents authorizing the placement are signed by all parties.  Hosting arrangements are made with an attempt to minimize disruption when possible.  For example, attempts are made to keep siblings together and to keep children in the same school.

Throughout the hosting arrangement, family coaches and volunteers offer emotional and tangible support by connecting the placing parents with community supports that strengthen the parent’s capability to cope with their immediate crisis.  These include family friends and resource friends.  Family Friends can be assigned to parents who have their children staying with a host family as well as to those who have their children home with them.  The family coaches visit the host families’ homes regularly to offer support.   Many churches assist with recruiting and supporting volunteers and reaching out to the parents who are receiving services.

All volunteers receive introduction training to learn about and understand the causes of poverty, the mental models of class, the hidden rules of economic class, language barriers, family structure and more. In addition, Safe Families offers an in-depth workshop for volunteers where they will learn about concrete tools and strategies to help bridge the gap between social classes with the goal of building healthy relationships.

All volunteers also receive introduction training to learn about the Strengthening Families Protective Factors framework which is a research-based approach for preventing child abuse and neglect, strengthening families, and promoting optimal child development. In addition, Safe Families offers an in-depth workshop for volunteers where participants learn about the Adverse Childhood Experiences study and about the 5 Protective Factors which build strong families. Everyday strategies will be discussed that will change how you can interact with struggling parents and improve outcomes for children.

With the increase in intake calls, two part-time positions are being expanded to full-time positions in 2022, and an additional full-time position is being launched. One position is the Family Coach Supervisor for Cook County, and the other is an additional Church and Community Engagement position over Greater Chicago. In addition, one new full-time Intake Coordinator position is needed to meet the increased demand for services to families in need.

The funding needs to be raised for each of these three positions. This request is to increase the funding for the two part-time positions. The request is for $40,000, $20,000 for each of the two positions, to increase them to full-time status. These positions will be responsible for recruiting and training volunteers to serve families; and for overseeing volunteers, the supervision and safety of children in hosting arrangements, and the oversight of volunteers serving parents.

Timeline

This program is ongoing and has been in place since 2003. The Greater Chicago chapter continues to grow to meet the need and serve more children in Chicago. Our timeline is based around the fiscal year of July 1 to June 30 each year. This is the guide for the objectives and data kept for evaluation purposes.

Alignment with Abra Prentice Foundation

Safe Families for Children fulfills the mission of the Abra Prentice Foundation by providing preventative services for the prevention of cruelty to children, through the mitigation of the circumstances that most commonly lead to child abuse and neglect. This is done by addressing the needs of the parent, by addressing the root issues of social isolation, and partnering the parent with one of our trained mentors to empower them to work through the root crises they face, stabilize, and be the ones able to care for their children and provide for them well.

A key component is providing hosting arrangements for children, so parents are freed up to address their areas of need. Children are given the opportunity to have additional beneficial adults pouring into their lives, similar to extended family. These relationships are encouraged beyond the hosting arrangements, which benefit the parent, child, and volunteers alike. Research demonstrates that parents who have protective factors in their lives like social supports are less likely to fall into dire circumstances and less likely to abuse and neglect their children. Children are more likely to thrive when parents have a social support system, and when parents have safe people to go to for help when needed.

Benefits: Safe Families provides a unique alternative to the state child welfare system:

Substitute Care (Foster Care/Group Homes)	Supplementary Care (Safe Families)
Requires abuse/neglect of child	Offers support prior to abuse/neglect of child
Involves the complexities of the court	Involves a decision by the parent
State takes custody of child	Parent retains custody of child
Mandated and adversarial	Voluntary and supportive
Costly[i]	Inexpensive
Time consuming	Easy entrance and exit
Involves paid foster parents	Utilizes volunteer host families
Very low reunification rates (less than 14%)[ii]	Very high reunification rates (over 90%)

 

Safe Families for Children is based on available research and practical knowledge while also being innovative and responsive to current needs in children, families, and society.  Safe Families directly integrates the Five Protective Factors,^[iii] an evidence-based framework that supports the notion that when these factors are present in a family, the likelihood of abuse and neglect diminish.  Research also shows that these factors create healthy environments for the optimal development of all children.  The protective factors have been completely integrated into our program design, training components, and evaluation plan.  The protective factors are:

1.       Families increase their parental resilience by having the capability to bounce back from their challenges through solving problems and building trusting relationships.

2.       Those with a limited knowledge of parenting and child development are mentored and provided with resources that improve parenting skills.

3.       Children who have faced domestic violence are able to improve their social and emotional development by having a safe environment while their situation is stabilized.

4.       By being connected with community support system, families have social connections that will provide them with emotional support.

5.       Parents receive concrete support in times of need by having access to services that minimize the stress of difficult situations.  As the placing family addresses the crisis and builds a network of support, they increase their ability to care for their child.

Population Served

Safe Families serves many families who have difficulty in receiving services.  Some homeless and domestic violence shelters have limited space for children or only take children up to a certain age.  Parents that need treatment (medical, psychiatric, or substance abuse) or are facing short-term incarceration often have nobody to temporarily care for their children. 

The population served will be families considered low-income, socially, and emotionally under-resourced, primarily single-mother families facing homelessness or other crises with children ages 0-17. We plan to recruit and train 300 new volunteers and will serve at least 200 new families in Greater Chicago. The families will benefit by having a small group of volunteers, a “Circle of Support,” who will surround the family with empowering, compassionate community. The hosting arrangement last an average of six weeks to two months, and the Circle of Support may remain in relationship with the family for one year or more.

In the best of circumstances, raising children is a challenging endeavor, coupled with not enough resources, outside crises, and no one to fall back on if dire circumstances arise, can be crippling to families with little margin. Not all families have extended family, or safe friends they can rely on in a pinch. Safe Families provides evidence-based protective factors to marginalized families who have nowhere else to turn in a crisis.

In 2021, and we anticipate a similar pattern in 2022, the population served was primarily black, Hispanic, and multiracial families due to homelessness, mental health needs, and medical treatment needs. 93% of the families served were single mother families, 5% were male/female couples with children, and 1% was transgender parents with young children.

Most children served are ages 0-5, but children between the ages of newborn to age 17 were served. At intake, parents are given the opportunity to share their needs, and to choose a mentor, and a host family for their child. Their preferences are considered, and the parent sets their goals, and a mentor works alongside them. When the child returns home, the parent can provide feedback, and to speak into the program and what worked and what could use improvement. Throughout the time when the children are in the hosting arrangement, the parent is a part of the process and has a voice as to when to communicate and visit their child and if the child is thriving with the host parents, or if a change is needed. Children are kept as close to the parent as possible, and within their same school district. Many school districts work with Safe Families to bus children to their school even if they are living beyond those limits during a hosting when possible.

Location

Safe Families for Children – Greater Chicago serves in the five collar counties around Chicago, DuPage County, Kane County, Lake County, McHenry County, Will County, and has also expanded to Kankakee County. The primary location of service, however, is Cook County. This is where most of the families we serve reside. Safe Families for Children collaborates with other area agencies that also serve families, individuals, and children to best meet the needs of those we serve. Safe Families believes we can work best when in partnership with others who have the strengths and resources to focus on areas we do not. This approach has served the parents and children in our care well by providing referrals and resources to help families thrive.

Many of our referrals come from social service providers, shelters, public agencies (police, DCFS, schools), adoption agencies, pregnancy centers, and hospitals.  Based on the individual needs of each family, we also work closely with other agencies to refer our clients to receive needed services that may include public aid, medical treatment, substance abuse treatment, and assistance with housing and/or employment.  In cases of domestic violence, referrals are made to agencies where victims can learn about the cycle of violence and how to escape dangerous situations.

Evaluation

We plan to recruit and train 300 new volunteers and will serve at least 200 new families in Greater Chicago.

By the end of FY22, we will gage the success of the program based on these goals:

• Children from families in crisis will have a reduced likelihood of experiencing abuse or neglect.  Over 1400 hosting arrangements will occur.  At least 85% of families will meet their personal goals.
• Families in crisis will have an extended support system.  The number of volunteers (host families, family friends, family coaches) will increase to 1,800.  At least 200 mentoring arrangements will occur.
• Children will be deflected from entering the child welfare system.  At least 95% of children will return home or to a relative.

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[i] According to the DCFS FY19 Budget Briefing, there were 16,726 children placed in substitute care in FY18 (foster care, group homes, shelters, institutions, etc) and a total of $700,737,200 was spent on all substitute care services.  As a result, DCFS spent an average of $41,895 per child during FY18.  By contrast, Safe Families for Children in the Chicago area spent $507,877 during that same time period and served 770 children, resulting in an average of only $660 per child, which is 98% cheaper.  By keeping these children from entering state custody, we potentially saved the state over $33 million.

[ii] According to the DCFS FY19 Budget Briefing, the percentage of foster children reunified with their parents during FY18 was estimated to be 14.6%.

[iii] Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework, a project of the Center for the Study of Social Policy: www.strengtheningfamilies.net