Page 13 - 2021 Spring Summer Our Hands

FAMILY PRESERVATION

SAM ARITAS FOCUSES ON BUILDING ST RONGER FAMILIES

Samaritas has been awarded more than $16 million in grants to
further support our Family Preservation services across 11 counties
in Michigan. Awarded as part of Michigan’s Family First Prevention
Services Act (FFPSA) and the HOMEBUILDERS® program, the
grants allow us to work with at-risk families while they are still intact,
surrounding them with community resources, as well as developing
and maintaining staff and peer relationships to help keep children
with their biological parents through in-home, intensive family
preservation services.

To learn more about Samaritas and its HOMEBUILDERS® programs
or to support our families with financial support, visit
Samaritas.org/Donate or email Lauren.Brosch@samaritas.org
for volunteer opportunities.

WORKING UPST REAM TO SOLV E MICHIGAN’S FOSTER CARE CRISIS

National Foster Care Awareness Month may be just another observance
on the calendar for some, but at Samaritas, May is a time that we focus
on the parents of foster kids who need support, healing and patience.

Samaritas is one of the most trusted agencies that handle the sensitive
needs of foster kids. We support their moms; we place them with loving
households, and we help them at every step along their journey with a
new family. It’s rewarding work, that we’ve done for nearly 90 years, and
we have no plans to stop. And now we’re investing in even better ways to
keep troubled families going through difficult times together.

Samaritas leaders like Kevin Van Den Bosch and Anthony Muller took
a hard look at some of the reasons why some Michigan families stumble.
They identified some of the root conflicts that split them even further
and unfortunately found that substance abuse plays a bigger part in
family separations than imagined.

With that data in mind, the Samaritas Child & Family teams are
coordinating with the Samaritas Substance Use Disorder (SUD)
program to offer SUD clinics and services in Eaton County, Ottawa
County and Oakland County for anyone struggling with drug or alcohol
problems. This new service delivery network enhances our ability to help
families in the middle of conflict issues further upstream and quicker.

In addition, Samaritas is growing its delivery of Family Preservation
services throughout Michigan through Families First, Family
Reunification, and HOMEBUILDERS® programs to meet the needs
of families before other placement options are considered.

This full continuum of care will strengthen families and keep them
together at any stage of their path to resolution – before Samaritas Foster
Care Services even becomes an option.

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