Welcome · FAQ's 1. What type of situations do these children come from?
The children come from families that are experiencing a crisis of one sort or another. Such crises might include financial problems, unemployment and homelessness. In other cases, children come from families in which the parent needs time to heal physically or emotionally, or is recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction. Some children come from families in which the mother is being abused. Still other families are thrown into crisis when a parent is remanded to a correctional institution for a period of time. While these and other kinds of crises are traumatic, they also offer the opportunity for positive personal and familial transformations.

2. How long will the child stay with me?
The average length of stay is about six weeks, but placements usually last from three days to three months. Our staff makes every effort at the time of placement to estimate the length of stay. Factors include the severity of the family's crisis, the willingness and ability of the biological parent to address the issues involved in the crisis, among others.

3. What type of child can I expect?
These are normal children coming from sometimes very difficult circumstances. Each child will respond to the situation differently, depending on their personality and coping skills. Some may show little response to the circumstances in their lives, while others may be deeply affected.

Please note that the children placed by Safe Families are not believed to be victims of abuse and neglect. If they were, they would instead have become wards of the state and not eligible for this program.

4. Will the child have a lot of behavior problems?
Possibly, but not necessarily. Trauma can influence a normally well-behaved child to behave poorly, and can influence a child with behavior problems to behave better. Some children may display behavioral problems as a result of the chaos in their lives, while others may astound us with their calm and composure. It's impossible to predict how the child will behave.

5. Who can serve as Safe Families volunteers?
Safe Families volunteers include singles, married couples with children of any age and empty nesters, all of whom simply decided to make room in their hearts and homes for children in need.

6. Will I be reimbursed for expenses incurred in caring for the child?
No. We ask that people serve as Safe Families volunteers only if they can afford the added expense of another child in their home.

7. How can I apply to be a Safe Families volunteer?
Prospective Safe Family volunteers can get the process started by downloading our application packet. Questions? Contact your local Safe Families office by phone or email. Click here for contact information.

8. What type of contact will I have with the biological parent?
Biological parents maintain full custody of their child, and are encouraged to participate in decisions regarding their child’s care while they address whatever issues led to the instability in their lives.

Our aim is to facilitate a partnership relationship between volunteers and the biological parent(s), in which your family becomes a kind of "extended family" for the family in crisis. We encourage you to maintain a relationship with the family even after the placement ends, if possible.

9. Can I adopt the child?
The goal of the Safe Families program is to reunite children with their biological parent in a home that is more stable and healthy, in part, because of the contribution of the Safe Families intervention. Currently, 85% of all families in the program come back together, often in the most stable environment they’ve ever known. If, however, the biological parent loses legal custody of their child(ren), we urge you to contact an agency other than Safe Families about the possibility of adopting.