Welcome · Volunteer · Your First Placement When a child needs a Safe Families placement, our staff begins calling available volunteers who might be a good fit. Whether you are called about a particular placement may depend on the parameters you state in your application. For instance, some volunteers prefer to care for babies; others can accommodate no more than one child at a time, and so on.

When we call, we will provide background on the child's situation and an estimate of how long the placement might last. We will ask you to prayerfully consider opening your home to the child, but please know that you can always decline a particular placement, for any reason.

When a child is placed in your home you will receive copies of his/her consent form, short-term guardianship authorization, power of attorney for health care, a copy of the child’s medical card and contact information for the child’s parent or guardian. If needed, we will help make arrangements for schooling.

We will contact you on a regular basis to see how the placement is going, to keep you informed, and to help in any way that we can. Safe Families caseworkers also keep in touch with the biological parents, working closely with the referring organization to determine when and if the family can be reunited.

During the placement, biological parents maintain full custody of their child, and are encouraged to participate in decisions regarding their child’s care while they address the issues that led to the crisis. 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.