Safe Families for Children Northwest Florida

Safe Families for Children (SFFC) exists to practice radical hospitality within communities, addressing the challenges of social isolation, limited access to resources, and parental stress that often leads to foster care and family separation. We provide an innovative, evidence-based approach that supports parents by connecting them to a caring network of relationships and resources before child welfare involvement becomes necessary. By walking alongside families, we provide a safety net of support and stand in the gap to keep more children safe and families together!

Our main objectives are family support and stabilization, child abuse prevention, and foster care deflection. We do this by training and equipping groups of volunteers to be community for families who are struggling and socially isolated. Everyone needs a friend to call on when they are going through something hard. Some parents lack the familial and social supports many of us rely on. Safe Families helps to connect these parents to stable and compassionate communities so that they can get back on their feet and be the parents they need to be for their kids. Keeping kids safe and families together!

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Our volunteer roles include:

Resource Friend

Resources Friends help provide material needs like diapers, children’s items, meals trains, or professional services/skills like resume or job interview training to the team of volunteers as well as partnering parents.

Host Family

The Host Family practices hospitality when they temporarily open their home to children without monetary reimbursement and develop a relationship with the partnering parents to provide ongoing support for the family even after children return home.

Family Friend

Family Friends come alongside the host family and/or partnering parents to provide encouragement and help, which could include, but is not limited to babysitting, transportation, meals and support.

Family Coach

The Family Coaches assist by facilitating the relationship between the partnering parents and the Host Family during a hosting. They support the host family and ensure the well-being of the children in care. Coaches also work with parents on goal setting, connecting to community resources, and offer mentorship.

Ministry Lead

The Ministry Lead plays a vital role in organization and oversight of COS and serves as a liaison between SFFC, volunteers and church partners.

Safe Families Church

The SFFC church mobilizes volunteers with the mission of keeping children safe and families intact. They commit to champion hospitality, compassion and generosity as a value to serve the most vulnerable in their community.