Success Story
“The Family Preservation Program allowed me to truly have my family back together. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am.”
Family Preservation is an intensive, in-home service that provides support and intervention to families either at risk of having their children removed from the home or in the process of reunification with their children who have been in foster care to ensure a safe transition for the whole family. The goal is to equip the families with the skills necessary to handle challenges in a healthy way, provide safe, loving homes and to prevent the need for a child’s re-entry into foster care. Our staff members collaborate with the family at risk and the Department of Human Resources to develop a family-specific intervention plan and, on average, our Family Preservation program has a high success rate.
While each family situation is different, some ways in which we help support family preservation or reunification might include:
Reunification (sometimes referred to as Reintegration, Unification) doesn’t happen overnight. Additionally, the length of time children may remain in foster care depends on the circumstances that bring a child into the foster care system, as well as the overall progress and strength of their case plan. After safety, our team’s first goal is to reunite children with their families if possible. Our staff along with DHR establishes an individualized service plan which ultimately serves as the road map for bringing children back home or placed with a relative if possible. While this may be an emotionally trying time, it’s important to understand that during the first fifteen months a child remains in foster care, states are required by law to work towards reunification.
Our Family Preservation staff collaborate with the family at risk and the Department of Human Resources to develop a family specific intervention plan to ensure children remain safe. Staff are available 24/7 to provide crisis intervention. All services are provided in the family’s home and community where they are shown empathy and unconditional positive regard by our staff.
The Family Preservation program serves a variety of people seeking to preserve or reunite their families:
The Embrace Family Support and Education Program is funded in part through the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and the Alabama Children’s Trust Fund.
Our family preservation program is managed from our Andalusia, Dothan, and Tuscaloosa offices with support services provided to multiple counties in Alabama.
“The Family Preservation Program allowed me to truly have my family back together. I can’t even put into words how grateful I am.”