A Family For Every Child

A Family For Every Child's Family Finding Mission is to find safe, loving kith and kin connections for youth in foster care. By discovering such individuals we hope to create a lifelong support system for youth, help children learn about their family and history, and reconnect them with loved ones who can be a part of their "forever family."

Core Beliefs of the National Family Finding Model

1. Every child has a family.
2. Loneliness can be devastating, and particularly felt by foster children.
3. Meaningful connections to family help children develop a sense of belonging.
4. The single most identified factor contributing to positive outcomes for children involves meaningful connections and lifelong relationships with family.

We have a number of Family Finding volunteer opportunities. Finding volunteers must fill out a volunteer application, attend a Family Finding training, and pass a criminal background check. Family Finding Volunteers and Staff follow the six steps to Family Finding .

FAQs on Family Finding

Family in 30 Days

Family in 30 Days is a program based on the tenants of Family Finding - that every child has a family and that children thrive when placed with family members rather than with non-relative care givers. The purpose of this program is to place children with relatives within 30 days of entering foster care. This is done through extensive search methods which include direct engagement with family members and kith connections to identify as many possible relative placements as possible. When children stay with family members they are more likely to stay in the same school, live with their siblings, have fewer behavioral problems, and report that they "always felt loved."

Extensive Team Recruitment

Extensive Team Recruitment (ETR) is a program based on the Family Finding model of searching for and engaging relatives in order to remove children from foster care. ETR combines Family Finding, Mentorship, Child Recruitment, and child preparation methods in order to find a child a forever home within twelve to twenty weeks. ETR is an intensive Family Finding model that offers multiple services to youth and their social workers in order to find every child a "forever family."