Safe Families is committed to supporting parents and bringing love and healing into families that are often isolated and alone.

By becoming a Family Friend, your mentoring relationship becomes the cornerstone of healthy living and healing as you support and strengthen a struggling family so that they may thrive.

Responsibilities of a Family Friend may include, but are not limited to:

1. Providing friendship
2. Listening when a parent wants to talk
3. Providing encouragement when a parent needs a little extra support
4. Sharing helpful information about parenting and life in general
5. Connecting needy parents to a vast resource network of services and items available at minimal cost.
6. Supporting parents with children placed with Host Families
7. Advocating with/for families seeking the proper academic setting, mental and physical health opportunities and other resources for their children.

Family Friends are trained volunteers that are supported by a network of resources that includes: community development organizations, schools, clinics, counseling and churches.

Safe Families Canada recruits Host Families that see their participation in this program as a way of living out the compassion of Christ by caring for the hurting.  Volunteer Host Families with this mindset are able to bring the healing dynamic of Christian love to children and families in crisis.

It is the policy of Safe Families to approve the most competent and effective Host Family parents to care for the needs of the children.  The ultimate goal is to provide a culturally relevant and secure family that is free from any potential dangers to the safe child. It is also important for the child to feel loved and cared for, and feel as though they are a part of the family. The impact you have in the life of this child is significant.  Host Families are screened through a process which involves police checks, references, and a home study assessment. They receive training and serve without compensation.

Children are monitored in the host home by SFC Family Coaches to ensure compliance to guidelines. Average length of stay is 45 days with ranges from 1 day to 3 months.

Ages of children placed: New born infants through parenting teens.
Referral Sources: Community organizations, day care centres, hospitals, drug treatment and homeless centres, prisons, schools, police stations, adoption agencies, etc.

Steps to Becoming a Host Family

Given the high level of trust and liability involved in caring for a child from another family, the process for serving as a Host Family involves successfully undergoing a detailed screening and training process conducted by trained staff in a confidential manner.

1. Contact Form: Fill in our contact form and indicate your interest in becoming a Host Family. We will then send you a Application & Home Study Assessment application to fill out, and the Host Family Handbook. 

2. Police Background Check & Letters of Reference: Upon receiving your application, you will be required to complete a background check and a Letter of Reference form, to be filled out by three referees. 

3. Training: At this point, you will be set up with a login for the Safe Families database, where you will complete the online training videos.

4. Home Study: After all the above steps are complete, we will contact you to set up a time for a home visit. This visit gives us an opportunity to get acquainted and also allow our staff to visually confirm that your home is a safe place. 

Host Family Clearance: Once these steps are completed, you will be ready to welcome a child(ren) of a placing family into your home. 

A lack of basic resources can often be what moves a struggling family to become a family in crisis.

Tangible items such as a crib or coat, or services from a dentist or mechanic may be the hand of help a family needs to keep themselves from losing touch with hope.

Safe Families “Resource Friends” are a collection of resource rich individuals who have the ability to share their skills or material goods with families that are on the edge. Guided by our Family Friends, these gifts are connected directly to the urgent, pressing needs of families.

Resources Friends include:

1. Counselors
2. Dentists
3. Doctors
4. Educators
5. Lawyers
6. Mechanics
7. Those able to share material goods
8. People able to help with transportation, lawn care, English language acquisition, home improvements, etc.

By becoming a Resource Friend you fill an essential role in the Safe Families ministry. No one can provide exactly what you can share with a family in crisis.

You can play a vital role in Safe Families Canada by volunteering as a Family Coach to help parents in crisis get back on their feet.

As a Family Coach, you will:

• Support the Host Family. This ensures that families get the support and resources they need to provide a safe and nurturing environment for children.
• Monitor children’s safety. Because safety is a top priority, the Family Coach begins assessing safety within 48 hours of a child moving in with the Host Family—and each week for at least a month.
• Provide a family in need with resources, such as community referrals and assistance in making their appointments.
• Facilitate the relationship between the Host Family and the Family in need with compassion and empathy.

You will also:

• Listen to Host Families and Families in need. The Family Coach provides space for them to express their thoughts and concerns.
• Manage expectations. For example, the Host Family may feel that they must fix problems or situations that are not their responsibility. Alternately, if a hosting arrangement seems longer than expected, the Family Coach is needed to temper expectations.
• Show empathy, hope, grace, and compassion. We work hard to err on the side of grace.
• Problem solve. Family Coaches work with the church and other community resources to assist Families in need.
• Reassure. Stressful situations require a calm presence and the ability to give hope to those who may feel hopeless.