Rekindling Relationships with Family Finding

Spending time separated from their parents presents a significant challenge for children who are temporarily removed from their homes and placed with a foster family. Many children fall out of touch with their original support systems, family, and friends during a time in their lives when close connections are most critical.

Research has uncovered that strong, reliable connections to dependable caregivers throughout a child’s life journey are a huge piece of building a solid foundation.

To be clear, it’s no one’s fault that these relationships become strained or never had the opportunity to be formed in the first place. But NCHS recognizes we have the opportunity and an obligation to create the most supportive bonds possible for the children who need them most. We understand the toll that isolation takes on children in care, but these relationships and bonds do not need to stay strained. This is just one of many reasons we have adopted the Family Finding program at NCHS.

What is Family Finding?

Family Finding is a public health project identifying supportive adults or relatives for children in foster care. At times, these people are relatives that have been able to form a relationship with the child in the past, but in other cases, these individuals could be people the child never knew before. 

 Family Finding knows and acknowledges there is so much healing to be had by embracing the family right in front of us.

Whether they were previously uninvolved due to circumstances beyond their control or are just searching to reignite their relationships with their loved ones, Family Finding leads the charge to reconnect these family members.

It’s common knowledge that individuals who go through foster care need a support base and helpful resources to thrive both in and out of the system. This initiative acts as a catalyst to branch out these connections and form the strongest support network possible, filled with those who have the child’s best interest at heart.

How Can Family Finding Help You?

At NCHS, we’re focused on transitioning children out of the welfare system and placing them with loving adults and permanent homes. Through Family Finding, our permanency specialists help children develop meaningful and enduring connections with adults who will be involved with the child throughout their life.

One of the primary focuses of NCHS is creating a brighter future for every child. Through the Family Finding program, we work to connect children in need of stability with adults who can provide the care, love, and permanency that children need to thrive. While this isn’t always an easy task, the need for connections and support cannot be ignored.

Family Finding provides those who utilize this program with countless benefits. At NCHS, we’ve personally witnessed success with many families and watched positive growth occur in many lives.

Because of Family Finding, reunification rates with relatives have gone up significantly. These increased rates can be attributed to more familiarity with the existing connections in a child’s life.

Additionally, this program increases social and emotional well-being in the child or children’s life. The entire experience of reconnecting or creating an initial connection with a person in their life allows children in the foster care system to flex their emotional and social skills. These aren’t necessarily strangers, so fear of the unknown can be appeased, and long-term camaraderie is possible.

Other benefits associated with Family Finding include:

• A higher rate of stability in housing placements
• A stronger sense of belonging when placed in those homes 
• Decreased re-entry rates into the welfare system

These benefits alone are argument enough to implement this program across the country, and at NCHS, we are thrilled to offer this capability.

Children in the welfare system deserve as much support as possible. While this can come from many different avenues, none are as impactful as the already existing relationships within their family. 

Family Finding provides children with the unique ability to rekindle lost relationships or even forge brand new ones with those they are related to. For families and children alike, these connections can be the first step toward writing their next chapter.

To learn more about Family Finding, visit nchs.org or call 402.451.0787 ext 602.