AIA SPECIAL PROJECTS

Shared Family Care
An Alternative to Conventional Services
for Children and Families At Risk

Shared Family Care (SFC) refers to a situation in which an entire family is temporarily placed in the home of a host family. The host family is trained to mentor and support the biological parents as they develop skills and supports necessary to care for their child(ren) and move toward independent living. SFC can be used for prevention--making it unnecessary to separate a parent from her or his child, for reunification--providing a safe environment in which to reunite a family that has been separated, or to help parents make the decision to terminate their parental rights.

Currently, several shared family care programs exist in the U.S. Growing Home in St. Paul, MN has a Whole Family Placement Program, recently restructured to serve adolescent mothers with severe emotional disturbances and their children. Crime Prevention Association operates A New Life program for drug-addicted mothers and their children in Philadelphia, PA. Innovative Family Partnerships, Inc. recently developed a SFC program in Milwaukee, WI. Additionally, NAIARC staff is working with and evaluating pilot projects in California and Colorado. The evaluation follows participating families throughout their placement (approximately 6-9 months) and for one year after placement. The evaluation is intended to determine which families are most likely to benefit from a shared family care placement and what benefits they receive. The evaluation also considers: the comparable costs of operating such a program; characteristics of individuals who become successful mentors and their reasons for participating; recruitment, training, supervision and support of mentors; and types of services that are provided to participant families.

Shared Family Care products available from the NAIARC:
Shared Family Care: A Brief Overview, January 2003
Shared Family Care Fact Sheet, Updated December 2002
Shared Family Care: 2002 Annual Report
(Available in PDF format.)
Shared Family Care: 2001 Annual Report
(Available in PDF format.)
Shared Family Care: 2000 Annual Report
(Available in PDF format.)
A Comparative Look at Seven Shared Family Care Programs
Shared Family Care Program Guidelines
Shared Family Care evaluation materials
Curriculum Outline and Resource Guide for Shared Family Care Mentor Training Join the Shared Family Care Email List:

The mailing list provides a forum for continuing discussion and education about whole family treatment. The mailing list is open to anyone, and all members are encouraged to ask and respond to questions, share success stories, or post information that will be of interest to others. To join, send email to majordomo@..., with "subscribe healinghavens_sharedfamilycare" (without the "s) in the body of the email.

For more information about Shared Family Care, contact Amy Price at (510) 643-8383 or amyprice@...

AIA Special Projects | NAIARC Home Page | School of Social Welfare | U.C. Berkeley

Revised 9/9/2002