Family Preservation

Family Preservation programs offer services to high-risk families to prevent their children from placement into foster care. Orchards preservation programs served over 5,000 children last year in ten counties, and over 95% of these children were able to remain at home.

We are also pleased about the expansion of our Family Preservation services to include assistance to children who are returning to their parent(s) after a placement in foster care in Lenawee, Monroe and Shiawassee counties.

We perform family preservation services for a wide variety of families ranging from those that are having difficulty assisting their child(ren) in attending school regularly, to those families with youth returning home after residing in a juvenile facility or foster care placement, to families where their children are at risk of being removed due to domestic violence, substance abuse and/or homelessness. Our workers are on call 24/7 to assist families with the formulation and follow through of specific safety and crisis plans to account for all situations that may pose a risk to their child(ren)’ safety. Our workers also teach a variety of life skills to parents during their participation at Orchards.

Some of the topics they focus on are: household organization, accessing community resources, budgeting, nutrition/meal planning and child management techniques that help their children build a sense of responsibility and confidence. Our follow-up visits have shown us that families are continuing to use these learned skills up to a year after our initial intervention. We are proud of our family preservation programs that have helped stabilize families and shown them how to connect to programs and resources within their communities. We take great satisfaction in knowing that we have assisted families in identifying their current strengths and helped them discover new ways to create a more gratifying family life.