Our "Family Finding" program was recently featured in the "Wall Street Journal".

Every child wants a loving home. Unfortunately, many children in foster care experience multiple placements, often leaving the children feeling abandoned and desperate for family connections. In the process of moving, children often lose all connection with their biological families, even with healthy, safe relatives.

EMQ's Family Finding program helps reconnect children with safe, healthy families and speed their recovery from emotional trauma. Using internet search technology, we are able to find biological family members for children in the system. Once we have identified family members, we work to reestablish relationships and explore ways to find a permanent family placement for the child.

EMQ's Family Partnership Institute provides training on how to do Family Finding. For more information, review Family Search & Engagement: Calling the Children Home. You can also download the comprehensive Family Search & Engagement Practice Guide.

» Jacqueline: A Family Finding Story

» Trevor: A Family Finding Story

• Children experience permanent, loving, and stable kin relationships.

• Children avoid the disruption, chaos, and rejection that result from multiple placements.

• Children avoid the trauma and emotional pain that may occur from being separated from their families.

• The average time to place a child using Family Finding strategies is about 6 months to a year, compared to years of multiple placements in the child welfare system.

• Additionally, there are thousands of dollars saved. When compared to group home care, the one-time costs of Family Finding are much lower.

Prior to implementing Family Finding at EMQ in September 2003, only 37% of youth who were not living with family at entry to EMQ's 24/7 Intensive Family Services program were discharged to families.

By implementing Family Finding services for our 24/7 program, we expect that:

• 70% of the children in our 24/7 care program at the beginning of treatment will be reunited with families at the end of treatment.

•  90% of the children in 24/7 care at the beginning of treatment will establish family connections by the end of treatment.

You can help a child in foster care connect to family members by making a donation. Consider that:

• $25 pays for an internet search to find safe, healthy family members for a foster child.
  
• $500 pays for a plane ticket so that a foster child can visit those family members.

You can make a donation on-line here.

Family finding programs are cropping up at agencies across the country. You can look for one in your state.

» Family Finding Articles