Parents experiencing a temporary crisis can arrange for their children (newborn through 18 years old) to stay with host families while they address the issues that led to the instability in their lives. Host families are supervised by their church, which in turn is supported by Olive Crest professional child-care specialists. Children are matched with families in their own community whenever possible, and hosting average from one day to three months. During that time, Olive Crest caseworkers are available to provide volunteers with support and answer any questions they might have.
Volunteers open their homes to children whose parents are experiencing a short-term emergency, such as hospitalization, or a longer-term crisis, such as drug abuse. Designed to extend and strengthen the community safety net for at-risk families, Strong Families is a positive alternative to the state child welfare system, allowing parents to work out their problems without having to worry about losing custody of their children.
The program’s goal is to reunite children with their biological parent(s) in a home that is more stable and healthy, in part because of the contribution of the Strong Family intervention.