Families First of Michigan
Meeting Needs with Dignity & In-Home Support
Working alongside Family & Children Services, Families First of Michigan is a Kalamazoo County program serving families whose children are at risk of out-of-home placement due to reported abuse or neglect.
Service Overview
Families First offers families intensive, short-term crisis intervention and family education services in their homes for four to six weeks using the Families First of Michigan model. Workers are available and accessible to the family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The worker helps the parents identify their needs and strengths with regards to parenting, and then develop a plan with them to meet their children’s developmental, physical, emotional, educational, medical, and safety needs.
Families receive an average of 10 hours of face-to-face contact per week. Additionally, each client’s Families First worker is accessible 24 hours a day for emergencies.
The program treats its clients with dignity and respect, delivering services in a non-discriminatory manner, and respecting religious and spiritual beliefs. Clients are full partners with us when establishing goals for our work together.
Interventions focus on:
- Crisis intervention and safety planning.
- Parenting skills education.
- Communication and conflict resolution skills.
- Life/home management skills.
- Addressing concrete needs.
- Connection with community resources.
- Family/marital support.
- Addressing transportation needs.
- Flexible scheduling.
Eligibility and Referrals
Families First is a referral-based, voluntary program serving:
- Families whose children are at risk of out-of-home placement because of abuse or neglect.
- Children in foster care who are being reunited with their families.
Referrals can be made by:
Need Assistance or Information?
To learn more or to pursue a referral, please contact our Clinical Services Manager, Christine Seput, MA, LPC, by phone at 269.344.0202 or by email.