FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 4, 2008

CONTACT: (609) 633-8507 Kate Bernyk

 

DCF, Family Connections Celebrate Reunified Families with
"Home for the Holidays" Event

EAST ORANGE, N.J.- The Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Family Connections celebrated the holiday season today with families who were recently reunited after their children spent time in foster care, at one of two "Home for the Holidays" events co-hosted by DCF this year.

"We are here today to celebrate the amazing work these families have accomplished to keep their families together, not just for the holidays, but forever," DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts said.

This marks the second year DCF has co-hosted a "Home for the Holidays" celebration with Family Connections.

"We are so proud to partner with the Department of Children and Families on the expansion of Reunity House to three sites this year. There is no greater gift we can give or receive than to strengthen parents and nurture children so that families can reunite and be whole and safe and healthy," said Paula Sabreen, Executive Director of Family Connections. "Children, parents, and the community as a whole - everyone wins with successful reunifications."

Family Connections is a community-based counseling and family service agency located in East Orange. On Dec. 4, DCF hosted a similar celebration earlier this month with Robins' Nest, Inc., a Glassboro-based private non-profit children's services organization that works with DCF to provide a wide array of community-based residential and in-home services.

Approximately 21 families from Essex County and the city of Paterson attended the event, which featured a buffet dinner, a visit from "Santa" and numerous fun activities for the children.

Families received donations of $50 gift cards to ShopRite stores, which were made possible through the New Jersey Food Council. Each family also received gifts, made possible by Family Connections and its board members.

DCF's primary goal is to serve and keep children in their own homes whenever possible and appropriate. However, if foster care is necessary, the goal for those children is reunification with their birth families. DCF does this by helping families identify their strengths and needs as a family, and providing them with the tools they need to achieve success.

The vast majority of children in foster care return home to their birth parents. In 2006 approximately 80 percent of children in foster care returned home to either their birth parents or a relative's home. Of those 80 percent, approximately 75 percent successfully remained at home for at least one year.

DCF has worked to expand services that support reunification. In 2007, DCF awarded a total of $6 million to several organizations throughout the state to assist with reunification services like parent-child visitation services, child care, housing supports, therapeutic support and aftercare assistance.

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