TFI Family Services of Kansas which has an office in Fort Scott at 710 W. 8th, Suite 203, provides child welfare services to Bourbon County.
There are several current needs of families involved with TFI, Crystal Walker, permanency support worker, said.
“We are looking for good quality foster homes,” Walker said. “Also full-time drivers to transfer kids to court, visitation with families, etc. and furniture for those who may have just found a house and don’t have furniture, some need clothing. It’s on a case by case basis.”
To contact Walker, phone 620-371-8011 or email [email protected].
TFI partners with the State of Kansas to provide an array of services, Taylor Forrest, marketing specialist, said.
Besides foster care, adoption services are offered.
This includes recruitment, training and support of the homes.
Family preservation is there “If a family that needs extra help with parenting skills, we work with them to get them on the right track,” Forrest said.
There is a new program called Grow Nurturing Families that is offered, which is a parent-child interaction therapy, Forrest said.
It also offers the Family First Prevention Services Act services, Forrest said.
The following is from an interview with Forrest:
What does TFI stand for, the initials?
The Family Initiative
What services do you provide the community?
TFI Family Services provides an array of services to the community including foster and kinship care, family preservation, domestic and international adoption, counseling support and education, TIPS-MAPP training and visitation and exchange centers.
Where located?
TFI Family Services has locations across the entire State of Kansas, but our CEO office is in Topeka, KS.
What are the needs currently?
The biggest need TFI has is for more foster parents. In Kansas, there are more than 7,600 children placed into out of home care. There are approximately 2,000 foster homes in Kansas. This disparity means that children from your community are being placed outside of their home community, or in shelters. Foster parents are one of our essential partners in providing quality services to children and families.
Additionally, families we serve have many needs, to learn more about how you can support kids, visit www.tfikidsfund.org.
Contact information?
If you are interested in making a difference in the life of a child by becoming a foster parent, please call us at 833-7FOSTER or visiting us online at www.tfifamily.org.
Statistics on number of children in foster care placement and those needing placement in Bourbon County?
The State of Kansas provides detailed reports of children in foster care, broken down by each county. In January 2020, there were 75 youth in out of home placement in Bourbon County. Here is a link to that report: http://www.dcf.ks.gov/services/PPS/Documents/FY2020DataReports/FCAD_Summary/PlacementbyCountyFY20.pdf
What does being a foster family entail?
All individuals interested in becoming foster parents are required to take TIPS-MAPP training. TFI walks alongside and supports all our foster parents so they can best care for the children in their homes. To learn more about foster parent requirements, visit www.tfifamily.org/start-here/.
To learn more: