TFI: The Family Initiative continues expanding its reach.
Last month, TFI announced its latest expansion area — the Dallas Metroplex — through its affiliate Empower program. This means TFI is managing foster care placement and case management services in north Texas, overseeing casework of over 2,000 foster children in and around Dallas. The move also means TFI now serves children and families in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Vice President of Marketing and Communications Taylor Forrest tells KVOE News the Dallas Metroplex continues TFI’s work in community-based child welfare.
The Texas announcement follows the Kansas Department for Children and Families’ decision to grant TFI one of the state’s family protection services contract late last year. More recently, TFI has announced Anna Brown as its new director of Grow Nurturing Families, a Kansas-specific program emphasizing praise, positive reactions and quality time between parents and children.
Forrest says TFI is also a founding member of the recently-formed National Center on Community-Based Child Welfare, a resource organization designed to help other child welfare agencies across the country.
TFI started as a summer camp near Admire in 1965 and rapidly grew into a long-term residential care operation. TFI moved from rural Admire to Emporia in 1987, adding an emergency shelter in 1989, securing a child placement license in 1990, opening a visitation and exchange center in 1995 and securing a foster care and reintegration contract with the state in 2000. It began expanding services outside Kansas in 2012. Last year, TFI served more than 6,200 children through prevention, foster care, adoption and residential services.
TFI also has about 1,600 staff and over 600 foster parents across its coverage area.
