Host Home Overview

Why we need you!

Our Host Home program is an innovative and scalable effort that could move the needle for homeless students. It will save money and lives, but it will take a team.

Reasons you should be involved!

Youth who are “new” to our streets are more likely to become chronically homeless if we do not intervene within 15 nights.
68.4% of homeless students scored below standards. 82.3% of homeless students scored below standard in math and 60.4% of homeless students scored below standard in science.
Youth that have experienced homelessness are 50% more likely not to receive a high school diploma. It is our goal to develop this program to interrupt this cycle and produce education and personal successes for 50 of these homeless youth.
In 2019-20 , we had 1,063 Bethel-Eugene 4J youth experiencing homelessness and 272 of them identified as unaccompanied minors.
For every $1 spent on youth interventions that address homelessness, the community saves $4.12 according to a New Avenues for Youth study (Portland, Oregon 2010).
Oregon estimates that more than 21,000 students in the state experienced homelessness in the 2019-20 school year.
National studies indicate that most of these youth run away due to family conflict or abuse, while others are kicked out of their home and forced to fend for themselves.
We had hoped for better results. The 2019-20 numbers indicate the percentage of unhoused students in the 4J and Bethel school districts have remained unchanged from the previous year at 25.7%.
Last school year, 15th Night Rapid Access Network (RAN) advocates sent alerts on behalf of 162 unaccompanied students with a total of 292 services and resource requested. The most common requests were for basic needs like clothing and shoes, food and shelter. As of the end of the year, 30 local youth-serving organizations (“providers”) are responding to unaccompanied student needs via the 15th Night Rapid Access Network (RAN).

What is 15th Night?

One night on the street is too many. The 15th Night is a community-wide partnership that helps the current Eugene-Springfield students that are navigating homelessness and many are unaccompanied. Bringing together existing community resources, the 15th Night focuses on the safety and well-being of our vulnerable Eugene-Springfield youth who do not have a parent or guardian to support them. These resource teams include at least one representative from the University of Oregon, Bethel School District, Lane County Health and Human Services, the Eugene Police Department, City Councilor Ward 8, Eugene City Manager, Lane ESD, Eugene 4J School District, as well as over 30 area nonprofits.

Our latest effort is to work with individual high schools and their feeder middle schools on creating their own internal response team for homeless youth within their school. This is known as the School Mobilization Model. Our Host Home program is, at its core, working to engage the school’s parent and teacher community, as well as local neighborhood groups and business, to wrap services and support all around these youth. We believe this is a program/effort that is effective, innovative, and could be reproduced in any community.

Working Together To Protect Our Youth!

Here in Eugene/Springfield, homelessness is a wide-spread issue that many organizations have been grappling with for years. Many people turn to the Eugene Mission, or other shelters in our community, to seek temporary housing, especially during the cold winter months. However, if you are an unaccompanied youth and you are experiencing homelessness, you do not have access to adult shelters. This leaves youth with 12 (7 during COVID restrictions) beds at the one shelter we have for under 18 and 13 beds at another for youth indentifyling as female. Youth under the age of 18 are also unable to access many food distribution resources and resource centers due to their status as a minor.

AFFEC's Host Home Program is licensed through the state of Oregon. As one of the few licensed Host Home programs in the state, we are able to assist youth ages 0-15 years old. Youth 16+ and home providers are not required to go through the licensed program. We take pride in successfully completing the licensing process and are also very committed to assisting other blooming Host Home programs throughout the state.

The RAN technology was updated over the summer based on feedback from our community advocates and network of 30+ service providers. RAN 2.0 was successfully launched in late September and enables school specific RANs to be connected to the larger Community RAN.

The 15th Night expanded into Springfield this fall. Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield Police Department can now access the 15th Night RAN on behalf of students experiencing homelessness. Catholic Community Services, First Place Family Shelter, Whitebird Dental, and the Eugene Mission have all joined the 30+ network of providers who responded in real time to alerts.

Sometimes the 15th Night Network is unable to meet a specific need of a student. This is where our Community Responder volunteers step into action. Over 50 people have volunteered to receive alerts from the 15th Night when there is a need that is hard to fill like special clothing, shoes, or gift cards for food.

Even students are stepping up for each other. The Economic Justice League (EJL) for homeless and economically-challenged youth was created at South Eugene High School. Along with 15th Night, we are working to execute the vision of keeping kids in school and supporting those struggling with housing. One of South Eugene’s projects is opening a drop-in center for students to get help, support, and access to resources. This includes food throughout the school day as well as free dinners-to-go, access to computers and technology, washer and dryer, free counseling, and much more. The goal is to have this room open before school, during lunch, and after school for any student that needs support. We hope to bring in therapists, artists, performers, hair stylists, barbers, and mentors of all kinds. We plan to have Fancy Dinner nights, Hair/Makeup/Makeover nights, Open Mic/Performance nights, arts and crafts, movie and game nights, and more.

15th Night Rapid Access Network Community Partners are working together to safeguard the 460+ Eugene-Springfield unhoused students who do not have a parent or guardian to support them, or a permanent place to call home. With thanks to their involvement, the 15th Night community movement can prevent Eugene-Springfield youth from going out on the street, and intervene quickly if they do. This partnership includes many state / government resource and over 30 community nonprofits that all make a commitment to work together.

How Does AFFEC Fit Into the 15th Night Partnership?

A Family For Every Child provides three of their services to the youth serves by the 15th Night Network: Family Finding, Mentor and Host Home Programs. AFFEC has been providing both mentoring and family finding to the community for almost a decade and added the Host Home Porgram in 2018.

To learn more about...
Host homes and how to become one, click here

We are also looking for community members to join the movement and volunteer in a number of ways. If you are interested in volunteering in either capacity:

Fill out a volunteer application.

Select the appropriate boxes for either mentor, family finding volunteer, or host home.

A Family For Every Child

Volunteer

It takes a kingdom to make Princess for a Day possible and we hope you will join this year's royal court in celebrating all the beautiful children of the land! This event is made possible with the continued support of our community and the help of a lot of volunteers. There are a wide variety of areas where you can volunteer; take a look at the list below and find something that piques your interest. Our volunteer shifts average 4 hours unless you sign up for more.

*All volunteers must be 18+ years of age, or be 16-18 and chaperoned by an adult.

All Volunteer Areas

Registration
Hair Dressers
Makeup Artists
Nail Artists
Dress & Shoe Room
Decorations
Activity Leads
Photography
Set-up/Prep
Clean-up

If you have any questions about how to get involved with our Princess for a Day event, please contact our Events Team at events@afamilyforeverychild.org or call us at (541) 343-2856

About Princess for a Day

Princess For a Day is a community event where kids of all ages and backgrounds are treated to a day of luxury as they transform into princes and princesses. Both foster and community kids alike receive a day of pampering and excitement, straight out of a fairytale. They begin their day in the Princess Salon, where they have their hair and makeup styled like royalty--including a crown or tiara! Next, the princesses move onto the Royal Boutique, where they pick out a complete princess outfit including a dress, shoes, and accessories (all to take home and keep)! After their makeover, the princesses head to a photo shoot with professional photographers, where they'll receive a personal printed copy of their photo. Then they walk the red carpet, escorted by their favorite fairytale characters! The princesses and princes are then announced by name into the royal ball and tea party, where they dance with their favorite characters and enjoy a buffet of locally-sourced treats.

Princess For a Day is free to foster youth, and open to community kids through ticketing. To register for 2023's Princess For a Day, please click here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this event only for foster children? Not at all! While foster children attend the event for free, Princess For a Day is open to community children through ticketing. For more information on ticket prices and registering, please click here.

Is this event only for girls? A Family For Every Child firmly believes children of all genders, ages, and backgrounds can be princesses and princes. Attendees have their choice of princess dress and tiara or prince cape and crown.

Can I drop my kids off at the event and pick them up afterwards? No, children must be supervised at all times during the event. Each child is required to have an adult accompany them.

What time is the event? Can I show up at any time during the event? How long does it last? Princess For A Day lasts from 9AM to 5PM at Venue 252 in Eugene, OR. Upon registering, each attending Princess receives a timeslot for when they may enter the event. Once you check in at your timeslot, the event will take approximately an 1 to 1.5 hours to finish, depending on your child's pace.

Do we need to bring anything? Does my child need to come in a dress/costume? All princess supplies and costuming are provided by the event, and can be taken home at the end of the event. Kids are encouraged to wear shorts and a tank top under their street clothes, to easily slip their dress over.

Are walk-ins allowed? Walk-ins are accepted at Princess For a Day, however pre-registration is highly recommended to avoid long wait times and secure your spot. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and we typically sell out early each year.

My child would love this event, but we can't afford it right now. Are there scholarships available? Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and donors, we often have a limited number of scholarships we are able to give out. Please reach out to us directly to enquire about availability.

Where can I find photos from previous Princess For a Day events? All of our photos from past events are posted online. Click here to view 2022's Princess For a Day.

A Family For Every Child

2023's Sponsors

Cherita Wilson, Exp

Online Matching Events

Our Online Child Matching Events and Online Family Matching Events utilize user-friendly and accessible technology to better match children with their forever families. Social workers present children from their caseload to an audience of adoptive families via an online webinar program.

What Types of Programs Do We Use?

We use Microsoft Word PowerPoint to highlight the children, where we arrange the presentation in a very professional and useful way.

Does This Help with Adoption?

A Family For Every Child’s Online Child Matching Events are becoming increasingly popular, and are especially helpful for children in foster care that have a harder time finding a forever family.

How Does This Work?

Online Matching Events utilize easy, simple and accessible technology to portray foster children in a professional and aesthetically pleasing manner. We use several photos of the child to portray their everyday life, personality, and activities. The social worker presents a slideshow for every family that has an interest in the child.

Why these Events are Useful

Families are much more likely to become interested in a child after they’ve seen pictures and videos that represent the child’s personality, and after they’ve heard about the child’s behaviors directly from one of the people that know the child the best; their social worker. Families love these webinars, and feel that this is a great way to “hear about [the children’s] real personalities” and they appreciate being able to “hear directly from the social workers who know the children best” (Source from an August 22nd Online Child Matching Event attendee.)

Interested In Attending?

Online Matching Event Registration

Interested in Presenting?

(Clicking the link above; it will take you to an inquiry form that they fill out that will be e-mailed to AFFEC, alerting me that they are interested in presenting during an “Online Matching Event”. The MOU will also be on this page. The inquiry form will have first name, last name, agency, e-mail, how they heard about our matching events, what month they are interested in presenting, and if they’ve presented-tycfg-d in the past. Maybe what child they’d like to present as well but this one can be an option.)

Información en Español

A Family for Every Child (una familia para todos los niños) es una organización enfocada en encontrar hogares adoptivos permanentes y amorosos para niños de crianza temporal que están esperando. En los últimos 12 años, hemos desarrollado 10 programas que ayudan a los niños con necesidades especiales para encontrarles sus propias familias para siempre. Nuestros programas incluyen:

Heart Gallery (galería de corazones): The Heart Gallery es una herramienta utilizada para involucrar y educar la comunidad sobre las situación difíciles de los niños que viven en hogares de crianza temporal. Hacemos esto al mostrar imágenes profesionales y biografías de los niños esperando en lugares locales. Trabajamos con más de 50 negocios, lugares corporativos y religiosos

El sitio de web: Usamos nuestro sitio web para trabajar con los Heart Galleries y con asistentes sociales para proporcionar y facilitar imágenes profesionales e información sobre niños en crianza temporal. También es una herramienta de reclutamiento independiente con opciones de listado públicas y privadas.

La Programa de asistencia complementaria (MAP): El programa está diseñado para ayudar a las familias adoptivas a hacer frente al proceso de adopción complicado y, a menudo, frustrante y complicado. El concepto es tener una persona en nuestro personal y un sitio web de inicio de sesión exclusivamente para estas familias

Estamos aquí para ayudarlo ya sea si apenas está buscando recursos, si está empezando el proceso de adoptar, si está esperando una colocación, o si está buscando recursos postadopción. Todavía estamos en el proceso de traducir el sitio de web. Para información, recursos, o consultas enviarnos un correo electrónico a espanol@afamilyforeverychild.org.

Assistance for Adoptive Families

There are many resources and supports available to assist families with their decision to adopt.

Adoption Subsidy

Some of the children who are adopted through Child Welfare are considered children with “special needs.” Special needs, as defined by the Department of Children and Families includes:

A child who has one or more special needs as a result of a mental, emotional or physical impairment, behavioral disorder, or medical condition that has been diagnosed by a licensed professional who is qualified to make the diagnosis
A child who is a member of a sibling group of 2 to be adopted together and one of the children is 8 years of age or older
A child is a member of a sibling group of 3 or more to be adopted together
A child is a member of an ethnic or cultural minority of whom reasonable, but unsuccessful efforts to place the child in an adoptive home were made and documented
The child’s birth and/or family history places the child at risk of having special needs but, due to the child’s age, a reliable diagnosis cannot be made.

Adoption subsidies are available to parents who adopt children who have physical or mental disabilities, or severe emotional problems. In addition to those children who qualify for subsidy through the Federal Title IV-E Adoption Assistance program, state subsidies are available to offset the additional costs of caring for a child with special needs. The subsidy programs are intended to remove financial barriers to the adoption of children with special needs, but they are not intended to cover the full cost of raising a child. The amount of the subsidy cannot be greater than the amount that child would have received had the child remained in a family-based foster care setting. The benefits available through the adoption subsidy programs are determined on an individual basis and may include monthly care and maintenance payments (a daily rate), health insurance coverage.

Adoption Tax Credit

In the summer of 2001, the Federal Adoption Tax Credit was updated. The most important update was to expand benefits to children with special needs adopted from the U.S. foster care system. Originally families adopting from the foster care system could claim the adoption tax credit, provided they had qualifying expenses. Unfortunately, the IRS list of qualifying expenses was limited to the cost of the adoption process, but not the day-to-day costs of raising a child with special needs. However, beginning in tax year 2003, families adopting a child with special needs from foster care, had access to this same tax credit without needing to document expenses. Since tax year 2005, the tax credit is $10,630 and you have the current year and up to the next five years in which to use it. For families that adopted in 2002 or earlier, you can only claim the credit against expenses you paid related to the adoption process.

If you have questions on the adoption tax credit, contact the North American Council on Adoptable Children at 651-644-3036 or adoption.assistance@nacac.org. You can also visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov or call 1-800-829-1040.

Employee Benefits

Employer adoption benefits may include reimbursement for costs, paid or unpaid time-off and other support services. For more information contact the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption at 1-877-777-4222 or info@adoptionfriendlyworkplace.org, or visit their website.

Mission

“A Family for Every Child is dedicated to finding loving, permanent families for every waiting foster child.”

Our Vision

To facilitate, encourage, and publicize the need for families to adopt special needs children. To inspire and educate families that otherwise would not have thought of becoming an adoptive family.

The Future

One of our primary focuses of the upcoming year is the “aging-out” group of teens. These are children ten years old and older who are at risk of “aging out” of the foster care system. Statistics tell us that only half of these youths will graduate from high school, and fewer than three percent will graduate from college.

Finding permanent parents for teens before they exit foster care, no matter what their age, is the single greatest positive youth-development program. The greatest need in the adoption field is to do special recruitment, retention, and support for adoption of children ages ten and older.

Our focus will be lifetime-committed parents, adoption and teen-permanency programs, which will include Family Finding, ten-and-older adoptions and mentoring.

It has been quite a year and we thank you for that! We hope to continue to have your involvement and support in the future, as it is evident through our successful programs that we ARE making a difference. We could never be doing such incredible work without you and the support of the very generous community.

In Kind Donations

We need a large variety of items that help our programs to be successful. These items range from office supplies and furniture to gift certificates at local businesses. Please take a moment to read through our wish list below and see if you can help!

Office items

Blank CD’s & Cases to be used to send photos of children to caseworkers.
Table Easels
Picture Frames: 8″x10″ & 12″x18″
Digital Picture Frames
Photo Albums 4″x6″
Computers/Laptops
Large red table cloths for events
Office Chairs

Gift Cards & Coupons

We are in need of gift cards/coupons to local and national businesses that our mentors can use when spending time with a child. This helps to offset the cost involved for the many mentors who donate large portions of their time and money to be involved in the lives of these children. Additionally, we have a small army of volunteers who work tirelessly to create/update the website, family matching assistance programs, heart gallery, training, data input, etc. and it goes a long ways to show our appreciation to them once in a while with a lunch or dinner.

So, gift cards/coupons to coffee houses, restuarants, laser tag, paintball, bowling, golfing, etc.

Books / Games

Many of the children that are adopted are through A Family For Every Child are above toddler age and many of the parents are first time parents. To help with this new experience, we are looking for books and games that can be given to families and the children to start things off right.

Small light weight games that can be shipped
Crafts for kids
Books

National Mentor Partnership Program

Would you like to change the life of a foster child?

Many of our organizations do wonderful things to help foster children. Are you looking for other ways that can make a huge impact on the youth in your area? Start a mentor program and we are here to help.

A Family for every child was started in 2006 and has developed many successful programs to help youth in foster care. One of our most successful programs is our mentor program. Our goal for our mentor program is to create meaningful mentoring relationships that will help increase the odds for future success for the young person. Studies show that surrounding foster care youth with positive role models will help increase their odds for future success.

Mentoring relationships can play a huge role in helping foster youth reach their potential and have healthy successful lives. Research shows that youth who are mentored are 45 percent less likely to use illicit drugs; 59 percent more likely to succeed in school; and 73 percent more likely to attain higher life achievement goals. Foster youth are moved from school to school and home to home. They lack stability and permanency. It is our responsibility to ensure that these youth have the opportunity to build lasting relationships. These youth can learn to thrive when someone gives them the time and energy to show they care.

Want to set up a mentor program in your area?

The mentor support system provides guidelines on how to build new mentor programs and/or successfully help strengthen your old program. It focuses on designing and planning the program, managing the program and sustaining the program. As Oprah Winfrey once said, "A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself."

We will provide the following assistance for agencies working with "at risk" youth.

Selecting the management team for your organization.
Developing a financial plan
Promoting the program
Building relationships with Department of Human Services, therapists, schools.
Building relationships with community partners.
Recruiting mentors.
Training, screening, background checks on mentors.
Matching process.
Monitoring and support of the mentor/mentee relationship.
Closure
Evaluation of the program's success.
Sustaining the program.

Adoption Questions

Getting Started

What kinds of questions might I ask about a perspective adoption?What kind of information do I need about my adopted child? When is it provided?

Why the child was initially (and, if applicable, subsequently) placed in foster care
A description of the home environment from which the child was removed
Details about the child’s other placements while in care

When children join a new foster or adoptive family,they often bring complicated histories that include abuse and neglect.

Some children have multiple diagnoses that affect their health, social and emotional well-being, and school performance. The more you know, the better prepared you can be to advocate for your child and handle situations as they may arise. Accurate information will also help you know more clearly why and when you may need to seek support from various professionals, get advice from experienced foster and adoptive parents, or tap into other community resources for help.

Social and Medical History

Start by learning as much as you can about your prospective child's social and medical history from your state, province, county, or agency. Specific rules on what must be shared vary by state and province. You should seek the following information:

The child’s school records and other details about the child’s educational experiences and abilities
An assessment of how well the child interacts with peers, adults, and others
Immunization and other health records (including diagnoses such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and problems arising from other prenatal drug exposure or pre-term delivery, attachment difficulties, learning disabilities, emotional and behavioral problems, and other mental health concerns)
A checklist of the child’s behaviors, and how certain diagnoses and issues play out in family life as well as how other families have learned to cope with them
Non-identifying details about the birth parents (including their general background, education, employment, armed services history; social or medical risk factors, drug usage, medical and mental health history, other children, and extended birth family history). Also inquire about the birth mother’s care during pregnancy, and any risk factors for the child due to the mother’s experiences during pregnancy or complications during delivery.

Information from Former Caregivers

Former caregivers may also be willing to share what they know about the family and offer insight about the child. Questions you might ask include:

What information about the child’s and the birth family’s social and medical history do you believe is significant?
What is missing from the paperwork?
How can I get more information?
Currently, how is the child’s health? Are there any diagnoses or allergies you know of that are not listed in his file?
Is the child still in touch with his/her birth family? If not, when was the last contact the child had with the birth family?
Does the child have siblings? Does the child have contact with the siblings? Will contact continue and to what degree?
Is the child showing behaviors related to abuse, separation, or other trauma? Have other children been victimized by this behavior? If so, how?
How many moves has the child experienced in foster care? What were the reasons for the moves? How is the child functioning as a result?
How does the child relate to peers in the neighborhood and school?
What methods of discipline does the child respond to best?
What comforts the child? What comforting objects do you think should follow the child into adoption?
What items, smells, foods, experiences, or events seem to trigger negative behavior in the child?
What, in your opinion, is at the root of these behaviors? What in the child’s past might be causing him or her to behave in certain ways?
Would you be willing to tell the child that he or she has your permission to join our family?
Would you be willing to maintain some contact with the child during the transition to adoption? Provide respite care?

Take Action

After gathering all the information you can, the most important thing you can do is to firmly commit to doing whatever it takes to help the child let go of the pain from his past and learn to face the future with hope. To learn more about the importance of family background information and find links to specific state laws, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway

I'm having problems with the child welfare system. What can I do to help change it?

If you want to help change the system, join others who are already working in that area. Contact the parent groups in your area (find a database of groups at this link) to find out what they are doing or if they know of other advocacy groups you can get involved with. To report a specific problem, contact your adoption manager or the NACAC representative in your state. You may also want to contact one of AdoptUsKids’ Training and Technical Assistance consultants (a directory of staff and consultants is available at AdoptUsKids: Permanency - Tools and Resources).