National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center : Direct Service Programs : Directory : Family Ties Project

Strengthening Connections Conference Archive
This conference highlighted the unique parenting challenges among families affected by substance abuse, HIV and/or incarceration, and the importance of the parent-child relationship in a child’s development. More...

Call for Articles
The Resource Center is soliciting articles for the fall 2008 issue of The Source, which will focus on interventions that improve the physical, educational, and psychosocial well-being of infants and young children from families affected by HIV and/or substance abuse. [PDF]

2008 Teleconference Training Series
The Resource Center will host six trainings beginning in April 2008. The topics include the effects of methamphetamine, mental health services for women living with HIV and their children, and working with Latino families. More...

Assessing and Supporting Parenting in Families Affected by Substance Abuse or HIV (2007)
This guidebook provides practitioners and administrators with guidance in assessing, supporting, and strengthening parenting skills and parent-child relationships. [PDF]

National Abandoned Infants
Assistance Resource Center
University of California, Berkeley
1950 Addison Street, Suite 104 # 7402
Berkeley, CA 94720-7402
Phone: (510) 643-8390
Fax: (510) 643-7019
E-mail: aia@berkeley.edu

Family Ties Project
1438 Rhode Island Avenue, NE
Washington, D.C. 20018
Phone: (202) 547-3349
Fax: (202) 547-7148
Email: mpalmer@familytiesproject.org
Website: www.familytiesproject.org

Project Director:
Michelle Palmer, ACSW, LICSW

Deputy Project Director:
Melissa Sellevaag, LICSW

Evaluator:
Jeffery Menzer, RN, ACRN

Sponsoring Organization:
Consortium for Child Welfare

Description:
The Family Ties Project is a multi-agency, multi-disciplinary project established to help parents and caregivers plan for the future care of their children. The Consortium for Child Welfare, a coalition of the city’s private child welfare agencies, serves as the lead agency for this citywide effort which provides direct services to families affected by HIV/AIDS, provides training and education to service providers and caregivers, and promotes policy reform. The mission of the Family Ties Project is to promote and preserve the well-being of children, youth, and families affected by HIV/AIDS by working with parents and caregivers to plan for the future care of their children. These objectives are accomplished through the direct collaborative efforts of a multi-disciplinary team of service providers, including case managers, therapists, and attorneys. The project also advocates for policy changes to improve the life planning options available to parents and caregivers in Washington, DC.

The goal of the Family Ties Project is to: (1) decrease the risk of abandonment of children affected by HIV/AIDS through the development and provision of comprehensive permanency planning services which are initiated early in the case management process; and (2) develop policy and systemic reform which supports the parent’s choice in planning for their children’s life plans.