Topeka, Kansas – March 1, 2024 – The Family Initiative LLC (TFI), a leading child welfare agency, is now one of the largest agencies of its kind in the U.S. TFI is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to assisting children and families through a full spectrum of child welfare services. Founded in 1965, TFI first started as a small rural day camp for youth outside of Emporia, Kansas. Currently, the organization provides programming across the U.S. focused on strengthening children and families and creating stronger, healthier communities. TFI’s programs include foster and kinship care, adoption, behavioral health, clinical and prevention services, residential, placement and case management services, administrative services, and child welfare software services in nine different states.
As of March 1, 2024, one of TFI’s affiliate programs, EMPOWER, will lead foster care placement and case management services in North Texas, making TFI one of the largest Community-Based Care (CBC) child welfare agencies in the U.S. EMPOWER was awarded the CBC contract from the State of Texas for the nine-county region of Metroplex East in North Texas with over 2,000 foster children in the Dallas metro area. The Metroplex East contract is one of the largest CBC awards in U.S. history. Overall, TFI holds four CBC foster care case management contracts, and two family preservation contracts in Kansas.
With a network of approximately 1,600 staff and over 600 foster parents, TFI has a broad reach serving children in need. In fiscal year 2023, TFI served 6,227 children in prevention, foster care, adoption and residential services. On March 1, EMPOWER will begin serving an additional 2,000 youth and families on any given day in North Texas.
“The network of organizations under the TFI Family of Companies umbrella are all committed to providing children with a nurturing, supportive environment and assistance needed, for children and for their families, to live a safe and healthy life,” says Michael Patrick, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TFI. “All of our staff have an extremely important role in our communities, and they work relentlessly to improve the lives of the children and families we serve. We are honored to do the work we do and look forward to continuing to support children and families in a positive way.”
Through the CBC model, TFI and its affiliate organizations are able to provide personalized, committed care and services that reflect the local community and its needs by connecting with a smaller region of individuals and resources.
TFI is also a founding member of the newly formed National Center on Community Based Child Welfare, a resource that will be available to other child welfare agencies. The purpose of this center is to bring community-based services to local communities across the United States. With a center of this type, TFI and other partner agencies will collaborate on best practices, promote advocacy, and share knowledge to sustain and grow CBC programs.
TFI is a parent company to six affiliate organizations that provide child welfare services across the U.S. The affiliates include:
- TFI Family Services in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri
- TFI Family Connections in Oklahoma
- Texas Family Initiative in Texas
- Pathway Family Services in Kansas and Texas, providing high quality, therapeutic residential services to youth
- Mainstream Nonprofit Solutions, an affiliate supporting the TFI Family of Companies and other nonprofits
- Foster Care Technologies, an affiliate providing child welfare technology solutions to different organizations
Each affiliate and its partner organizations support TFI’s mission of being devoted to the strength of family.
Foster parents play an essential role in supporting children and families during a difficult time in their lives. There are many children in foster care in need of a safe, loving place to call home throughout our communities. To learn more about how individuals and families can help these children in need, please visit our website. For information on ways to support children and families through TFI’s programs, please visit the donation page on our website.