Family Support Center of Salt Lake City

The Family Support Center of Salt Lake City, Utah was established in 1977 in response to the need for a safe place for children who were at risk for abuse or neglect. With funding and staffing support from the Junior League and the Utah Association of Child Therapists, the Family Support Center was born. Its mission is to protect children, strengthen families and prevent child abuse.

FSC quickly outgrew its original central city location and moved to 2020 South Lake Street. From offering crisis/respite care for children, the agency expanded its services to include mental health counseling, specialized treatment for child victims of sexual abuse and adults who were molested as children, an in-home parent advocate program for very high risk families, adoptive respite care and the newest program, LifeStart Village.

Crisis/respite care is provided free of charge for children from birth through age 11. Children may stay for only a few hours or up to 72 hours per admission. While in crisis nursery care, children receive nutritious meals and snacks, baths and changes of clothes, if necessary, organized play and free play time and sleep in their own individual beds. A ratio of 1 adult to 4 children is maintained. Houseparents are trained in basic first aid and CPR, as well as behavior management. Clinical staff are on call for crisis situations. Crisis nursery care is different from traditional day care in that there must be a crisis or emergency situation in the family with no other child care available. The Midvale crisis nursery is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Salt Lake City nursery is open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Plans are underway to open a third crisis nursery in the West Valley City area.

Traditional and specialized counseling services are provided with charges based on a sliding fee scale. Parent Advocates go into the homes where child abuse has occurred or the risk to children is high and help the parents develop the attitudes and behaviors toward their children that will allow them to safely remain in their own homes without having to spend time in foster care. Participation in the 37 week program is voluntary and provided at no cost to clients.

LifeStart Village is a three phase self-sufficiency training and housing program for single women with young children. In Phase I, or co-housing, single women and their children live in small, private suites connected to larger common areas. Women are required to participate in a rigorous program of self-sufficiency skills development, sharing responsibility for cleaning and maintaining the common areas, planning, preparing and eating meals as a group. After graduating from Phase I, women may advance to self-sufficient townhomes or cottages (Phase II) where they are responsible for all their own expenses and ultimately may have the opportunity for homeownership in a twin home (Phase III).

Adoptive respite care is provided for all children in a family, as long as one of the children was adopted through the state of Utah. A nominal fee is charged. Children may be cared for in-home while the parents have an evening out, or may be brought to the crisis nursery on one of the twice monthly "date nights."

The Family Support Center is a 501 (C )(3) non-profit organization.

External links

* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050913/ai_n15365175 "Support centers strengthen fragile Utah families" Deseret News, 2005]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050311/ai_n12933015 "LifeStart Village program earns HUD housing award" Deseret News, 2005]
* [http://www.ubstandard.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=73&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=2010&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1585&hn=ubstandard&he=.com "Family Support Center's mission is growing" Uintah Basin Standard, 2007]