Samaritas

Samaritas has been providing services for children and families since 1934. We are the largest private foster care organization in michigan, with 11 regional centers in the lower peninsula. Foster care is a service provided to children from birth to age 18 who have been removed from their home because of risk of neglect or abuse. Foster families provide 24-hour care to children and help birth parents and children work towards family reunification. Samaritas staff providesupport, and the local family court reviews progress regularly. Our experienced staff are passionate about their desire to help foster families create a better life for the children in their care. (see schedule o for additional program details)in 2024, samaritas served 2,067 domestic youth in our foster care program. 83% of our youth in foster care had 2 or fewer placements in foster homes. In addition to domestic foster care, through samaritas' family preservation programs, we seek to guide parents toward creating a satisfying, nurturing home life for the entire family to keep children in their natural setting with their biological parents. Samaritas provides a continuum of services through our family preservation programs. Focused on the strengths of the family, we guide families toward keeping children safe in their own home. 547 families were served by these programs in 2024, of which 98% of children remained in their home or a relative placement for at least 6 months after the intervention. Through samaritas' adoption program, lutheran adoption services (las), we help children find a "lifelong loving family." every child needs love, shelter and guidance. These most basic of provisions are missing for some children, and the older the child, the direr the circumstances, especially when they come from an abusive or neglectful situation. In 2024, las facilitated adoptions for 196 youth.

Samaritas' new american services help newly arrived refugees navigate their confusing and sometimes scary first months in the united states. As the largest refugee resettlement agency in the state and fourth largest in the nation, samaritas has resettled thousands of people from dozens of countries in europe, asia, africa, the middle east and central and south america. Samaritas has been the michigan affiliate of lutheran immigration and refugee service (lirs) since the 1950s. With the support of the u.s. Department of state's reception and placement (r&p) program, samaritas provides newly arrived refugees with the essential services and support they need to begin to rebuild their lives and take steps toward becoming u.s. Citizens. (see schedule o for additional program details)samaritas provides each refugee with the support to obtain self-sufficiency and become contributors to society within one year of arrival. Our new american program services provide sponsorship of refugees and assistance with resettlement and job placement, in conjunction with lirs. Resettlement services provide core services such as reception, housing placement, cultural orientation, english as a second language, medical case management, and school enrollment. Services are provided for 90 days. After resettlement, the focus is to achieve selfsufficiency at 180 days with employment services designed to help newly arrived refugees find their first job and retain it, through the federal match grant program. In 2024, samaritas settled 1032 refugees and served a total of 6,951 individuals through our new american services. Samaritas' refugee foster care program serves youth who flee from war, violence or persecution in dozens of countries. By the time they get to the united states, they've been separated from and often lost contact with parents and other family members who can care for them and have often suffered great traumas and they're not even 18 years old. This program provides a variety of different services for refugee youth. Most youth are placed in local foster homes to provide the family environment that is ideal for young people. As youth mature and gain independence, they often graduate to a "rent-aroom" home, providing less supervision and more general guidance about how to live on their own. Many youth in the program may be matched with a mentor, who will be a positive role model and help them adjust to the customs and culture of the united states. Many youth also have a tutor who helps them learn in a new educational system and develop positive study habits. In 2024, samaritas served 318 individuals in refugee and foster and transitional foster care.

The samaritas family center westland provides shelter services for families, through a partnership of samaritas and wayne county. We welcome: two-parent families, single mothers or fathers with children, and pregnant women who are homeless in wayne county. The center can serve up to 85 persons in 23 rooms at one time and includes a full-time childcare center. The emergency food assistance program (tefap) provides commodity foods to eligible low-income residents in western wayne county and in the downriver areas. The family center isfocused on helping families engage in the many services offered in order to leave the center with a permanent housing option. In 2024, the family center provided 52 families with temporary housing. In 2024, we served 66 individuals with developmental/intellectual disabilities (dd/id), including individuals with autism, down syndrome, mental illness and other dd/id diagnoses. This support is achieved by providing a licensed home and care for individuals or by providing community living support services in a person's own home. We have multiple locations throughout the state where we are able to arrange these services and supports. We also assist individuals in maintaining independence within their own homes. By working with clients on adaily or weekly basis, we have the ability to see firsthand when they have physical/emotional/mental deterioration and address the issues so independence isn't threatened. We also work on skill building with clients to improve activities of daily living, socialization, communication, and community skills. We integrate our clients into local community activities in order to be among other community members and participate in activities of their choosing. Samaritas provides substance use disorder (sud) services to those who struggle with the impact of drugs and alcohol. Our sud treatment model includes: individual and group counseling, medication assisted treatment, case management and recovery coaching for adolescents and adults. We are, now more than ever, committed to combating this public health crisis. In 2024, samaritas served 1,291 persons in the program. Samaritas' trauma assessment services seek to assess the impact of children following exposure to traumatic events and make recommendations for appropriate individual and family therapy services to alleviate the impacts of trauma on the child's life. In 2024, samaritas completed 417 trauma assessments with 438 persons.samaritas manages 15 affordable housing communities where rental assistance is provided by the department of housing and urban development (hud) based on income eligibility. Thirteen of these housing communities serve senior adults living independently, two serve families, and one serves physically disabled persons capable of living independently with or without a live-in aide. For people on a fixed income, with low or no income, samaritas offers affordable living in michigan thanks to our hud subsidized communities. Each community features its own unique blend of residences, amenities, programs and healthcare services, so our residents feel like they are a part of a true community with friendly neighbors and caring staff that become like family. There is never a dull moment at samaritas affordable living because residents enjoy an abundance of activities that range from fun to educational and everything in between. In 2024, samaritas served 1,560 residents in affordable housing apartments.