“I am inspired by these incredibly talented and committed students. They are inspirational and they uplift every child and parent. They help to eliminate fear, engender trust, increase the chances for safety, stability, healing and connection to others so that the surviving parent and their children never feel isolated, afraid or alone."
—ESTHER TORREZ
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
We will begin the new year with a new chapter in American history with the election of the 46th president and first female vice president. It is a good time to reclaim values that were lost and remind our elected leaders about our common mission to establish trust, heal the wounds that have divided us and revive the soul of America. Trust, compassion, and connectedness are at the foundation for establishing a more harmonious state of being. This in turn creates the equality we are striving to create to ensure that the children and families we serve have equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents.
In this next chapter, BFFI will work with families of domestic violence to create a safety net at home to prevent the trauma of separation of children who are at imminent risk of foster care entry.
BFFI continues the work launched in 2019 to provide coaching support for family reunification in cases where children have been removed from the home. In addition, BFFI expands its evidence-based practices to promote a Safe and Together¹ method for keeping the children safely with the domestic violence surviving parent. This method requires strong collaboration with Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services, Department of Public Health, Department of Mental Health, law enforcement and multiple community-based agencies to support increased competencies and collaboration for the safety and well-being of children – with less reliance on foster care.
BFFI in collaboration with Azusa Pacific University School of Behavioral and Applied Science, trains and certifies graduate students to become family coaches to work with families to create the safety net as families and their children transition to a safe, stable, healing relationships and environments. The coaches serve as mediators between children and families, facilitators of family bonding, advocates who break down the barriers that keep children and families from connecting and interacting with one another and navigators linking families to needed social and economic support services. The use of coaches as a prevention tool to create a safety net at home is one of the few, widely-evaluated interventions that has been proven effective in reducing child abuse and neglect.
I am inspired by these incredibly talented and committed students. They are inspirational and they ¹uplift every child and parent. They help to eliminate fear, engender trust, increase the chances for safety, stability, healing and connection to others so that the surviving parent and their children never feel isolated, afraid or alone. The root of fear is lack of trust and the coaches help to build trust, respect, compassion, love and empower families to break the cycle of domestic violence.
Esther Torrez
Executive Director
¹ Safe and Together program model was implemented in the state of Florida in collaboration, coordination and communication between child welfare and community partners, including domestic violence programs. BFFI’s Safe and Together model includes the basic concept of keeping families safely together, but BFFI is differentiated with a different delivery method.