Flourishing Families of South Carolina started with a small cluster of foster mothers who met monthly in a local coffee shop to discuss how to help improve foster care in the Midlands in 2015. After recruiting foster homes and providing backpacks for youth entering the system, we quickly realized the need to better focus our efforts on meeting deeper needs of families caring for hurting children. In 2017, Flourishing Families grew into an official non-profit organization with the development of a board of directors who helped clearly define the mission by asking this key question: what did we have to offer that these families needed most?

 

What we discovered was this: foster, adoptive and kinship caregivers felt overwhelmed and isolated as they tried to meet the complex needs of their children. The trauma of childhood abuse and neglect combined with the loss of their first caregivers had caused changes in their brains resulting in challenging behavior. Traditional parenting methods were failing and families were starting to lose hope for the future. 

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Our mission is this: offer hope and healing to families affected by childhood trauma. We use Trust Based Relational Intervention® to teach caregivers a specialized approach to meet the unique needs of children who have experienced abuse, neglect and loss of a caregiver. Our specially trained TBRI® Practitioners provide personalized training and coaching sessions designed to address the unique challenges within the family. At this point, we are the only organization in the state offering TBRI® training and coaching directly to families. After receiving these family services, foster, adoptive and kinship families flourish in connected communities with specialized skills empowering children from hard places to prosper into healthy adults.

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Since 2017, FFSC has trained more than 100 caregivers in a group format using TBRI® Caregiver Training materials, both in person and virtually. TBRI® Practitioner Amie Cooper has provided TBRI® Training and Coaching Services to adoptive families across the state through a combination of in-home coaching and virtual training sessions. From the PeeDee to the Midlands and the Lowcountry to the Upstate, FFSC services are delivered with the family schedule and needs in mind. In addition to these services, FFSC has provided hundreds of families with information and referral to community resources. Support groups have been provided in homes and virtually for adoptive families to build community and establish a network of natural support.

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Beginning September 2021, Flourishing Families provides Adoptive Family Support Services to adoptive families in process and post-finalization through the South Carolina Department of Social Services. With this new service in place, hundreds more families will find hope and healing in the years to come. 

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