Family Preservation

Catholic Charities has multiple programs that serve to strengthen families and cultivate parenting skills so parents can create a safe environment for their children. The Arizona Department of Child Safety refers parents to our Family Connections, Nurturing Parenting, Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T (Families in Recovery Succeeding Together) and SENSE (Substance Exposed Newborn Safe Environment) programs.

Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. (Families in Recovery Succeeding Together) helps parents with substance abuse issues navigate resources to obtain and maintain sobriety.

Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. (Families in Recovery Succeeding Together) helps parents with substance abuse issues navigate resources to obtain and maintain sobriety. We link families to appropriate resources such as outpatient treatment, detox programs, individual counseling to address trauma and community supports to assist with maintaining sobriety. The goal is to assist the family with tools to provide a safe and stable living environment. Clients are referred to this program by the Department of Child Safety. In most cases, children have been removed from the parents care and placed with other family members or foster families.

Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T.

Shevona, a client in Northern Arizona, wrote our Catholic Charities Team a letter about her experience with Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T.:

My name isn't important. Although, who I am is important! I am a grateful, substance free addict. I was a heroin addict for 28 years and a meth addict for just as long. My husband and I had our newborn baby girl removed from our care by the Department of Child Safety, which lead us down a destructive path that was taking us further away from getting our daughter back.

We were hanging on by a thread, but by the grace of God we were given some pretty amazing people to help guide us on our journey to sobriety and getting our princess back. One of those people, was and is Cindy with Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. She's been our rock! From helping us out with a tank of gas, some diapers, or even just listening so we can vent; she's been there! We continue to count on her for advice and any other thing she might be able to help us with.

Today we have our daughter and have been clean for close to one year and Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. has been part of the reason my family is back together today. We are forever grateful for the Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. program and their commitment to walking beside us when others simply walked away from us.

Supporting Families in Crisis

When you support Catholic Charities, you support people like Shevona who are working to make a fresh start. Our compassionate case mangers walk along side people and families in crisis and help them work toward stability.

You can support Arizona Families F.I.R.S.T. with your Arizona tax credit or by shopping our Amazon Charity List.

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Written by:
Holly Yzquierdo is an experienced Marketing and Communications Manager and has served at Catholic Charities since 2014. She is passionate about helping nonprofits share the impact of their work in a digital world. Holly has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cameron University. Outside of work, Holly enjoys spending time with her family.

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