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 environme