About Our Chapter
Our Story
Safe Families for Children serves Ada, Canyon, Gem and Owyhee counties in Treasure Valley, Idaho. We are committed to serving families who are in crisis and socially isolated. Our heart is to engage the local church in family preservation through Biblical hospitality – the love of a stranger. Our main objectives are: family support/stabilization, preventing abuse and neglect, and deflecting children from unnecessarily entering the foster care system.
Our aim is to resource and equip local churches to be at the forefront of loving and serving vulnerable children and families. Parents in need ask Safe Families to host their children in the safety of the host home, while parents handle their crisis situation. The SFFC team – host family, family friends, family coaches, resource families – reaches out to the placing parents to provide a circle of support.
Our Families
Safe Families for Children would not exist without the hard work and dedication of our volunteer families. Host families graciously open their homes temporarily to children whose parents are going through a difficult time. Host families and placing families are supported by volunteers who provide help such as transportation, respite, meals, resource donations, mentoring, and employment assistance. Our volunteer family coaches monitor the care of a child while he or she is in a host home and support parents in getting back on their feet.
Our Churches
The backbone of the Safe Families movement is the Church. Local churches recruit volunteers and support their congregations to serve and reach out to parents who are in a crisis situation. Churches of various sizes and denominational or non-denominational backgrounds are active partners with Safe Families for Children.
Our Team
Although our amazing volunteers are the ones who take the movement of Safe Families for Children into the community, they are supported by our staff. Our staff passionately invest their time and talent engaging churches, building the base of volunteers, vetting and training volunteers, completing intake of families in need, creating hosting arrangements, supervising Family Coaches, and so much more.
Jessica Ruehrwein
Director
Jessica Ruehrwein is the Lutheran Community Services NW District Director for the Treasure Valley and has over 20 years of experience in program management, strategic planning, and nonprofit leadership. Jessica is the former Executive Director of RISE, an educational partnership focused on student equity. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree from Utah State University in natural resources management. While her education focused on the environment, much of Jessica’s career has been in human services. She views the earth and people as being deeply connected and healthy relationships create healthy communities. Jessica lives in Boise with her husband, two sons and dogs. She is an outdoor enthusiast who loves to backpack and indulge in the simple pleasures of life.
Michelle Batten
Program Manager
Michelle grew up in a home with an adopted sister and numerous foster siblings and experienced that for some children love, a good education, and a church community was not enough to heal the wounds of early years. Seeing the complex needs of early childhood drove Michelle to understand the impact of trauma as she pursued a masters in Human Development and Family Studies. She has continued her education through the pursuit of certification as a ACPI Certified Parent Coach with a specialized focus in trauma and a TBRI® Educator and is now pursuing a masters in Clinical Mental Health. Her passion is to help parents navigate the complicated behaviors of children who have experienced adversity in their early years. When she is not working with families she teaches in kids ministry or paddleboards rivers and hikes in the mountains.
Micah Green
Program Coordinator
Micah grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and is a beach kid at heart! He has experience working with homeless and at-risk youth and their families at Hays House and Interfaith Sanctuary, as well as international experience working with refugees. As our Program Coordinator, Micah will be recruiting and mobilizing our volunteers and churches who make our work of strengthening families possible. “Our world gets better when communities of faith do what they are called to do. I’m passionate about working with marginalized communities and helping people understand their intrinsic worth and potential.” Micah recently got engaged to the love of his life, and you can find him coaching football or playing spikeball throughout the year!
Emily Erickson
Program Supervisor
Emily has been with Safe Families for Children in the Treasure Valley since our inception. A former foster parent herself, she has a deep love for kids and protecting families. Emily primarily works with the families in crisis we are coming alongside, and constantly brightens up a room with her positive attitude. We are so lucky to have her on our team! Fun fact about Emily: She is very musically inclined! She can play: piano, guitar, bell-tower, and organ.