Keeping Children Safe and Families Together

The Institute for Family Development (IFD) has been a leader in children and family services since 1982, advocating for cost-effective and equitable policies and programs that keep children safe and families together. Our programs decrease the need to place children into foster care, residential treatment, and juvenile justice facilities. Families are served in their own homes and engaged as partners in change.

IFD’s founders developed the evidence-based HOMEBUILDERS® model of intensive family preservation services, which has been replicated across the country and internationally. IFD provides ongoing quality assurance, training, and consultation to public and private agencies replicating HOMEBUILDERS®.

In addition to HOMEBUILDERS®, IFD offers a range of high-quality home-based parent education and family counseling programs throughout Washington State, serving about 3,000 families a year.

We are a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Our strategic goals include providing proven programs and practices, influencing public policy, and maintaining a strong organization based on accountability, equity, and inclusion.