PSSF: Helping Families Reduce Stress and Crisis

JFS Delaware’s Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) program works with at-risk or in crisis families to identify support systems and develop action plans to help them reach their goals with confidence. PSSF can held reduce family stress and crisis, increase networks of support, connect families to services and resources, improve child and adult relationships, and much more. Below is a story about how one family benefitted from using PSSF services.

Amber is a PSSF client in a multi-generational household, a grandfather, daughter, and grandchild who all live with a family friend. For years there has been a lack of medical care, employment, and financial security, compounded by the fact that members of the household have prior or current criminal history. These barriers, along with the condition of the house which makes it difficult to find and maintain proper paperwork, led to Amber spending most of her time trying to keep everything a float to avoid eviction, repossessed cars, or jail time.

On top of all this, the family friend was placed on hospice recently, but important documents and POA were still in his wife’s name, who passed away several years ago. Amber realized the need for a notary to begin transferring certain things over to her so that the friend could continue to live in his home and obtain proper medical care, as well as formulate a plan for the other household members when the friend passed on. There is also a nine year old child living in the home, who has experienced a great deal of trauma, as well as moving from place to place. The mother is working hard to stabilize the household so that the child has a safe and peaceful home to live in.  

The JFS Family Consultant contacted a mobile notary signing agent who agreed to assist the family. Although the costs for a mobile notary are not high, the PSSF family is without a steady income and could not afford the notary services. Since this was a very important step in achieving their goals,  JFS covered the cost of the notary through the PSSF crisis fund.  

So the notary and Family Consultant visited the family at their residence. If the case was straight forward, the notary would have witnessed the signing of the paperwork and gone on her way. However, this was not straightforward and there were years and even decades of paperwork to sort through, some of it incomplete. On several occasions Amber had been given wrong advice, which led to documents that could not be verified or notarized.  

The mobile notary spent two unhurried hours with Amber, her father, and the family friend. She carefully looked over each document and explained the processes to the family, while patiently answering their questions. She was extremely kind and compassionate to their unique situation and the crises they are encountering. The main concern was that the elderly friend would be able to pass away in his own home, and the notary was able to show him paperwork that gave him legal protection to remain in his home.  

The elderly family friend was so grateful to finally get some answers to the state of his property and assets that he had not been able to obtain since his wife passed away. Amber thanked JFS staff members with tears in her eyes, and was also so grateful to finally get some clarity on a very overwhelming situation. It was the first time in possibly years that she was able to get assistance from an agency and not just be brushed off.  

This highlights the importance of JFS to be involved in community outreach. The mobile notary that the Family Consultant used was someone that they had met at a community event in summer of 2022. She ended up being the perfect fit for the family, someone who was able to advocate and advise on a very difficult situation with a great deal of empathy toward our clients, as well as provide mobile services as the elderly client who was not able to leave the home.  

Although much work remains to be done to notarize and finalize the paperwork for this family, they have taken the first important steps in reducing their stressors and assisting their elderly friend. They have already increased their knowledge of resources and network of support. In the coming weeks the client, mobile notary, and Family Consultant will be working together to achieve the proper paperwork and get all documents up to par and notarized so that the family can continue to live in their home and provide end of life care to their friend. 

To learn more about PSSF and the services provided, click here. If you would like to donate to support the work that PSSF does, click here.