Hours
Therapeutic Early Childhood Program/Respite Care Services
Monday – Thursday, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Parent Education Classes Friday Respite Care
This service is limited to families on the waitlist.
How to Enroll
How to Enroll
Family Relief Nursery
The first step to receiving services is to call 503-972-9643 and speak to a staff member about scheduling an intake appointment. During this appointment we’ll help you determine if our services are a good fit with your family’s needs. Care is not provided for children at this appointment; however, we can meet you in your home. Families are enrolled as space allows. If you must be put on our wait list, you will be eligible to receive outreach services, such as resource referrals, one home visit per month, and Friday respite care.
Friday Respite Care:
Respite care is provided every Friday and limited to families on our waitlist. Space is limited to eight children. Clients enrolled in the program may call 503-972-9643 the Wednesday before to reserve a spot.
Program Overview
Family Relief Nursery provides five core services to strengthen families and give children the best possible start in life. These services are limited to currently enrolled families.
Therapeutic Nursery
We provide children with a high-quality therapeutic infant, toddler, or preschool classroom experience that helps them reach vital developmental and educational benchmarks. A low staff-to-child ratio ensures personal attention and builds self-esteem. We provide developmental assessments for all children, and referrals to additional resources are made as needed.
Respite Care
Our therapeutic classrooms give parents respite time to maintain employment, complete schooling, and resolve critical issues related to medical care, substance abuse treatment, and child welfare involvement. We also provide respite care one day each week for families enrolled in services on a first-come, first-served basis.
Parenting Education
We work with parents to cultivate parenting skills and build a strong family unit. In 2014, we implemented Nurturing Parenting, a family-centered, 12-week curriculum that enables parents to choose from a wide range of topics those most relevant and useful to them.
Home-Visiting Services
Two Home Visits per month are provided to families on the Waiting List and monthly visits to every enrolled family. Home Visits allow us to provide advocacy services and support. Upon entry in the program, we assess families’ risk factors and support systems, and in monthly or weekly home visits, we develop individualized plans that help parents set and achieve goals. We provide access to resources that help parents to remove barriers inhibiting the development of better parenting skills. Home safety assessments are conducted at six-month intervals to ensure families maintain safe environments for their children.
In-home Services
Families who do not wish to enroll their children in the therapeutic classroom have the option of attending parenting education classes and receiving home visits. Respite care is also available on Friday’s.
Culturally Specific Services
Family Relief Nursery has partnered with Portland Children’s Levy to offer enhanced services to African American families. These services include culturally specific parent educators, home visitors, teachers, support groups, and peer mentors.
Transportation Services
We provide free transportation services to and from services, although space is limited, and priority is for families without any other means of transportation.