Roxy Tines has been helping children and parents for the past decade. She is a former Larimer County caseworker who worked for the county from 2014 until 2022 and is now the chapter director of an organization called Safe Families For Children. Safe Families for Children is a national organization out of Chicago dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect, reducing the number of children entering the child welfare system and stabilizing families.
Tines brought a chapter to Northern Colorado in 2020, after she searched for hosting family resources and found out about one of the two already existing chapters in the state. She said she initially wanted to just bring the resource to the area for her coworkers, but soon realized this was her path to helping families more. “It’s really to show families that are having a tough time that there is somebody that cares about them,” said Tines.
“Because that can mean a world of difference. I’ve had families call me and I (gave) them an hour to just process what they are going through, and after they feel better.” Tines estimated that 75%-90% of her referrals come from the county, while the rest come directly from struggling families.
Since 2020, Tines said that Safe Families for Children has helped people in more than 50 cases and hosted more than 1,500 nights for families. Tines said that during her time working with the county, she found that many families were going through crises alone. She said the chapter has filled.