Ampersand Families

Name

Ampersand Families

Legal name

Ampersand Families

Website

https://ampersandfamilies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Foster Care and Adoption Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Individual and Family Services (6241), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family Resource Centers & Wraparound Support Services (EDACALAH)

Keywords

• Foster care adoption services
• Youth permanency services
• Child welfare services
• Relative search services
• Nonprofit adoption agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Rockville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Contracts and Grants: Ampersand Families programs are funded by the State of Minnesota through Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families' Public Private Permanency Collaborative (PPPC), Permanency Support Services (PSS), and Restorative Practices Initiatives (RPI) grant programs. Services are provided at no cost to families or referring counties under PPAI contracts.
2. Foundation and Corporate Grants: Funding from private foundations including Otto Bremer Trust, Sauer Family Foundation, Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation, Mardag Foundation, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation, The Elizabeth C. Quinlan Foundation, The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Casey Albert T. O'Neil Foundation, The Robert E. Fraser Foundation, Foundation for Development of People, The Roehl Foundation, The Mike and Linda Fiterman Family Foundation, The Ahmann Family Foundation, and The Baratz Family Foundation.
3. Individual Donations: Hundreds of individuals support the organization through financial contributions. Donations are accepted through Network for Good platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Ampersand Families is a Minnesota-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides adoption and permanency services for older youth (primarily ages 10 and up) in the foster care system. Its core offerings include child-specific recruitment, intensive relative/kin search and engagement (Kin Link and RSES), home studies and foster care licensing, Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) trauma assessments, parent consultation and caregiver training, the MYVoice youth leadership program, and the Minnesota Heart Gallery photography recruitment program. All services are delivered at no cost to families and referring county or tribal agencies under contracts with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families.

Product overview

Ampersand Families is a nonprofit adoption and permanency agency that operates as a unified service organization rather than a technology platform. The organization offers a coordinated portfolio of programs including permanency services (Child Specific Recruitment, Relative Search and Engagement, Kin Link), family support (Home Studies, Foster Care Licensing, Parent Consultation), clinical assessments (Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics), youth leadership (MYVoice), caregiver training and support (Parent Trainings, Caregiver Roundtables, Family Retreats, LGBTQ+ affirming training), and community engagement (Minnesota Heart Gallery, Buddy Family Program). Services are delivered through direct case management by trained professionals and are largely funded through partnerships with Minnesota's Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The organization does not offer a software platform, API, or technology product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Child Specific Recruitment Intensive, youth-focused permanency service for older youth (age 10+) in foster care. Combines relative/kin search, outreach to important people in the youth's life, matching with licensed families on the state adoption exchange, and Lifebook work. Available to state wards at no cost to referring counties.
• Kin Link Program that preserves and supports family connections for kids in care through intensive relative and kin search and engagement. Builds comprehensive family trees and works to ensure youth are surrounded by people they care about while in foster care.
• Relative Search and Engagement Services (RSES) 45-day intensive relative search and engagement service for youth in foster care whose parents' rights have been terminated. Workers create family trees using case workers, family members, government searches, social media, Ancestry, and other search engines, and work to connect relatives to the youth's care team.
• Home Studies and Foster Care Licensing Comprehensive home study assessment and foster care licensing services for both relative/kin and non-relative families. Family Permanency Specialists guide families through thoughtful self-reflection and trauma-informed parenting approaches at no cost to families.
• Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) Assessments Comprehensive trauma assessment developed by Dr. Bruce Perry that identifies the impact of childhood trauma on a young person's developing brain and provides building blocks for individualized care and intervention suggestions. Available to youth ages 6-23 at no cost; assessed youth receive an $800 stipend to help implement suggestions.
• Minnesota Heart Gallery Program that provides professional photo sessions for youth waiting for adoptive families, capturing each youth's personality and spirit, with images used to recruit families for Minnesota's waiting youth.
• MYVoice Youth Leadership Program Youth leadership program by and for Minnesota young people ages 12-22 with foster care and/or adoption experience, offering virtual hangouts, paid art creation, book reviews, creativity kits, and advocacy and systems change opportunities.
• Parent Consultation Supports Proactive parent consultation services provided around the time a youth or sibling group transitions into a pre-adoptive home. The agency contracts with adoption and trauma-competent therapists to offer personalized consultation on attachment, emotional and behavioral challenges, and parenting children who have experienced trauma.
• Innovative Targeted Recruitment for African American Youth Program that establishes community partnerships for targeted recruitment to meet the needs of African American youth under guardianship, focusing on community outreach, education, resources for families, and collaboration with counties and agencies across Minnesota.
• Parent Trainings Comprehensive caregiver training program (approximately 24 hours) covering agency-specific education and external partner trainings on topics including parenting in racially and culturally diverse families, affirming LGBTQ+ youth, relative/kinship parenting, and building resilience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 500+ youth placed in permanent families since 2008
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and FamiliescoreOthersState government agency providing primary funding through Public Private Permanency Collaborative (PPPC), Permanency Support Services (PSS), and Restorative Practices Initiatives (RPI) grant programs. All services to families and counties are provided at no cost under PPAI contracts with this agency.
• Mitchell-Hamline School of Law - Institute to Transform Child ProtectioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to provide FREE legal clinic for relative and kin families. Learn about rights as family members, hear from professionals on foster care licensing process, and consult with attorneys experienced in child welfare cases. Legal clinics held 3-4 times per year in virtual format.
• Neurosequential NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT). Ampersand Families is authorized to provide NMT comprehensive trauma assessments to youth ages 6-23 impacted by adoption and foster care systems. Through this partnership, youth receive $800 stipends to implement assessment suggestions.
• Foster Adopt MinnesotaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStatewide resource for foster and kinship families providing phone and email support, connections to licensing training, therapists, and other supports. Ampersand Families refers families to Foster Adopt Minnesota for additional resources.
• Quality Parenting Initiative (QPI) MinnesotacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational movement for system change within foster care. Ampersand Families is a fully trained Minnesota QPI site, committed to ensuring quality parenting and lasting relationships. Both organizations believe youth and family voices are paramount to creating effective change.
• Wilder ResearchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublished research on The Homecoming Project (2003-2008), the federally funded demonstration project that preceded Ampersand Families and demonstrated permanent families could be found for hard-to-place teenagers.
• Minnesota One-Stop for CommunitiesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParent mentors who assist other parents in navigating the child welfare system. All mentors are parents who have experienced the impact of child protection in their lives. Ampersand Families refers families to this resource.
• Minnesota Care PartnersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerProvides variety of services from parenting support to mental and chemical health support, especially geared toward marginalized communities. Ampersand Families refers families to this resource.
• LSS KinshipminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupport groups and resources for kinship caregivers. Ampersand Families refers families to this resource.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Casey Family Programs: Large national foundation operating direct services and grantmaking focused on safely reducing the need for foster care and advancing permanency. Operates similar permanency-focused programs with larger geographic and financial scale.
• Bethany Christian Services: National nonprofit providing adoption, foster care, and family services across the U.S. Comparable as a large, multi-state adoption and permanency provider, though operating at significantly greater scale than Ampersand.
• AdoptUSKids: Federally funded national project supporting adoption of children from the U.S. foster care system. Comparable in mission to recruit families for waiting foster youth, including older youth, though operating at a national rather than state level.
• Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS): Large Minnesota human services nonprofit operating foster care, adoption, and kinship programs. LSS Kinship is already a referral partner of Ampersand, indicating overlapping service lines and shared clientele in the state.

Direct peers

• FosterClub: National nonprofit led by foster care alumni providing peer support, leadership training, and advocacy for current and former foster youth. Highly comparable youth-leadership model to Ampersand's MYVoice program.
• Wendy's Wonderful Kids: Dave Thomas Foundation program funding adoption recruiters specifically for older children and teens in foster care. Direct overlap with Ampersand's child-specific recruitment focus on hard-to-place older youth.
• Promise686: Georgia-based nonprofit mobilizing churches and families to support adoption, foster care, and permanency for children from hard places. Comparable mission and faith-rooted community mobilization approach.
• Adoption Minnesota: Statewide adoption support nonprofit offering education, advocacy, and search services for adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive families. Comparable mission around adoption and permanency support in the Minnesota market.

Regional players

• Children's Home Society of Minnesota: Large Minnesota-based nonprofit providing adoption, foster care, and family services statewide. Directly comparable as a regional adoption/permanency agency with overlapping county-contract relationships and similar service portfolio.
• Treehouse: Washington-state nonprofit providing educational and wraparound support for youth in foster care. Comparable as a regionally focused foster-youth support organization delivering direct services with foundation and government funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ampersandfamilies
• YouTubevimeo.com/ampersandfamilies
• Facebookfacebook.com/ampersandfamilies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ampersandfamilies
• Instagraminstagram.com/ampersandfamilies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ampersand Families