Peter and Leanda Walls have become a court of last resort for parents who have lost almost everything, even their children.

Parents seek the Wallses' help after the court system puts their children in foster care because of alleged abuse, neglect or other instability in the home. It becomes the parents' responsibility to show they can be reliable.

"Parents need someone to make their lives stable," said Peter Walls, founder of Time Out for Parents, a program that provides tools for creating a stable home - employment, housing, food and transportation.

Time Out for Parents Is funded by the Wallses in collaboration with the nonprofit HarrisonBrook Life Enhancement Center, an Indianapolis group that helps adults with disabilities.

Since its founding in March 2000, Time Out for Parents has reunited 14 families.

"We give them the decent clothing, food and items they need to make them part of society," Walls said.

Parents are referred through a number of organizations, including the county Office of Family and Children, with which Time Out for Parents works to restore visitation rights.

The Wallses and three other volunteers are helping 10 families. Three of the families are living in furnished, rent-free homes; the group is providing help with repairs and maintenance for other families who remain in other homes.

"A home atmosphere gives (the families) a normal lifestyle," Walls said.''It gives inspiration to the mom and gets children excited to visit the family."

The program helps parents find employment and provides help in handling finances.

When Elizabeth Crudup, 37, entered the program last July, she was unemployed and living with her sister. Time Out for Parents provided Crudup with a furnished four-bedroom home and helped her apply for jobs.

Before Crudup's children were placed in foster care, the family was sleeping in the parents' lounge of Riley Hospital for Children. Now Crudup's children - Raquel, 3, Rachelle, 2, and Rafael, 10 months - visit her in her new home.

The staff also makes sure parents attend courtmandated classes. Time Out for Parents will pay for them if necessary. But it is up to the parents to complete the course.

"We try to keep them from depending on us, Walls said. "We point them in the right direction."

Volunteers took Crudup to her first two courtmandated classes.

"I needed someone behind me," Crudup said. "If you let them know you're sincere, they will stand by you 100 percent."

Crudup has finished her classes and anticipates having full custody of her children.

The average parent stays with the program until regaining custody, which generally takes 30 to 90 days.

All of the families who have left the program have kept custody of their children.

"Once the children are placed back in the home," Walls said, "you see the determination of the parents to keep those children."