This study assesses how a sample of African American families with a loved one with schizophrenia cope using a commonly used family coping scale (F-COPES). The scale's overall performance and psychometric properties were tested to highlight how such families cope. The results demonstrated that families used proactive verses passive ways of coping. An exploratory factor analysis also demonstrated several unique ways in which this sample coped that were not included in the original subscales of the scale. The utility of using a family coping scale such as the F-COPES for practice and research with similar populations is reviewed. (Contains 3 tables.)