Ongoing Services

When the intake assessment and investigations department determines that a family would benefit from continued involvement with the agency, the family's case may be transferred to our ongoing unit.

For children who have been or are at risk of being abused or neglected, we first attempt to keep the family together by coordinating needed services. When it is necessary to remove a child from the home, we work with families to develop the problem-solving skills they need to live together in a safe and stable environment.

Whether the children are in the home, with relatives, or with a foster family, we work in partnership with families to make changes that will reduce the potential for abuse and neglect. For example:

•    We work with families to identify their strengths and talk about the concerns in order to set goals and make their home a safer place for children.

•    We coordinate needed services, which are provided directly by our caseworkers or through referrals to appropriate community resources.

•    We hold meetings every 180 days to review the progress families make on their goals.

•    We conduct home visits with children, parents and caregivers to continually monitor child safety and risk factors as families work toward providing a stable and nurturing environment for children.

•    We seek out relatives and kinship providers when children cannot safely return home to give children stability and permanency within their own family and/or community.

•    We seek out adoptive families for children who cannot achieve permanency with a relative or kin provider.

We also rely on the support of other community agencies for services we do not provide directly. Working in partnership with area agencies, we help connect families to a variety of social services such as:

•    Drug and alcohol abuse services

•    Family and individual counseling and psychiatric services

•    Job and family services

•    Wrap-around services

•    Domestic violence services

•    Health care needs