8.0 Introduction to Family Preservation Services

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(8) Family Preservation Services

Policy Title:

Introduction to Family Preservation Services

Policy Number:

8.0

Previous Policy Number(s):

2105.1

Effective Date:

August 2016

Manual Transmittal:

2016-09

Codes/References

Public Law (PL) 103-66 Family Preservation and Support Services Act of 1993

Discussion

Family Preservation Services (FPS) is described by the Family Preservation and Support Services Act of 1993 (PL 103-66) as a continuum of family-focused services for at-risk children and families. Services include activities designed to assist families in crisis, often where a child is at risk of being placed in out-of-home care because of abuse and/or neglect. Support services include preventive activities, typically provided by community-based organizations designed to improve the nurturing of children and to strengthen and enhance the stability of families.

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services Practice Model as informed by Solution Based Casework (SBC) is utilized in the provision of Family Preservation Services. SBC incorporates three major theory groups to form an integrated practice model. These include Family Life Cycle Theory, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and Solution Focused Interviewing. SBC organizes child welfare casework into four major milestones:

  1. Milestone 1: Building a Consensus

    • Having honest conversation about family safety, parental capacity, and child vulnerability in a safe way that builds toward family engagement in change.

  2. Milestone 2: Getting Organized on Outcomes.

    • Moving from talking about what needs to change to formalizing specific and measurable outcomes that the family (and their providers) will address.

  3. Milestone 3: Specific Action Plans.

    • Working with families and providers to co-develop specific Action Plans to help them realize their outcomes amidst the challenges of their everyday lives.

  4. Milestone 4: Documenting and Celebrating Success.

    • Working with families and providers to problem-solve challenges and notice their successes in ensuring family safety and individual self-management.

Through the use of Georgia’s practice model, a solution focused, family-centered, integrated case management approach, DFCS partners with families and the community to develop a plan to strengthen caregiver protective capacities and to mitigate or alleviate factors that place children in unsafe environments. Family Preservation Services (FPS) includes:

  1. Families assessed during a Child Protective Services (CPS) investigation and it has been determined that present danger situations and impending danger safety threats have been controlled by the implementation of an in-home or out-of-home safety plan, however continued intervention is needed to resolve the ongoing child safety concerns. This include families with children under the age of 18 who are not emancipated and who have a case disposition of “substantiated” or “unsubstantiated-open.”

  2. Families with children/youth that have been identified as Children in Need of Services (CHINS) based on the needs and services identified during the investigation, or based on court ordered services.

  3. Families with court-ordered services.

Family Preservation Services are designed to be short-term, family-focused, community-based services that are implemented to help families achieve behavioral change and learn to manage everyday life situations, or problems that interfere with the caregiver(s)'s ability to provide proper care and protect his/her children. It is the philosophy of DFCS that difficult situations in the life of the family that threaten child safety must be resolved to protect children. Family Preservation Services should assist families in managing these situations with behavioral specific outcomes at the family level and individual level. The early identification of high risk behaviors, developmental stages and tasks of the family, and provision of timely and appropriate services is critical to achieving successful outcomes for families. Further, recognizing and celebrating success with the family facilitates sustained change.

Family Preservation Services include:

  1. Establishing a partnership between the family, case managers and supervisors who manage the case during the family’s involvement with DFCS;

  2. Maintaining a consensus with the family around family issues and needs;

  3. Completion of purposeful visits that help to assess and address safety threats and service needs;

  4. Whenever possible, allowing the family to take the lead in identifying potential solutions to the identified safety and high risk behaviors;

  5. Safety planning and management;

  6. Initial and ongoing family engagement in identifying present and impending danger situations, strengths and needs;

  7. Developing case plan goals that include family level outcomes and individual level outcomes in partnership with the family that:

    1. Are tied to everyday life events present within the family structure;

    2. Are measurable through case evaluations throughout the family preservation stage;

    3. Foster accountability amongst the family, case manager and service providers;

    4. Specifically target high risk behaviors that may lead to present danger situations or impending danger safety threats;

    5. Plan for relapse prevention at every stage of family preservation services;

  8. Facilitating and monitoring formal and/or informal supports and services;

  9. Assessing the family’s ongoing progress regarding specific action plans and tasks; and

  10. Documenting and celebrating success throughout the case with the family.

Case Closure in Family Preservation Services is based on:

  1. Enhanced caregiver protective capacities that control impending danger threats and ensure safety;

  2. Documented case plan evaluation of outcomes and action plan progress or barriers during the FPS case;

  3. Achievement of behavioral changes that significantly illustrates the family’s ability to manage everyday life situations and mitigate conditions for repeat maltreatment.

  4. Completion of Family Functioning Assessment in conjunction with impending danger assessment.

  5. External supports that reduce or control high risk behaviors and ensure safety; or

  6. Placement of children in out-of-home care (foster care).