18.2 Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF)

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(18) Support Services to Preserve or Reunify Families

Policy Title:

Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF)

Policy Number:

18.2

Previous Policy Number(s):

N/A

Effective Date:

October 2018

Manual Transmittal:

2018-11

Codes/References

Title IV-B of the Social Security Act, Subpart 2
Public Law 115-123 Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018

Requirements

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will:

  1. Explore the use of Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF) services for Georgia families at risk or in crisis in the areas of:

    1. PSSF Family Support

    2. PSSF Family Preservation

    3. PSSF Family Reunification Services

    4. PSSF Adoption Promotion and Permanency Support

  2. Explore the availability of PSSF services in their local communities prior to the use of other DFCS funding sources.

  3. Approve and contract PSSF Vendors through a statewide bid process.

    The fiscal year spending period for these federal funds is October 1st through September 30th.

  4. Refer to the COSTAR Manual for specific services, fee schedules, contract requirements and funding limitations for PSSF services.

Procedures

The Social Services Case Manager (SSCM) in consultation with the supervisor will:

  1. Review the list of approved PSSF contracted vendors at www.pssfnet.com/resourceguide to identify services that meet the needs of the family.

  2. Initiate services in accordance with policy 19.17 Case Management: Service Provision.

Practice Guidance

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services provide services to Georgia families through the work of the PSSF program to:

  1. Develop a coordinated and integrated service system that builds on the strengths of families and communities.

  2. Emphasize collaborative, community-based approaches, early identification of issues and the delivery of prevention, intervention and support services.

  3. Prevent child abuse and neglect, protect children from further abuse, and promote permanency for children (and siblings when/as applicable) within their own families or with kinship or adoptive families when birth parents are not willing or able to do so.

  4. Partner with Georgia families in strengthening themselves and remove barriers to child safety, permanency and well-being.

PSSF promotes easy access to child and family-centered services in communities across the state of Georgia to families at risk and in crisis in the areas of:

  1. PSSF Family Support services are community-based prevention and early intervention services designed to prevent and reduce the risk of child maltreatment by promoting the well-being of the entire family, as well as supporting and retaining foster families, so they can provide quality family-based settings for children in foster care. PSSF Family Support services promote healthy development by helping caregivers to enhance their strengths and resolve problems that can lead to child maltreatment, developmental delays, and family disruption. All services are designed to build on existing family strengths, increase the stability of families, increase caregiver confidence and competence, increase protective capacities, enhance overall family functioning to prevent initial or repeat child abuse and neglect while ensuring child safety, and to maintain the ability of foster families to provide for the well-being of children in their care. PSSF Family Support services are provided to families who are at risk for CPS involvement to reduce risk and prevent child maltreatment and for the support and retention of foster families. This includes families:

    1. Target Population

      1. Not known to the child welfare agency

      2. Who have been the subject of a report of suspected child abuse or neglect who:

        1. Were assigned to Family Support

        2. Were screened out or were the subject of an unsubstantiated investigation

        3. Have prior CPS history (closed but referred for follow-up supports/services)

      3. Foster Families

    2. Categories of services:

      1. FSS – Prevention and Early Intervention Services (PEI)

      2. FSS – Home Visitation Services (HVS)

      3. PSSF Healthy Relationship & Co-Parenting Services (HMI)

      4. PSSF Supports & Services for Homeless Youth (SHY)

    3. Service Duration: Duration is dependent on criteria established by proposed evidence-based strategy, practice or program model.

  2. PSSF Family Preservation services are provided to families that have or have had DFCS involvement because of child abuse or neglect, child or parent behavioral challenges, or serious parent-child conflict. Provision of these services grows out of the recognition that the unnecessary separation of children from their families is traumatic, often leaving lasting negative effects. Families at-risk or in-crisis can be preserved and children safely maintained in their homes when families receive intensive support and therapeutic services to improve family functioning and stability. Services are family-focused and are designed to maintain children safely in their homes, prevent the unnecessary separation of families, and are offered as a safe alternative to out-of-home placement. PSSF Family Preservation services may also be provided to support families post-reunification to help prevent placement disruption.

    Providers of PSSF Family Preservation services are required to coordinate services with DFCS and other agencies including mental health, substance abuse, education, child care, and employment services to provide families a comprehensive continuum of community-based supports, interventions and follow-up services responsive to individual and family needs. Services may be offered to families referred by DFCS, juvenile or family court, who are in crisis or at-risk of having a child removed from their home. PSSF Family Preservation services are provided to families to prevent removal of children from their homes, stabilize placement and/ or to prevent re-entry into foster care.

    1. Target population

      1. Families who have or have had a substantiated investigation and/or a Family Preservation case to prevent repeat maltreatment and help these families maintain children in their homes safely.

      2. Relative caregivers who are caring for children when their parents are unable to do so to support the safety, permanency and well-being of these children.

      3. Foster parents and/or children in foster care to stabilize the placement and prevent disruption.

      4. Families for whom reunification is the goal, to prepare for and sustain reunification.

      5. Families whose children have returned home from foster care to prevent repeat maltreatment and sustain permanency.

      6. Children from families who have or have had a substantiated investigation and/or a Family Preservation case or are returning from foster care to improve educational outcomes.

    2. Service Delivery Expectations: Services are short-term, intensive interventions to mitigate parent or child behaviors to prevent escalation of circumstances to the point of requiring removal of children from the home. Based on reasons for referral, service objectives identified at referral, or needs identified in a family assessment, service plan must be solution-based in addressing the needs of the target population to achieve the desired outcomes.

    3. Assessment and Development of an Individual Service Plan: Families referred for services may have already undergone a comprehensive family assessment. Based on the results of that assessment, and the reason for referral, service objectives should be identified and an individualized service plan developed to meet the unique needs of the target population. If one is not available, or has not been conducted within the past 12 months, an assessment must be completed prior to or at the commencement of services utilizing a recognized assessment instrument effective in evaluating the strengths and needs of the identified target population to facilitate the development of an individualized service plan that addresses the circumstances that resulted in the referral and is responsive to the needs, goals and priorities of the family.

    4. Categories of services:

      1. PSSF Placement Prevention Services (PPS)

      2. PSSF Relative Caregiver/Kinship Family Services (RCS)

      3. PSSF Crisis Intervention & Placement Stabilization Services (CIS)

      4. PSSF Residential /Post Placement After-Care Services (RAC)

      5. PSSF Substance Abuse Treatment and Recovery Support Services (STR)

      6. PSSF Educational Support Services (ESS)

  3. PSSF Family Reunification Services are provided to ensure the strength and stability of family reunification. Services are provided when a youth or child has been removed from the care of their parents and for the 15-month period that begins on the date that the child returns home. Reunification is the most common goal for children and youth in out-of-home care as well as the most common outcome. While reunification is generally thought of as reuniting the children and youth in foster care with their families and reinstating custody to their parents or guardians, a broader definition that includes living with other relatives is sometimes used. The physical return of the child or youth to parents or caretakers may occur before the return of legal custody, as when the child welfare agency continues to supervise the family for some period of time. Reunification is considered achieved when both care and custody are returned to parents or guardians, and the child or youth is discharged from the child welfare system. The challenge for child welfare agencies is to achieve reunifications that are both timely and do not result in re-entry.

    Safe and timely family reunification is the preferred permanency planning option for all children in Georgia state custody unless it is not in the best interests of the child. PSSF Family Reunification Services help to support positive consistent family relationships and prevent multiple re-entries into foster care. Family-centered values and practice, along with evidence-based practices, are the foundation of safe, timely reunification/permanency.

    Efforts to assure safe and permanent reunifications for children are complicated because of the strict time frames set forth in the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 and the complex and interrelated problems many families experience, such as substance abuse, domestic violence and mental illness. The degree to which families effectively maintain reunification is largely dependent upon the ability to connect families with timely, intensive and responsive supports and services during the time a child is in foster care and the first 15 months when a child returns home post-reunification.

    Since the majority of children who leave foster care are reunified with their families, it is important to focus on practices that help achieve successful reunification. PSSF Family reunification services are intensive support services provided to a child to promote safe, appropriate, and effective reunification with their primary caregiver and provided to children during the15-month period that begins on the date that the child returns home.

    PSSF Family Reunification Services are provided to families to reduce the time in foster care, facilitate reunification, and sustain permanency for children, pre- or post- return of children to families from foster care or residential treatment. PSSF Family Reunification Services are provided to families whose children have a plan of reunification or an alternative concurrent permanency option.

    1. Target Population

      1. Families with children in foster care

      2. Families with court-ordered relative placement

      3. Families with children who have returned home from foster care for the first 15 months of the return home.

    2. Service Duration: During the time the child is in foster care and within the 15-month period that begins on the date the child returns home.

    3. PSSF Family Reunification Services includes the following categories of services:

      1. Child and Family Advocacy (CFA)

      2. Supervised Family Visitation Services (SFV)

  4. PSSF Adoption Promotion and Permanency Support (APS)

    1. Categories of services:

      1. Adoption Promotion and Post-Permanency Services (APS): services are designed to encourage and support permanency for children through adoption, when adoption is in the best interest of the child or to facilitate permanency for children through relative guardianship and to prevent disruption or dissolution of those relationships. It is common for adoptive families to need support and services to prepare for and sustain adoption. Transition periods can be especially difficult for families who must also address child welfare-related issues such as separation and loss. Families who adopt children with special needs also face additional challenges that may be compounded by the child’s past experiences of child abuse and neglect.

      2. Transition and Emancipation Support Services: Services are designed to help youth develop skills for independent living and establish meaningful adult connections while simultaneously working toward achieving permanency through reunification, adoption, or guardianship. Youth who are nearing the age of emancipation without an identified permanency resource may need additional supports and services to help transition and prepare for the opportunities and challenges of independent adult living. Without family supports and community networks to help them make successful transitions to adulthood, these young adults may experience very poor outcomes at a much higher rate than the general

    2. Target Populations:

      1. Post Permanency Support

        1. Foster/adoptive children and youth, particularly those with special needs

        2. Foster, pre-adoptive and adoptive parents

        3. Relative caregivers

      2. Transition and Emancipation Support

        1. Youth age 16+ preparing for emancipation from foster care

        2. Youth age 18+, who have signed themselves back in for services

        3. Youth or young adults recently emancipated from foster care

    3. Service Duration:

      1. Adoption Promotion and Post-Permanency Services:3-6 months’ pre-adoption or guardianship and up to 6-months post-adoption or guardianship.

      2. Transition and Emancipation Support Services: 6-9 months before exiting Foster Care and/or 6-9 months following emancipation, not to exceed 12 months

    4. Service Delivery Expectations: Adoption Promotion and Post-Permanency Services

      1. Services are designed to address issues related to separation and adjustment which may impair family functioning.

      2. Adequate support is particularly critical for special needs adoptions where challenges and adjustments faced by families can be immediate and intense.

      3. Post-permanency supports and services should help identify and address family issues which negatively impact family functioning and help stabilize and support families to prevent disruption.

      4. Post-permanency services are geared toward normalizing the adoption experience, helping adoptive parents increase parent-child attachment and decrease family isolation by creating opportunities to connect with others in similar circumstances.

Forms and Tools

Promotion Safe and Stable Families Program