Services We Provide
PROGRAM SERVICES LISTING
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Services We Provide |
| American Indian Child Welfare Unit |
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| This unit provides culturally appropriate, case management services to American Indian children and families under the legal mandate of the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act (Public Law 95-608). The units provide case management services to Indian families countywide. |
| Asian Pacific Program |
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| This Program serves the Asian/Pacific Islander communities. The Program is capable of handling approximately 12 languages/dialects spoken in the target communities. The Program's CSWs provide from the time a case is received from the Child Abuse Hotline until services are terminated by our department. |
| Black Family Investment Project |
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| The purpose of the Black Family Investment Program is to help African American families stay together; to assist parents in developing new strategies to rear their children and techniques to guide their children away from anti-social activity and destructive gang involvement. This program provides short-term intensive, in home family and community based services to African American families, culturally sensitive, pre-placement prevention, placement avoidance and family preservation/support services to children at risk of removal from their families. For more information, call Program Manager, Andrew Matlock at (323) 290-8443; Terri Doyle, SCSW at (323) 290-8749 or Rhonda Wilson, SCSW at (323) 290-8748. |
| Central Los Angeles Sexual Abuse Unit (CLASAU) |
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| Provides clinical services to families that are involved with sexual abuse. The program also provides internship programs for staff seeking licensure. We utilize licensed clinicians within the Department to provide the hours of supervision. |
| Child Sexual Abuse Program |
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| This program provides group therapy for families where intrafamilial child sexual abuse has occurred. Both parents and the children meet weekly with master's level students, graduates, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Marriage, and Family Therapist (LMFT) interns. |
| Deaf Services Unit (DSU) |
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| This unit provides the full range of public child welfare services (from Emergency Response to Permanency Planning) for abused/at risk deaf children, their hearing siblings and their deaf or hearing parents. The DSU staff is representative of the deaf, partially hearing, and hearing communities. Sign language interpreters are utilized, as case situations require. |
| Family Assessment Services Team (FAST) |
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| FAST utilizes a multidisciplinary assessment in serving families with children at risk of gang violence. The assessment team includes representatives from DCFS, Mental Health, Probation, Law Enforcement and the Board of Supervisors. |
| Family Group Decision Making |
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| Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) provides an opportunity for extended members of a family referred to DCFS to aid in the course of preserving families, or providing permanency for children if placement is needed. |
| Family to Family |
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| Family to family builds community partnerships to facilitate placements and achieve permanency for children in their community, and assists in the development, training and support of placement resource families. |
| HUB/Assessment Services |
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| The Department has collaborated with its community partners to provide assessment and treatment services as needed, to children supervised by the Department. The goal is to assist the Children's Social Worker in developing an appropriate case plan to meet the unique needs of children under our care. |
| Latino Family Preservation |
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| This community-based program operates in areas where there is a high concentration of Latino families involved with the child welfare system. The five goals of the program are child protection, family preservation, family empowerment, reduced need for Dependency Court intervention, and to serve as an efficient and cost effective model for service delivery. |
| Medical Placement Unit (MPU) |
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| This unit provides case management services to children who are medically fragile and/or with special needs as defined by AB636. Medically fragile children have conditions requiring special procedures, equipment, devices and/or ongoing medical care and assessment. The Medical Placement Unit assists parents and caretakers by arranging for the training required to care for these children. Two MPU CSWs function as a central locator of foster homes, small family homes, group homes, and specialized care facilities. |
| Minor Parent-Teen Pregnancy Disincentive Program |
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| The Teen Pregnancy Disincentive Program creates a new requirement for TANF eligibility for unmarried pregnant or parenting teens. In order to receive TANF benefits, minor parents must live in the home of her parent(s), legal guardian, and an adult relative or in an adult-supervised living arrangement unless they meet one of the exemptions to the live-at-home rule. |
| Public Health Nursing |
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| Public Health Nursing Program assists the CSW to promote health, prevent disease, and facilitate the provision of health care services allowing children to reach their optimal level of health. Public Health Nurses, located in SPA offices, are available to assist the CSW in ensuring that children receive proper medical care, assessment, and to aid in cases that require medical consultation. |
| Rites of Passage Program |
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| The Rites of Passage Program teaches the ten-step rites of passage, consisting of spiritual, emotional, social, personal, mental, cultural, historical, political, economic, and physical components. The youth that participate in Rites of Passage are exposed to educational workshops, field trips, skill development training, violence prevention methods, martial arts, dance, tutoring and study groups. Rites of Passage teaches concepts which are fundamental to the process of passage from child to adulthood. |
| Runaway Adolescent Program |
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| Provides protective services for homeless youth. The staff work very closely with the shelters in the community. The majority of these youth are located in the Hollywood and Santa Monica areas. |
| Sensitive Case Unit |
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| This unit provides protective services to children whose parents are DCFS employees, political officials, law enforcement personnel or a high profile case (i.e., one involving public figures from the entertainment industry, professional athletes, etc.). |
| Special Immigrant Status Program |
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| The task of this unit is to provide outreach, identify the child's undocumented status, and file an application on behalf of the child with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. |
| START - Start Taking Action Responsibly Today |
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| This units serve abuse/neglected youth who are delinquent or at risk of delinquency. This prevention program is aimed at reducing juvenile crime and promoting academic success. The program uses a multidisciplinary, interagency approach to case management. |
| Substance Abuse/Drug Testing |
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| Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Services are available to determine whether parents or caregivers' abilities are impaired by the use of alcohol and drugs; if parents/caregivers need to be referred for alcohol/substance abuse treatment, and to monitor progress in treatment; and ultimately, test results are used to evaluate if children can remain safely in the home of their parents and caregivers, or if children can be safely returned to the care of their parents and caregivers. |
| Systems of Care |
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| The Children System of Care (SOC) is a collaborative effort between the Departments of Mental Health, Children and Family Services, Probation and school districts, parents and communities to reduce the higher levels of care for high risk children and youth. SOC is strength based and family focused. |
| Wraparound |
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| Wraparound is a multi-agency initiative. The Department of Mental Health and Probation use a similar process to refer children and youth for enrollment in Wraparound. The Wraparound approach is a family-centered, strength-based, needs-driven planning and service delivery process. It advocates for family-professional partnership to ensure family voice, choice and ownership. Wraparound children and family teams benefits children by working with the family to ensure permanency. |
