Provides both permanency planning and intensive treatment services to children and families who may need help with chronic problems such as on-going abuse and neglect or intensive medical needs.  

Child Welfare Services offered by Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families in Kelso

DCYF staff work with children and families to identify their needs and develop a plan for services that support families and assure safety and well-being for children.

Programs that provide assistance for people who want to obtain custody of their children as a part of a divorce or separation action, who want to appeal all or a portion of the terms of a previous child custody decision, or in the case of a noncustodial parent, who want to establish or appeal the terms of a visitation award or a court-ordered visitation schedule. Included are programs that provide child custody/visitation assistance for people who are not legally married but have children together.

Child Custody/Visitation Assistance

Programs that link individuals who are in need of alternative living arrangements with appropriate private family homes that are licensed to provide foster care. Licensing requirements vary from state to state and, in some situations, licensing is not required at all. Programs that provide placement services for children and adults with disabilities are generally also responsible for recruiting, training, certifying and monitoring placements in family homes and for providing support for the family and the individual(s) with disabilities who live with them.

Foster Home Placement

Programs that identify and enlist individuals and couples who are willing to provide a permanent home and new legal parentage for children who have been relinquished for adoption, particularly for children who have special needs.

Adoptive Family Recruitment

Programs that provide a variety of short-term, intensive, home-based intervention services for families experiencing a crisis that is so severe that children are at imminent risk for placement outside the family setting. Services, which are aimed at ameliorating the underlying causes of family dysfunction, are generally time-limited, of fairly short duration and available on a 24-hour basis. Also included are other family preservation program models whose programs vary in terms of the population served, the level of intensity of services provided and the length of services. The objective of family preservation programs is to preserve the family as a unit and prevent unnecessary placement of the children in foster care, a group home, an inpatient substance abuse or mental health treatment program, a residential training school or other alternative living arrangement.

Family Preservation Programs

Programs that conduct an independent assessment of children and youth in county custody who have been placed in an out-of-home care setting such as a residential treatment center or group home, with the objective of identifying those who may be ready to return to their families (potentially with intensive community based services in their home communities) or who may be able to succeed in a less restrictive setting (e.g., foster care).

Child/Youth Placement Evaluation Programs

Programs that identify families with children in foster placement whose prospects for successful reunification are good, provide the array of supportive services needed by the family to attempt reunification, supervise visitation in the home by the child, oversee trial placement with the family and provide whatever home-based services are required to facilitate permanent reunification. Services may include mental health and substance abuse counseling, home management instruction, parenting skills development, stress management and tutoring.