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Adoption Services are designed to provide a secure permanent adoptive home for
children under the guardianship of DHS when the parental rights of their birth
parents have been terminated. Services include recruitment of families for
special needs children, purchasing adoption services from licensed private child
placing agencies and registering special needs children in the Iowa Adoption
Exchange, the National Exchange, the Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parent Association
newsletter and the Iowa’s Photolisting Book in an effort to recruit adoptive
homes. Most children DHS places for adoption have special needs; e.g. 72% of the
children are older than 6 (36% are age 12 or older), and 80% have diagnosed
physical, mental, emotional or behavioral disabilities. Adoption subsidies are
available to provide financial assistance to enable families to adopt children
with special needs.
Family-Centered Services are interventions designed to prevent or treat child
abuse, neglect, and delinquency, to prevent or reduce out-of-home placements and
maintain family reunification. In the family-centered program, the
rehabilitative treatment service components are: therapy and counseling,
restorative living, family and social skill development and psychosocial
evaluation services. Two supportive services, supervision and MR/DD respite
services, are available in the family-centered program. These services are
provided in the setting most appropriate for the child and family and may be in
the family home, and is sometimes provided in a day program setting.
Family Foster Care services provide 24-hour temporary care for children unable
to remain in their own homes, while also offering services to families of
children in order to implement plans for permanent placement. In the family
foster care program, the rehabilitative treatment service components are:
therapy and counseling, social skill development, restorative living skills,
family skills development and behavioral management services. Supportive
services in family foster care include supervision services, foster family home
studies and maintenance. Placement goals for children in foster care include
reunification with family, placement with a relative or guardian, adoption,
independence and long -term care.
Family Preservation is a highly intensive and time-limited in-home service
intervention that was developed to prevent out-of-home placement of children.
Services are tailored to meet the individual needs of families in crisis and
consist of one or more of the following components: therapy and counseling,
skill development and psychosocial evaluation. Other services such as
supervision, transportation and community resource building are available to
families.
Group Care services are highly structured 24-hour treatment services and
supervision in a licensed group care facility. Children placed in group care
cannot be served in less intensive levels of care due to the intensity or
severity of their emotional or behavioral problems. In the group care program,
the rehabilitative treatment service components are: therapy and counseling,
social skill development, restorative living skills, family skills development.
Supportive services in group care include supervision services and maintenance.
These facilities offer a variety of treatment modalities, but all offer
counseling and skill development services. Some facilities provide services to
the family as well as to the child. The primary goal is to return the child to a
family living situation, when that is not possible for a youth the goal is to
prepare the youth for independent living.
Protective Services typically begin with a prompt assessment of a report of
child abuse. If necessary, rehabilitative services may be provided so that the
family can remain intact without immediate danger to the child or, when
necessary, a child may be removed from the home. Adult evaluations are conducted
when an adult abuse report is made.
Shelter Care services are usually of an emergency short term nature until they
can be returned home or to other permanent arrangements. Shelter care services
are designed to provide crisis intervention and daily supervision, protecting
the child and meeting immediate needs, rather than providing long-term treatment
of problems.
Supervised Community Treatment provides comprehensive multi-disciplinary
treatment services in a structured setting. Services are closely coordinated and
integrated with the school system. Youth participate in the program for four to
six hours a day for five to six days a week for an average of ten months.
Services are targeted for youths ages 9 through 17 who are experiencing
significant behavioral or emotional problems, who are adjudicated delinquent or
who are at risk of delinquency.
Wrap-Around Services/Supports are individualized services or supports, necessary
in order for a child’s group care placement to be prevented or reduced in
length, that are unavailable through other avenues of funding. Wrap-around
services/supports are designed to be individualized, community-based and focused
on the basic needs of children and their families.
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