PSSFNet

Network of Service and Supports
for Families

Families at greatest risk of entering Georgia's child protection system often have complex and interrelated problems such as poverty, unemployment, domestic violence, substance abuse and teen pregnancy which increase family stressors, impair family functioning and place children in situations where they may be unsafe. Children have the greatest chance for a safe and stable home environment when their parents and caregivers are knowledgeable of and have access to essential supports and services in their own communities.

Georgia's Promoting Safe and Stable Families program reflects the ongoing commitment of the Division of Family and Children Services to ensuring that families, communities and organizations have access to the highest quality services and resources needed to help children and youth grow into healthy, thriving and contributing members of our society.

Learn more about our Services, Families, and History.

Our Vision

Every child will be secure from abuse and neglect and become a healthy, literate, productive and economically self-sustaining citizen within a nurturing, caring, permanent home environment.

Our Mission

Strengthen Georgia families and remove barriers to child safety, permanency and well-being.

Our Goals

To achieve better outcomes for children and families by recruiting, training and sustaining and coordinated network of community-based, family-centered, outcomes-driven organizations.

PSSF Program Categories

Promoting Safe and Stable Families is designed to build capacity between state, local child welfare agencies and community-based family service agencies to ensure that children and their families have access to comprehensive, high quality prevention and intervention services in each of four broad categories: family support, family preservation, family reunification, and adoption promotion.

Family Support Services:

Primarily community-based preventive activities designed to promote parental competencies and behaviors that will increase the ability of families to successfully nurture their children; enable families to use other resources and opportunities available in the community; create supportive networks to enhance child-rearing abilities of parents and help compensate for the increased social isolation and vulnerability of families; and strengthen parental relationships and promote healthy marriages.

Goal:

Prevent and reduce the risk of child maltreatment by promoting well-being of entire family.

Objectives:

To increase parental understanding of child development, increase parental capacity to care for children, reduce risk factors that threaten child safety.
To increase family access to and utilization of informal and formal community supports.

Target Population:

Families not known to DFCS; families that were screened out, referred for services, assigned to Family Support, or had an unsubstantiated investigation; or families with prior CPS history (closed but referred for follow-up supports/services).

Family Preservation Services:

Provided to families that come to the attention of child welfare because of child abuse or neglect, child or parent behavioral challenges, or serious parent-child conflict so that 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, as an alternative to placement in out-of-home care.

Goal:

Preserve families, ensure child safety and prevent repeat maltreatment.

Objective:

Improve family/caregiver/child functioning and maintain children their homes.

Target Population:

Families that have had DFCS involvement - Open Family Preservation or Foster Care, or relatives caring for children who are not their own, to prevent placement of children in foster care.

Family Reunification Services:

Provided to a child who is removed from home and placed in a foster care setting and to the parents or primary caregiver. These services are available only for 15 months from the date the child enters foster care. Family reunification services facilitate the safe and timely reunification of the child with the family, when that is in the best interest of the child, and help sustain permanency.

Goal:

Promote and sustain permanency for children and their families and to prevent repeat maltreatment.

Objective:

Improve family functioning and stability.

Target Population:

Families whose children have been removed from their care and are in foster care, or other temporary placement.

Adoption Promotion and Post-Permanency Support Services:

Designed to encourage more adoptions of children out of the foster care system when adoptions are in the best interests of the children. They include pre- and post- adoption services designed to expedite the adoption process and support families to prevent disruption or dissolution of adoptions. Services are also provided to relatives pursuing guardianship of children. Permanency support services are provided to youth for whom adoption by age 18 is not assured to assist them in the transition to independent living and provide connections to other caring adults.

Goal:

Promote and sustain permanency and community connections for children and families.

Objective:

To support adoptive and guardian families and youth in foster care with their transitions.

Target Population:

Families of children exiting foster care or relative care to adoption or guardianship, and youth transitioning to independent living.

Summary and Regional Profiles

Each year, summary profiles are compiled on PSSF network activities. These activities are included in the state's Annual Progress and Services Report (APSR). FFY2022 profiles will be completed and posted in April 2023. Click on the links below for profiles from previous years.

2020:
2020 Statewide Summary Profile

2019:
2019 Statewide Summary Profile

2018:
2018 Statewide Summary Profile

2017:
2017 Statewide Summary Profile

Network of Service and Supports for Families

Our Vision

Our Mission

Our Goals

PSSF Program Categories

Family Support Services:

Goal:

Objectives:

Target Population:

Family Preservation Services:

Goal:

Objective:

Target Population:

Family Reunification Services:

Goal:

Objective:

Target Population:

Adoption Promotion and Post-Permanency Support Services:

Goal:

Objective:

Target Population:

Summary and Regional Profiles

2020:

2019:

2018:

2017:

Network of Service and Supports
for Families