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 citzen 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.

Number of Families Served by
Program Category

PSSF Service Network

Services are made available in all four program areas through a coordinated network of community-based family serving agencies to:

Prevent abuse and neglect through supportive family services.
Prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their families through intensive preservation services.
Minimize the time children remain in foster care by preserving and strengthening relationships through safe and expedient reunification.
Promote permanent placements and support life-long family connections for children and youth through adoption promotion and post permanency support services

All Promoting Safe and Stable Families service providers MUST utilize evidence-based practices, strategies or program models with a medium to high relevance to child welfare effective in addressing the needs of the target population and achieving desired outcomes.

Our Families

Pssf typically serves the following types of families:

Families at risk for child welfare involvement and in need of of support
Families in crisis needing services to help preserve the family
Families with one or more children in foster or relative care
Families considering adoption or needing support to sustain permanency
Youth or young adults who are homeless, at-risk, or transitioning out of foster care

Over 11,000 families, residing in 156 of Georgia's 159 counties, received services from 141 programs in the Georgia PSSF network in FFY2019. More than a third of these families (40%) had no known child welfare involvement at the time of referral.

These families included more than 19,500 children. More than two-thirds (more than 14,000) were in the care of their biological families or relatives, and more than a fourth (more than 5,000) were in foster care. Five percent of the children had an identified developmental disability. Three-fourths of the children were under the age of 13, and more than half of those were under 6:

39% ages 0-5
36% ages 6-12
21% ages 13-17
3% age 18+

These families typically receive services for an average of 7.5 months.

FFY2019
92%

of children in families served remained safely in their homes
or stable placement at the conclusion of services.

91%

of families completing their individual family service plans met
all or most of their service plan goals.

Family Characteristics*

Our Results

As a result of participating in PSSF Family Support and Family Preservation services...

Most families:

Were able to maintain their children safely in their homes.
Identified and accessed other community-based services/supports for themselves and/or the children/youth in their care.
Increased their knowledge of child development and parenting skills.
Improved their response to inappropriate or maladaptive child behaviors.

Most of those participating in healthy relationship and co-parenting services improved their knowledge/skills in communication and conflict resolution.

Most homeless youth served were:

Assisted in securing a safe and stable living environment.
Connected with an adult mentor.
Provided assistance in identifying education and/or employment opportunities.

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). FFY2018 profiles will be completed and posted in April 2019. Click on the links below for profiles from previous years.

2019:
2019 Statewide Summary Profile

2018:
2018 Statewide Summary Profile

2017:
2017 Statewide Summary Profile

2016:
2016 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:

Number of Families Served by Program Category

PSSF Service Network

Our Families

FFY2019

Family Characteristics*

Our Results

Summary and Regional Profiles

2019:

2018:

2017:

2016:

Network of Service and Supports
for Families

Number of Families Served by
Program Category