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Foster &
Adoptions Care Provided by LSF
For the Florida Dept. of
Children & Families
The Lutheran Services Florida Child Welfare Case Management program is
funded by the
Florida Department of Children and Families through the
Children's Network of Southwest Florida, the lead agency for District 8,
to provide Child Welfare services to approximately 1,400 children in Lee and
Charlotte Counties.
Our current services include:
In-home Protective Supervision
These are cases in which there has been a verified report of abuse or
neglect, and the Department of Children and Families has made the decision
to allow the abused child to remain in the home. Families involved in this
type of service meet with an LSF Case Manager to participate in the creation
of a case plan designed to ameliorate those issues thought to be
contributory to the abuse or neglect. Case Managers then assist the
families in coordinating the services specified in their case plans, and
they monitor the family’s participation in those services. In addition, the
children who have been abused or neglected are visited in their homes on a
regular basis (typically no less than once within each thirty day period) in
order to assess their on-going safety. The goal of this type of case
is to strengthen and maintain the placement of the child in the home, but if
the Case Manager determines at any point that leaving the child in the home
is not safe, a call is placed to the Abuse Hot-Line and the Florida
Department Protective Investigation unit visits the home to determine if
removal is necessary.
Relative/Non-Relative Placement & Supervision
If a Florida Department Protective Investigator determines that leaving
an abused child in the family home would place the child at risk of further
abuse, the investigator may decide to remove that child. In cases of removal
initial efforts are made to shelter these children with relatives, or if
that isn’t feasible, with family friends. Once these cases have been
referred to LSF's program by the Florida Department of Children and
Families, an LSF Case Manager meets with the parent(s) of the abused child
to construct a case plan as described above, and services are coordinated
and monitored. The child is visited in his or her placement on a
regular basis (typically at least once within each thirty day period) in
order to assure the on-going safety and well being of that child. The
goal of this type of case is to reunify the child and parent(s), or failing
that, to terminate the rights of the parents and place the child for
adoption.
Foster Services
Click here for detail on Foster
Placement & Foster Homes
Adoptions Services
Click here for detail on Adoptions
Services.
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