Rebuilding Trust and Improving Child Welfare Services: How LSF Transformed Case Management in Lake and Sumter Counties
When LSF took over child welfare case management (CMO) services in Lake and Sumter counties, we inherited far more than a contract.
Families were waiting for services. Court-ordered actions were falling behind. Relationships with community partners had deteriorated, and staffing shortages had left the program struggling to meet the needs of children in foster care and families involved in the child welfare system.
At LSF, this is not the norm. As an organization, LSF prides itself on being built around trust, responsibility and excellence. It was clear that the path ahead would be bumpy. To repair the reputation of the Lake and Sumter CMO, our team would have to stabilize operations, rebuild trust and improve outcomes for vulnerable children and families.
Luckily, we have experience doing just that.
The Challenge: Restoring Confidence in a Struggling Child Welfare Program
Years of workforce shortages and operational instability had created significant challenges at Lake and Sumter CMO. Critical case reviews were delayed, compliance requirements had accumulated and employees were working under immense pressure.
“We were getting called into court because things that had been ordered weren’t getting done,” said James Acevedo, an Executive Program Director for LSF Family Focus. “When you’re supposed to have 50 case managers and you only have nine, you’re just focused on keeping the system moving.”
LSF realized there was no quick fix. Improving the CMO would require rebuilding the foundation first. For us, this meant strengthening staffing, improving case management practices and most importantly, restoring confidence among judges, community partners and the Community-Based Care lead agency.
“It felt like the program was stuck in survival mode,” Acevedo said. “After a while, people stop caring about what happened before. They want to see progress.”
How Do You Turn Around a Child Welfare Program?
According to Acevedo, successful child welfare transformation follows a deliberate process:
1. Stabilize and support the workforce.
2. Conduct comprehensive case reviews.
3. Improve compliance with court requirements.
4. Rebuild relationships with stakeholders.
5. Establish systems for continuous quality improvement.
For nearly a year, much of the team’s work focused on addressing existing challenges while maintaining day-to-day services for children and families. As we all know, you it’s hard to fix the car while it’s driving down the road.
“We were making repairs while trying to keep everything moving,” Acevedo said. “Before you can improve anything, you have to understand exactly where you are.”
Leadership transitions added another layer of complexity, but the organization’s priorities remained consistent.
Jennifer Patterson, who joined the program during the turnaround effort as the Lake and Sumter CMO Program Director, remembers those early months vividly.
“You’re making all of these fixes while you’re on fire,” Patterson said.
“For about a year, we had to apologize in every meeting,” she admitted. “We had to own the issues and show people exactly what we were doing to fix them.”
Thankfully, through the turmoil, we found support in our Community-Based Care (CBC) lead agency, Kids Central, Inc. They offered support at every level as we worked to turn the program around.
Investing in the Child Welfare Workforce
One of the most important lessons from the turnaround was that sustainable improvement begins with people. At LSF, we often say people are our most valuable resource. During the process of reshaping the Lake and Sumter CMO, this idea became cemented in how we operate as an organization.
LSF focused heavily on recruiting, training and retaining child welfare professionals. Many new hires entered the field with limited experience and needed significant support to succeed in a demanding environment.
Rather than leaving employees to learn through trial and error, the organization intentionally built a culture centered on mentorship and professional development.
Experienced case managers worked closely with newer team members, providing guidance, coaching, and encouragement through a mentorship program. Over time, many of those newer employees became mentors themselves.
“We had to find ways to build more support into the system,” Patterson said. “The people who choose this work are driven by a commitment to children and families. Our job is to help them succeed.”
The organization also worked to strengthen workplace culture by emphasizing collaboration, accountability and a connection to the mission of LSF – providing healing, help and hope to people in need.
Every deadline, performance metric and compliance requirement ultimately served a larger purpose: helping children and families achieve safety and stability.
The True Measure of Success
Today, LSF performance ina Lake and Sumter is very different. We have ensured that 100% of our cases have had a recent timely Permanency staffing, and 100% of cases have had a supervisory review within the last 60 days, as opposed to the required 90 days. Most importantly, 100% of our children have been seen in timely manner, every 30 days, ensuring that our children are safe. We have successfully advanced from being the worst performing Case Management Organization in the Circuit, to ending our last fiscal year in second place by only two points on their balanced scorecard.
While performance metrics matter, we know the true impact of child welfare services is measured in individual lives.
One teenager served through Lake and Sumter CMO had spent years in foster care and was approaching adulthood without a permanent family connection. He faced behavioral health and substance use challenges and was at risk of aging out of foster care alone.
Then his case manager learned that his father was nearing the end of his life.
Without hesitation, she drove him to the hospital and stayed through the night so he could spend those precious final hours with his father.
She could have decided it was outside of her job description to take the young man to the hospital. She could have said no because it was outside of her regular work hours. But instead, she exemplified what it means to truly care about the children and families we serve.
And her willingness to go above and beyond didn’t stop at the hospital. Determined to help him find permanency, she continued searching for family connections and coordinating visits with relatives.
Eventually, those efforts led to a life-changing outcome. A relative stepped forward and agreed to become his permanent guardian.
“The case manager made it her mission to find someone for him,” Acevedo said.
Stories like this highlight what becomes possible when child welfare professionals receive the resources, leadership and support they need to do their best work.
Strengthening Communities Through Child Welfare Excellence
Today, the Lake and Sumter child welfare program looks dramatically different than it did when LSF first assumed responsibility.
Case management processes are monitored consistently. Supervisors regularly review performance data and case progress. Accountability systems help ensure court requirements are met, and relationships with judges, community organizations and agency partners have strengthened.
Most importantly, children and families are receiving better services.
As the CMO’s reputation improved, experienced and certified case managers began seeking opportunities to join the team. Success became sustainable because talented professionals wanted to be part of a mission-driven organization focused on excellence.
“Our end goal is to be excellent,” Patterson said. “Everything we do comes back to the well-being of the child.”
The revitalization of the Lake and Sumter CMO demonstrates how investing in people, both clients and staff, can transform a struggling child welfare program.
Across Florida, LSF serves children and families facing some of life’s most difficult challenges. We understand that systems and performance metrics all play an important role. But we also believe behind every case file is a human being who deserves safety and support. To learn more about CMOs operated by LSF, visit https://lsffamilyfocus.org/case-management-organizations-lsf-family-focus/
