Prevention Services in Missouri
Intensive In-Home Services (IIS)
Intensive In-Home Services (IIS) is a short-term crisis intervention program for Missouri families whose children are at immediate risk (within 72 hours) of being removed from the home due to substance use, abuse, neglect, or other crises. This program is specifically designed to support families in enhancing their functioning, acquiring the necessary skills to meet their children’s needs, and connecting the family with community resources.
Family Focus
A free, no-cost, program combining a complete array of short-term, residential treatment services with in-home support to empower families to work through their most pressing issues and obtain the skills they need to rebuild relationships and remain safely together as a family unit.
Prevention Services in Kansas
Family Preservation Services
Like IIS in Missouri, Family Preservation Services is an intensive, short-term crisis intervention program for Kansas families at imminent risk of being separated. The goals of this program are to help families manage stress, foster the development of positive interactions, improve communication and life skills, and determine appropriate discipline strategies.
Parent Youth Facilitation
Parent/Youth Facilitation is a two-pronged, grant-funded approach that seeks to prevent older youth from entering the foster care system by engaging families in a meaningful problem-solving process and connecting them to community services and supports.
Intensive In-Home Services
Keeping Children Safe at Home
Intensive In-Home Services (IIS) is a short-term crisis intervention program for Missouri families whose children are at immediate risk of being removed from the home due to mental illness, emotional disturbances, substance abuse, behavior disorders, neglect, abuse, or family violence. Services are delivered within the familiar setting of the family’s home at a time when they need it most.
Our exceptional team is trained in strengths-based, solution-focused therapy and certified in trauma-informed care. Through this four to six- week program, team members provide individualized immediate services directly in the home of families, devoting 8-10 hours (or more if necessary) to address their unique needs. Moreover, our commitment extends beyond scheduled sessions, as our team members remain available to provide around-the-clock support and guidance, ensuring families receive continuous assistance. We also them with the tools and knowledge needed to navigate future challenges, promoting their overall well-being and sustained progress.
Families are Provided With:
- Solution-based, family-focused team members who are certified in trauma-informed care and available 24/7.
- Individually customized interventions to get families on the road toward healing and rehabilitation.
- Training and support with problem-solving, parenting, budgeting, household/school management, communication, coping, and other skills.
- Connections and referrals to community resources.
Eligibility Requirements
- Families have been referred by a Missouri Children’s Division office.
- Families live in the 48 counties we serve.
Make a Referral
To make a referral, email us or call 816-508-1609.
Counties Served
Eastern Missouri Region: Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Franklin, Gasconade, Howard, Jefferson, Lincoln, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Osage, Pike, Ralls, Randolph, St. Charles and Warren counties.
Western Missouri Region: Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass, Chariton, Clay, Clinton, Cooper, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Pettis, Platte, Putnam, Ray, Saline, Sullivan and Worth counties.
Family Focus
Family Focus combines a complete array of short-term, trauma-responsive residential treatment services with trauma-informed in-home support services to help families work through their most urgent problems and learn the skills they need to remain together safely. During this 9-month program (which may be extended on a month-by-month basis with approval), our team works closely with each family, connecting them to community resources to plan, coordinate, and carry out the treatment process.
Families Receive:
- An individualized plan for success.
- Access to residential treatment, in-home services or a combination of both.
- Weekly individual child therapy, family therapy and case management services.
- 24/7 access to our team.
- Respite care for crisis intervention.
- Connections to community resources to transition supports and services to a sustaining community-based provider.
Who We Serve
- Youth ages 5–18 years old and their families.
- Youth with a history of aggressive or running away behaviors.
- Youth struggling in school and/or with substance abuse.
- Parents/guardians who are overwhelmed by their child’s behavior.
- Families facing mental health challenges.
- Families needing services to prevent their child from being removed from the home.
- Families needing services to safely reunify their child back into the home after a hospitalization.
Eligibility Requirements
- Families live in Jackson County.
- Self-referrals from Jackson County families or community-based referrals from any Jackson County school/agency that supports children and families.
Make a Referral
To make a referral, email us or call (816) 508-3628.
Our Leaders
Marlo Williams
Director Residential Treatment Temporary Placement
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Stephanie Brown
Program Manager Aftercare
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Family Focus is 100% free! Costs are covered by the Jackson County Community Mental Health Fund. Having health insurance is not a requirement for a referral!
Family Preservation Services
Family Preservation Services works to prevent the unnecessary separation of children from their homes while keeping them safe and stabilizing the family unit.
Partnering with Families
Our Family Preservation Services does precisely what its name implies— preserves the family unit by empowering parents to create a safe home. Partnering with families who may be at risk of having children placed in foster care, our team caters to each family’s specific needs, building upon their strengths and resources to address concerns so they can achieve their goal of a safer home.
Prevention is about teaching parents new and effective skills so they have what they need when life gets tough and frustrations arise.
Trauma-Informed Care
During childhood, families provide us with a sense of identity, belonging, and security. But when internal friction arises, or the family faces one of life’s many storms, it can affect how the family unit functions.
If parents don’t have the proper coping skills or support network in place, it can result in a lack of emotional control, causing feelings of stress, anxiety, and anger to build. This can lead to neglect or maltreatment. Family Preservation Services helps parents at imminent risk of being separated from their children cope with daily stresses that affect their ability to nurture their children.
Separating children from their families is traumatic for both the family and the child, and often leaves lasting negative effects.
Our knowledgeable and caring Family Preservation Services (FPS) team can help families build upon key parenting and life skills to reduce anxiety and stress and improve safety in the home. Some of these skills include:
- Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Coping Skills
- De-escalating Situations
- Household/School Management
- Parenting Tips
- Problem-Solving
- Regulating Emotions
- Stress Management
By improving the family’s ability to resolve crises, children can safely remain at home. We offer two tiers of FPS services.
Tier 1: Intensive In-Home Preservation
- In-home therapeutic services provided by a master’s level practitioner.
- Lasts approximately 6 weeks.
- Meets with the family in the home, for a minimum of 3 hours per week.
Tier 2: Short-Term Family Preservation Case Management
- In-home case management services, including community referrals to support the family, provided by a case manager and a family support worker.
- Lasts 3-6 months.
- Case manager meets the family face-to-face for a minimum of one hour per week.
- Works with the family to learn new skills to help strengthen the family unit.
Eligibility Requirements
- Kansas Department of Children & Families (DCF) conducts a family assessment, refers families to the program, and determines which tier of service will be received.
Our Leaders
Shelli Walrod
Director of Family Preservation Services KS
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Maggie Gilliland
Director of Family Preservation Services KS
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Parent/Youth Facilitation
Overview
Parent/Youth Facilitation (P/YF) is one strategy of Kansas Strong for Children and Families, an initiative that aims to support Kansas child welfare as a collaborative, data-driven system that achieves positive outcomes for children’s well-being, safety, and permanency. Collaborators include the Kansas Department for Children and Families, Supreme Court Task Force on Permanency Planning and Office of Judicial Administration, Cornerstones of Care, DCCCA, KVC Kansas, Saint Francis Ministries, TFI Family Services, and the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare.
Goals:
- Decrease the number of older youth entering foster care
- Keep kids with their families whenever possible and appropriate
- Decrease the number of youth aging out of foster care
Eligibility
Who will be served?
- Youth 14-17 years old
- Youth at risk for removal
- Families who reside in Wyandotte and Saline counties in Kansas
Approach
Parent/Youth Facilitation (PYF) is a two-pronged approach to preventing entry into care of older youth by: (1) Using a facilitation process to help families arrive at appropriate decisions that best fit their unique needs, and (2) Connecting families to community services and supports.
Process
Referrals will be made to the prosecutor by the Department for Children and Families, a contractor agency, law enforcement, or other community organizations. The prosecutor’s office will confirm eligibility and refer to P/YF. The family chooses whether to participate; if so, a meeting is scheduled with a facilitator in the P/YF program. The P/YF process is based on principles of Parent-Adolescent Mediation in which participants work together to resolve issues that are contributing to conflict in the family. Facilitators in P/YF pilot programs are Kansas Approved Parent-Adolescent Mediators. Different from mediation, P/YF is a non-confidential process. Both are short-term, usually consisting of 2-3 meetings. The facilitator works together with family members to devise a Family Agreement that addresses their specific interpersonal issues and identifies services needed to support the family.
Upon completion of the process, P/YF staff ensures that the family has referrals for the service needs identified within the agreement. A Summary Report is written and shared with the prosecutor, referring agency, and identified community service providers.
Wyandotte County Contacts:
- Central Organization – Cornerstones of Care / Site Coordinator: Laura Walters
- Assistant District Attorney Allison Williamson
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