You may have heard that April was National Child Abuse Prevention Month, but did you know that the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has a unit at Central Office dedicated to preventing child abuse?

The Prevention and Reunification Unit’s first job is to give our caseworkers every tool and support available to help prevent child abuse from ever happening or from happening again after we begin helping a family, all with the goal of keeping children safely in the home.

When that can’t happen and children have to be temporarily placed in foster care to keep them safe, the unit’s other job is to do all they can to get the children safely back home to their families as quickly as possible and to help make sure the family is stronger than before.

The Prevention and Reunification Unit houses several different programs, including:

• Child Protective Services
• Team Decision Making
• Differential Response
• In-Home Services
• Reunification 
• Children’s Trust Fund

The unit develops trainings, conducts reviews, and coaches and supports field staff in carrying out the daily tasks of doing what is best for children and families. The unit offers a wide range of services to families involved in DCFS in-home cases.

These services are tailored to meet the specific needs of each family. In other words, there is no “one size fits all” approach to helping stabilize and strengthen families.

Available services include:

• Parenting skill improvement
• Substance abuse treatment
• Counseling (family and individual)
• Homemaker services (cleaning, organization, budgeting, etc.)

Each of us has the ability to help children and families in our communities. If we educate and encourage people to find ways to get involved, kids prosper at home. We want to provide families with the tools, resources, and supports to become the best versions of themselves possible. We believe that strong families equal safe kids. If you suspect a child is being abused or neglected, please call the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-482-5964.