Intact Family Services
Ensuring kids have the safe, loving homes they deserve while avoiding removal from their families.
Intact Family Services
Intact Family Services ensure the safety and well-being of children without the need for removal and out-of-home placement by providing families with needed in-home services. The goal is to see the overall number of children in substitute care continue to decrease slowly over time. LCFS ensures the child's development, safety and well-being by strengthening and supporting families. It is designed to assist families who have been reported to IDCFS for concerns of abuse or neglect. Through this program, families are assigned a case manger, who provides and links families with an array of supportive services.
Who is eligible?
Services are provided to families referred by DCFS to our offices in Kankakee (covering Iroquois county), Mt. Vernon (covering Jefferson, Hamilton and Wayne counties) and Springfield (covering Sangamon county).
Cost
There is no cost to DCFS-referred families.
Services provided include:
- Case management services: case managers monitor families regularly to ensure that they are on track and needed services are being received
- Counseling: counseling services are offered for adults, children, couples and families
- Substance-abuse services: when needed referrals for both inpatient and outpatient drug treatment programs are available to all family members.
- Home-based services: a variety of physical, mental and behavioral health services can be made available to families in their homes
- Parenting training: classes are provided to help improve the parenting practices of families
- Linkages to services available in the community: additional referrals are provided to families on an as needed basis for other community-based services such as support groups, food pantries, housing, employment training and continuing education programs
Intact Family Recovery
LCFS’ Intact Family Recovery is a unique program in which we partner with Chicago's Rincon Family Services to provide support to children and families in which the mother is undergoing rehabilitation for substance abuse. Mothers are usually referred to the program by DCFS after giving birth to a substance-exposed infant or having neglected or abused her children due to her substance abuse.
Children are able to safely stay in the care of their parents while the family is obtaining treatment. LCFS caseworkers help mothers and their families link up with needed community resources and make a successful transition from residential treatment to a recovery home and then to a more independent living environment.
Studies suggest that more than 65% of families are impacted by addiction. According to current research, full recovery from substance abuse can take anywhere from one to two years. The Intact Family Recovery program provides continuous case management and support services for clients and their families while they receive substance abuse treatment from certified substance abuse counselors with clinical expertise in serving DCFS involved families. This allows children to avoid the traumatic experience of being placed in out-of-home care.
Who is eligible?
Services are provided to families referred by DCFS to our River Forest office covering Cook county.
Cost
There is no cost to DCFS-referred families.