Family Finding and Engagement Services

The purpose of this Request for Proposals (RFP) is to define the County's minimum requirements, solicit proposals, and gain adequate information by which the County may evaluate the services offered by Proposers that fall within the scope of service as further described in section 3 of this RFP. Solano County Health and Social Services Department, Child Welfare Services (CWS) Division, intends to contract with an organization experienced and proficient in best practices to provide Family Finding and Engagement services to find and engage family members and other adults with a prior relationship to children in foster care, with the aim of increasing permanency options for children. CWS is seeking to provide intensive family finding and engagement services with the ultimate goal of identifying, locating, and engaging relatives, kin, and support networks to support the permanent placement and lifelong connection needs of youth placed in out-of-home care. The purpose of any resulting contract from this RFP is to provide intensive family finding and engagement services with the ultimate goal of identifying, locating, and engaging relatives, kin, and support networks to support the permanent placement and lifelong connection needs of youth placed in out of home care. All County Information Notice (ACIN) No. I-35-11 ( https://cdss.ca.gov/getinfo/acin/2011/I-35_11.pdf ) and All County Letter (ACL) No 14-75 ( https://www.cdss.ca.gov/lettersnotices/entres/getinfo/acl/2014/14-75.pdf ) both increased the County’s’ capacity and were precursors to the family finding components of Continuum of Care Reform as outlined in All County Information Notice No. I-50-16 ( https://www.cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/letters-regulations/letters-and-notices/all-county-information-notices/2016-all-county-information-notices ). There are several models of family finding and engagement activities to maintain and develop permanent connections, as well as reduce the length of time children are in foster care. Most models include discrete steps and professional techniques for identifying and engaging family members and other adults. Two models commonly used are the (1) the model developed by Kevin Campbell and (2) the model developed by the National Resource Center for Family Practice and the California Permanency for Youth Project. The family finding models are intended to be a short-term targeted intervention of two to three months. Family Finding and Engagement services employ an assertive team-based approach to locating and connecting or reconnecting youth with their family members and/or other supportive adults. Various techniques and principles must be incorporated to conduct identification, search, engagement, and follow up activities to locate and connect or reconnect family members and/or other supportive adults of the youth and youth adults placed in out-of-home care through CWS. Activities may include, but are not limited to, case mining, telephone calls, internet searches, email communications and in-person visits. For more information on Family Finding and Engagement best practices, please refer to the following websites: California Department of Social Services: Empower, Engage, Support University of California, Berkeley, California Social Work Education Center, Family Finding & Engagement Toolkit.