1. Child Protective Services: Family Preservation
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2107 FAMILY PRESERVATION PROGRAMS
Introduction
Early Intervention/Preventive Services, Parent Aide Services, Prevention of
Unnecessary Placement (PUP), and Homestead programs are Georgia Department of
Human Resources initiatives to provide family services to families with children in need
of service, at risk for foster care placement, or ready for reunification. It is critical that
we establish partnerships with community-based resources so that together we can
assist families in need of early intervention as well as those in need of more intensive
services.
These are purchased services through community based organizations, vendors and
service providers. These programs are designed to help ensure a child’s protection,
safety and best interest. These services can be utilized on a continuum or in tandem as
part of a family’s safety and/or case plan to manage and reduce the risk factors
contributing to child abuse and neglect. Providers of these services are mandated
reporters and must report to the Department suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.
EARLY INTERVENTION/PREVENTIVE SERVICES
The goal of Early Intervention/Preventive Services is to provide voluntary family support
services and information about community services to prevent problematic family issues
from escalating to the point of required CPS intervention. Families believed to be in
need of early intervention services are referred to community based resources by the
county department. Early Intervention/Preventive Services are purchased services
through a vendor. Early Intervention services are available for CPS referrals that are
substantiated and closed with dispositions of low risk, referrals that are
unsubstantiated and closed, referrals that are screened-out and open cases
reassessed as low risk and subsequently closed. (See 2107.1)
Early Intervention/Preventive Services are voluntary and are offered at no cost to the
family. If a child is being seriously or deliberately maltreated or physical living
conditions are hazardous, an out-of-home placement is required to assure safety.
Early Intervention will not be used to keep children in unsafe environments or at
risk of further maltreatment.
A family with an open CPS case is not eligible to receive Early Intervention/Preventive
Services but may be eligible for Parent Aide Services. Early Intervention/Preventive
Services engage paraprofessional staff to provide parenting education and support to
families through group classes, in-home visitation and provide information about
Social Services Manual Child Protective Chapter 2100, Section VII
September 2000 Page 1

2. Child Protective Services: Family Preservation
community services. These services are designed to strengthen vulnerable families
and prevent child abuse and neglect. Early Intervention staff work with families to
prevent problematic family issues from escalating to the point of requiring CPS
intervention.
Early Intervention/Preventive Services may give a family the help it needs before
problems become serious enough for CPS. If a family requires more than “brief” or
early intervention, the case may need to be opened and additional services provided. If
a case is opened, Early Intervention services are closed. If the case is opened, the
case manager assesses the situation and determines what services are needed.
Additionally, Early Intervention services may be used for open CPS cases that have
been reassessed as low risk and closed.
For a detailed description of Early Intervention/Preventive Services, eligibility
requirements, and procedure/practice guidelines, see 2107.1 through 2107.7.
*Adult Protective Services cases are not eligible for Early Intervention/Preventive Services.
PARENT AIDE
The goal of the Parent Aide Program is to stabilize and help families in need of
intervention by providing in-home and group parenting education and referring these
families to community based resources. Parent Aide Services are a paraprofessional
family support and prevention program available to any family with an open Social
Services* case. The Parent Aide Program engages paraprofessional staff to provide
parenting education, training and support to families through group classes and in-home
visitation. Parent Aides work as a team member with casework staff, with the goal of
ensuring the safety and protection of children by improving parenting competency.
Objectives are to strengthen the parent-child bond, reduce social isolation, build trust,
help parents identify their children’s needs and ways to respond to those needs, and
appropriate discipline. Other responsibilities may include emergency respite care, food
and nutrition education (i.e. meal planning, advice on grocery shopping, meal
preparation, safe food handling and sanitation), information on homemaking and
budgeting topics, and assistance in accessing community resources.
The Parent Aide Program is a paraprofessional support program, as opposed to
therapeutic intervention. Parent Aide services are most useful for cooperative parents
who are experiencing stress and are open to learning new approaches to parenting.
These services are not designed to address issues that require clinical intervention.
Parents who have chronically neglected, seriously injured, sexually abused, abandoned
a child or have a mental illness or disability often need more structured intervention than
is available through parent aides.
Social Services Manual Child Protective Chapter 2100, Section VII
September 2000 Page 2

3. For a detailed description of Parent Aide services, eligibility requirements, and
procedure/practice guidelines, see 2107.8 through 2107.14.
*Adult Protective Services cases are not eligible.
PREVENTION OF UNNECESSARY PLACEMENT (PUP)
The goal of PUP services is to reduce risk factors contributing to child maltreatment to
ensure the protection and safety of children. PUP services include: emergency
housing/financial assistance, temporary child care services, counseling, emergency
transportation needs, emergency medical/dental needs and psychiatric/psychological
testing, funding for drug screens, and substance abuse assessments. A family must
have an open Social Services case to receive PUP services.
The PUP Program offers an array of support and intervention services. Through PUP,
psychological or psychiatric assessments, substance abuse assessments, drug
screens, and counseling may be obtained through vendors who have the necessary
skills and training to address more serious problems. PUP may be used to help a family
through a financial crisis with emergency rent, utilities or child care. The most ineffective
use of PUP is to pay for rent or utilities without assessing how the family got into this
difficulty. If the family's crisis is because of some unavoidable emergency, PUP can be
helpful. If the family's difficulties are chronic and reflecting a lifestyle of crisis, PUP
should not be used.
For a detailed description of PUP services, eligibility requirements, and
procedure/practice guidelines, see 2107.15 through 2107.25.
*Adult Protective Services cases are not eligible.
HOMESTEAD
The goal of Homestead Services is to stabilize and help families in need of intensive
therapeutic intervention to insure a safe and healthy environment for the family.
Homestead Services provide short-term, intensive, crisis-oriented, in-home counseling
program in order to stabilize the family and insure a safe and healthy environment for
the children. This program attempts to meet the immediate /crisis-oriented needs of
families while also beginning to address the root causes of family dysfunction with
therapeutic intervention strategies. The Homestead program provides comprehensive
assessment, family support, counseling and crisis intervention to manage the risk
factors contributing to child abuse and neglect. A family must have an open Social
Services* case to receive Homestead services.

4. Homestead is the most intensive of the Family Preservation programs. Homestead
services are best matched to families in crisis and who require therapeutic or clinically
oriented intervention. Homestead has been successful with a variety of families with
significant problems. Several common factors with these families include a desire and
motivation to change and the emotional and intellectual resources to benefit from
counseling. Homestead Services can and should be used for cases that have been
evaluated and found to be high-risk cases. Additionally, Homestead Services can be
used for children at imminent risk of f placement and reunification when a child is being
returned to his/her family. Homestead Services can be part of the reunification plan.
For a detailed description of Homestead services, eligibility requirements, and
procedure/practice guidelines, see 2107.26 through 2107.32.
*Adult Protective Services cases are not eligible.
Family Preservation Programs
Early Intervention/Preventive Services can help families before they reach the point of
needing CPS intervention. Once a case is opened for services, Parent Aide, PUP and
Homestead Program can work together providing support, education and counseling to
families to form a continuum of services. Each program offers distinct strengths and
services. DFCS case managers assess which services are most appropriate for each
family. The following is a general comparison of the programs and the families they
best serve.
Several tenets of family preservation services underlie the philosophy of the Early
Intervention/Preventive Services, Parent Aide, PUP, and Homestead programs:
1.The goal of family preservation services is to ensure the protection and safety of a
child at risk of maltreatment.
2.The Division of Family and Children Services should invest at least, as much time,
energy and resources into preserving and strengthening a child's natural family as it
would spend in providing out-of-home care for that child. No child in the State of
Georgia should be placed into foster care for purely or chiefly temporary financial
problems in the family.
3.Family preservation services help families help themselves by preserving and
strengthening a child's own family and promoting a family's self-sufficiency,
self-determination and independence.

5. 4.Family Preservation Programs are key elements in Georgia's family
preservation services and permanency planning required by Public Law
96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980.
5.Family Preservation Programs are supported by P.L. 103-66, the Family
Preservation and Support Services; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1993.
Several factors suggest that family preservation services may not be effective in
certain cases. Out-of-home placement of children into foster care is necessary
whenever a child’s safety cannot be ensured through controlling safety
interventions, or when risk cannot be effectively managed in the home. A
CHILD'S RIGHT TO PROTECTION AND SAFETY OUTWEIGHS A PARENT'S
RIGHT TO THE CHILD AND IS ALWAYS THE PRIMARY CONSIDERATION IN
CPS. Therefore, family preservation may not be an appropriate goal in the
following situations:
Σ chronic, cruel or life-threatening abuse
- sexual abuse where the offender is likely to have access to the child, or where
the non-offending parent is unwilling or unable to be protective of the child
Σ families with a death of a sibling as a result of maltreatment
- families with repeated foster care placements
Σ parents that have abandoned the child
- children that refuse to go home or parents that do not want their children home
Σ parents with drug or alcohol addiction that is being denied or untreated
- parents with repeated or serious criminal activity
Σ parents denying the maltreatment or unwilling to participate in necessary
services

6. 4.Family Preservation Programs are key elements in Georgia's family
preservation services and permanency planning required by Public Law
96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980.
5.Family Preservation Programs are supported by P.L. 103-66, the Family
Preservation and Support Services; Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1993.
Several factors suggest that family preservation services may not be effective in
certain cases. Out-of-home placement of children into foster care is necessary
whenever a child’s safety cannot be ensured through controlling safety
interventions, or when risk cannot be effectively managed in the home. A
CHILD'S RIGHT TO PROTECTION AND SAFETY OUTWEIGHS A PARENT'S
RIGHT TO THE CHILD AND IS ALWAYS THE PRIMARY CONSIDERATION IN
CPS. Therefore, family preservation may not be an appropriate goal in the
following situations:
Σ chronic, cruel or life-threatening abuse
- sexual abuse where the offender is likely to have access to the child, or where
the non-offending parent is unwilling or unable to be protective of the child
Σ families with a death of a sibling as a result of maltreatment
- families with repeated foster care placements
Σ parents that have abandoned the child
- children that refuse to go home or parents that do not want their children home
Σ parents with drug or alcohol addiction that is being denied or untreated
- parents with repeated or serious criminal activity
Σ parents denying the maltreatment or unwilling to participate in necessary
services