Our Goal is to Preserve Families
Intact Family Services works with families and caregivers who have been referred by Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) due to a report of abuse or neglect. We provide a comprehensive range of home-based case management services designed to resolve these issues so that children and youth can remain safely at home. This is done by identifying needs through a comprehensive assessment, linking the family to service providers accordingly, and providing a continuum of services including but not limited to: home based case management, counseling, parent education, protective daycare, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, emergency assistance, advocacy, healthcare, and assistance with transportation to services.
Our Approach & Core Beliefs
As an Intact Family Services provider, we are committed to keeping families together whenever it is safe to do so. We believe that all families and caregivers have the potential to create and sustain a safe and healthy environment for themselves and their children. Our role is to help families and caregivers recognize and access their strengths, identify and normalize their challenges, and learn and practice new skills that promote safety and well-being for the entire family.
Creating partnerships with families and caregivers is the foundation of our work. We understand that we are responsible for engaging families and creating relationships based on trust, empathy, responsiveness, and respect and we believe in the power of working in partnership with families to build consensus and create change. Based on this foundation is the knowledge that all families face challenges relative to their current developmental stage and all caregivers struggle with individual issues that can make caring for their children difficult and can impact the family as a whole – the families we serve in Intact Family Services are no exception. So, while we know that most of the families and caregivers we work with have found themselves above the “trouble line,” we believe that solutions can be found in helping families normalize developmental challenges, understand the events that led them above the trouble line, find strengths through exceptions, and understand the difference between intention and action.
Our Commitment to Equitable, Diverse and Inclusive Solutions
While we believe in the potential of every family we serve, we also know that opportunity is not evenly distributed. We work with families who are at the greatest risk – risk associated with trauma and adversity, systemic racism, inequity, discrimination, socio-economic factors, isolation, and geographic service limitations. We believe that systems should work together to keep families together. In response, we work to empower and advocate for families, while helping families create systems of support that can help them find, maintain, and celebrate success.
Read more about our commitment in Children’s Home & Aid’s Blueprint for Impact: Living Our Values.
