Family Finders Overview

 

The goal of Family Finders is to help youth in out-of-home care make familial connections to maintain family relations and their family culture. The Family Finders Specialists starts working on a case immediately after shelter. Cooperation between Family Finders and Case Management teams is essential to achieve the best possible outcomes. Often Family Finding efforts can lead to a relative placement.

Family Finders Specialists document efforts in FSFN via a case note (using the note type Family Finding Effort), as well as filing search results into ASK. You can also locate current open Family Finders cases in the Family Finders Tracking Logs folder on the X-Drive. This folder also contains archived logs.

Relative Searches

  • Family Finders complete relative searches for the children in out-of-home care. We start our process at shelter and continue our search until all efforts are exhausted or the child is reunified.

  • Tools the Family Finders use to locate relatives include Accurint software program, social media, ancestry, obituaries, and Google searches.

  • Family Finders contact relatives and can assist with completing home studies, ICPC packets, and OCS packets.

  • Family Finders refer relatives to case management to assist with relative connections for the child. 

Home Studies

  • The Family Finders Specialist will assist by completing home studies for relatives, fictive kin, and non-relatives. We will communicate with the family, conduct the walk through, launch and complete the Home Study in FSFN with all attachments. 

  • Family Finders will make a recommendation on approval/denial before sending it to the assigned Case Manager Supervisor who will have final approval/denial status. Please make sure to let Family Finders know if you would like a drug screen to be completed on the placement resource due to a specific concern.

ICPC Packets

  • The Family Finders Specialist will assist by completing the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) packets for relatives, fictive kin, and non-relatives. We will communicate with the family, complete the ICPC packet, and submit it to our agency’s ICPC Liaison who will submit it to DCF. 

  • The Family Finders Specialist will work with the ICPC Liaison to track the packet and request updates from the receiving state until the home study is completed or cancelled. 

Out of County Services Packets (OCS)

  • The Family Finders Specialist will assist by completing OCS packets for relatives, fictive kin, and non-relatives. We will communicate with the family, complete the OCS packet, and submit it to the SCC OCS Liaison who will submit the packet to the receiving county. 

  • The Family Finders Specialist will work with the OCS Liaison to track the packet and request updates from the receiving county until the home study is completed or cancelled. 

Referrals for Family Finders should be sent to:  familyfinders@sccfl.org