Washington, DC (September 29, 2017) – Following a national competition, The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) is proud to announce its selection by DC’s Child and Family Service Agency (CFSA) as the successful bid for the Temporary Safe Haven Redesign (TSHR): Improving Quality for District Children and Youth. As of January 1, 2018, NCCF will serve as the single-provider for all District children placed in family-based foster homes in Maryland.
“We are very pleased to be awarded this contract to work in partnership with CFSA to oversee the TSHR, which eliminates the traditional/therapeutic categories of foster homes and instead focuses on an array of services and supports that promotes placement stability, well-being, and permanence,” noted Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman, Executive Director of NCCF. “Our main focus is to ensure the youth in our care are given the best quality support and love.”
“The District’s selection of NCCF’s proposal will be a great benefit to DC’s foster children and their families,” said Mr. Lewis I. Askew, Jr., President of NCCF’s Board of Trustees.
The TSHR’s goal, when foster care is in the child’s best interest, is to provide the shortest stay possible in a quality foster care setting and the quickest possible exit back to a safe, permanent home. In order to achieve that goal, CFSA awarded a single contract to consolidate the current seven private foster care providers serving District children placed in Maryland. As of mid-August, CFSA was serving 921 children in foster care, of which 352 were in Maryland. Under this groundbreaking model of private-public partnership, CFSA will provide case management for all children and their families, including foster parent recruitment and support, in the District. NCCF will provide these same services for all District children placed in family-based homes in Maryland.
Approved by the D.C. City Council on September 19, 2017, the contract takes effect on January 1, 2018. A transition period starting on October 1, 2017 allows foster families and foster homes licensed under previous providers to transfer to NCCF.
About the National Center for Children and Families
The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) was founded in 1915 as the former Baptist Home for Children, a local orphanage. Currently, NCCF’s residential programs serve homeless families, victims of domestic violence, and children and adolescents who have been removed from their families due to abuse and neglect and/or behavioral challenges. Nationally accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), NCCF now propels more than 50,000 children, youth, and families annually into an improved quality of life through a wide continuum of 20 local programs: emergency shelters and transitional housing, therapeutic residential care, foster care and adoption, teen parent services, and community-based prevention services, while relying on community education and training, volunteerism, and advocacy. NCCF is a member of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), Maryland Association of Resources for Families and Youth (MARFY), and Maryland Nonprofits, and has received Alliance for Workplace Excellence Awards for four years in a row. For more information, visit us on the web at www.nccf-cares.org.
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Contact:
Annie Wilson, 301-365-4480
Awilson@nccf-cares.org
