Our At-Risk Services’ programs aim to promote a safe and nurturing environment for at-risk children, youth, and families and the goal is to keep them safe, prevent abuse/maltreatment and strengthen individual and family self-sufficiency. We ensure that all children, youth and families in our care who are at-risk of being removed from their home environment or becoming homeless have every ancillary service available at their disposal to prevent further negative outcomes.
Preventive Services Programs are designed to keep families together through early and active intervention. The goal of this program is to strengthen families as they cope with the day-to-day pressures that can result in placing their children in danger of intervention by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). Most of the families we serve consist of single parents who are suffering from the effects of poverty, working families who struggle with raising their children, families who feel displaced and culturally alienated in a new homeland and families who struggle with their mental health and/or substance abuse problems.
Preventive Services programs have restored many families to functioning levels that is ultimately a tremendously positive contribution to the community as a whole. CMCS operates two Preventive Services Programs: The Family Treatment and Rehabilitation Program and Special Medical Program. These programs are intended to serve families with either a child with special medical needs, a child and/or parent with a developmental disability, or a child in need of early permanency planning due to a parent’s substance abuse and/or mental illness.
The goal of these services is to support families where a parent is suffering from a progressively chronic or terminal illness; or to provide a bridge to more long-term services for families with children with special medical needs, developmental disabilities, or both. Additionally, the program assists a terminally ill parent to identify a future permanency resource and help them plan and prepare for the transfer of custody of their children. The focus of this model is to create independence, help families acquire appropriate skills which promote safety for the children and empower families to be self-sufficient. CMCS is one of three borough wide providers selected to work with these extremely vulnerable populations.
For more information about our Preventive Services’ Programs, please email us at preventative@cmcs.org
