Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability
Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability

Department of Children and Families

For assistance, call 850-487-1111 or visit https://www.myflfamilies.com/

What is the purpose of the department?

The Department of Children and Families works in partnership with local communities to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.

What services does the department provide?

The department organizes its activities around services for various client populations.
  • Economic Self-Sufficiency. The Economic Self-Sufficiency Program serves individuals and families on the road to economic recovery and promotes strong and economically self-sufficient communities through programs such as Temporary Cash Assistance (known federally as TANF), Food Assistance (known federally as SNAP), and Medicaid. The Office is also responsible for the Homelessness Program, Public Benefits Integrity, and Refugee Services.
  • Family Safety. These services provide for the safety, protection, care, and well-being of children and vulnerable adults. The program includes the following service components: Child and Family Well-Being, Domestic Violence, Florida Abuse Hotline, and Adult Protective Services.
    • Child Care Regulation, now within the Office of Quality and Innovation, is responsible for the health, safety, and well-being of children in the care of licensed facilities, family day care homes, and exempt childcare arrangements in 62 of the 67 counties.
    • The Background Screening Program makes employment eligibility determinations on individuals employed with, volunteering with, or seeking employment with facilities or entities licensed, regulated, or required to comply with the DCF's background screening. The department is one of seven state agencies that utilizes a statewide screening database maintained by the Agency for Health Care Administration to obtain background screening results.
  • Mental Health Hospitals. The Mental Health Hospitals provide services to adults with mental illness in forensic and civil mental health treatment and sexually violent predators in the Florida Civil Commitment Center.
  • Community Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. Substance abuse and mental health is responsible for the oversight of a statewide system of care for the prevention, treatment, and recovery of children and adults with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders services.

How are these activities funded?

Fiscal Year: 2023-24
Fund Dollars Positions
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF
ADMINISTRATION
PROGRAM: EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND SUPPORT SERVICES
98,139,308
728.25
PROGRAM: SUPPORT SERVICES
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
115,630,357
233.00
SERVICES
PROGRAM: COMMUNITY SERVICES
COMMUNITY SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
1,534,220,731
155.00
PROGRAM: ECONOMIC SELF SUFFICIENCY PROGRAM
ECONOMIC SELF SUFFICIENCY SERVICES
883,235,155
4,248.00
PROGRAM: FAMILY SAFETY PROGRAM
FAMILY SAFETY AND PRESERVATION SERVICES
2,045,606,063
4,570.00
PROGRAM: MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
533,345,134
3,031.50
TOTAL
5,210,176,748
12,965.75

Updates

Hope Florida - A Pathway to Prosperity. The Economic Self-Sufficiency (ESS) team is integrated into the DCF's Hope Florida - A Pathway to Prosperity program. This is a client-centered prevention model originally created to help public benefit customers in establishing goals and identifying barriers towards the achievement of self-sufficiency. This initiative assists customers in navigating the state's network of non-profits, government programs, faith-based providers, and private-sector partners. Hope Navigators team up with customers to provide assessment that identifies goals and barriers, care coordination, and follow-up services. The model also serves public benefit customers statewide, children aging out of foster care, pregnant mothers contending with substance use disorders, parents who need assistance, and families in need of services.

Direct-Support Organizations. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-310, Laws of Florida, which authorizes the DCF to create a Direct Support Organization (DSO) for the purpose of supporting the DCF in carrying out its purposes and responsibilities. The law also authorizes district school boards to contract with a DSO for personal services or operations, increases the threshold of expenditures and expenses that requires a DSO to provide for a financial audit from $100,000 to $250,000, and authorizes school boards to contract with a vendor for an annual financial audit of a DSO. 

Contracts Entered Into By the Department of Children and Families. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-178, Laws of Florida, which expands the contract requirements of DCF requiring a lead agency to annually provide and publish operating procedures for detailing timelines and procedures to maximize the use of concurrent planning, minimize the time to complete preliminary and final adoptive home studies, streamline data entry into the statewide child welfare information system, and reduce time to permanency. The bill also requires a lead agency to gather all information required and complete the child specific information of the unified home study, excluding information related to any prospective caregiver, no later than 90 days after a termination of parental rights petition is filed.

Where can I find related OPPAGA reports?

A complete list of related OPPAGA reports is available on our website.

Where can I get more information?

Other Reports
The Auditor General reports on department operations are available on its website

Websites of Interest
Florida Institute for Child Welfare
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
American Public Human Services Association
Center for Law and Social Policy
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
National Center for Children in Poverty

Performance Information
Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Planning and Performance Measures report the department's performance on external and internal measures for its various programs. The measures allow the user to view performance at both a statewide and geographic region level.

What are the applicable statutes?

Section 20.19, Florida Statutes

Whom do I contact for help?

Department of Children and Families - Contact Page
DCF Headquarters 850-487-1111
Customer Call Center 850-300-4323
Website

Hope Florida - A Pathway to Prosperity
850-300-HOPE
Website