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.
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 |
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.
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.
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