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In fulfillment of the contract, the Family Permanency Division of TFI Family Services provides the staff and programs necessary to meet the Kansas SRS contract outcomes for the foster care and reintegration contract in 25 counties of southeast and south central Kansas. Our services are provided through Family Permanency Teams, made up of a licensed Permanency Worker and a Family Support Worker to assure that a wide array of services are available and accessible to the children and their parents/family members once a child has been referred to our agency through the contract. These services include: family and residential foster care, transportation, behavioral health care, and any other available community service that would empower the family to become reintegrated or to direct the courts in determining other appropriate permanency plans in the time frame meaningful and respectful of the child's needs. Once a child comes into the Family Permanency program, there are four ways for our staff to work toward achieving permanency in a child's life. The first and most important is to attempt reintegration with the natural family. Another option would be placing the child with extended family members. If neither of these options are feasible or appropriate, the permanency team will work toward severing parental rights and begin the process of adoption. The fourth alternative is called Independent Living. Within the Family Permanency Department there is an Independent Living Program that will give adolescent the skills they need to strike out on their own. These skills may be as simple as balancing a check book or budgeting. They also address more the complex issues of finding and keeping a job as well as a place to live. One very important component of the Independent Living program is that the youth must strive to achieve a high school diploma or G.E.D. The Independent Living program also includes our successful Pathways Program in the Kansas City and Wichita areas. Every child deserves to feel safe and secure in their future, and that is the number one goal of the Family Permanency Department. Every child deserves permanency in their lives.
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