Family Finding and Engagement Services

The vendor required to provide family finding and engagement services (FFES) to find and engage family members and other supportive adults with children, youth, and young adults in foster care, with the aim of increasing their permanency options.
- The primary goals of FFES are to:
•    Increase family connections for clients in care;
•    Increase connections and placements with relatives and NREFM when clients first enter out-of-home care, and to increase legal and relational permanency for clients who have been in out-of-home care for a longer time; 
•    Increase the success of identifying and engaging relatives and other supportive adults to support clients during and after reunification, and support permanency in cases where reunification cannot occur; and
•    Reduce the length of stay in foster care.
- The outcome objectives are as follows:
•    For at least 90% of referrals, at least three identified connections are located, contacted, and have initiated engagement with the youth and young adult (e.g., exchanged emails or phone calls) within 60 days of referral.
•    At least 75% of youth referred will attend at least two-family or supportive adult engagement meetings, visitations, or activities within the first 90 days of referral.
•    At least 75% of youth will report an increased sense of belonging and connectedness to supportive adults, measured via the youth connections scale, which may be modified if deemed appropriate by the county.
- Services to be provided
•    Establish or re-establish a relationship between client and one or more adults with a known connection. 
•    Services to include, but not limited to, review of case files; interviews with client and family members and other supportive adults; telephone calls; internet searches; e-mail communications; in-person visits; engagement strategies; and individualized FFES plans will be designed to increase the rate of family reunification, kinship placements, and overall connections for clients while in care.
•    Implement family-centered, family-friendly, collaborative, linguistically, and culturally responsive services.
•    Maintain regular communication with county and each client’s social worker, at least monthly, throughout the period of search for family members and supportive adults and engagement activities with those family members and supportive adults.
•    Deliver services in the home of the client, homes of family members and other supportive adults, or at other mutually agreed upon sites including virtually through interactive video conferencing technology and phone calls.
•    Obtain appropriate consent to contact client’s therapist to consult on the best approach to initiate meeting new family members and supportive adults, and conduct consultation with the therapist.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: December 3, 2025