Collaborative Family Engagement (CFE), our Family Finding partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), has spread quickly and widely since implementation began in Fiscal Year 2016. CFE began in three pilot sites (CASA programs and local CPS offices) and served 20 families and 48 children. In Year 4, CFE programs at 31 sites served 795 families and 1,414 children!
What DOES CFE look like in practice?
Studies show that one of the biggest indicators in children’s well-being is the number of committed adults in their lives. CFE is built around the fact that kids in foster care have many family members, fictive kin and other supportive adults in their lives who can step in and support them. It is a team-based approach between CASA and CPS to engage, find and work with family members and fictive kin in the creation and development of a lifetime network for these young people.
What’s next?
CFE is currently in the process of expanding to 10 more sites, which will bring our total to 41 CASA programs, 90 counties and 10 DFPS regions – more than 50 percent of the statewide network. Thank you to our hard-working CFE team for keeping the momentum going over the years, and thank you to the CASA programs and CPS for your commitment and collaboration! With your support, we are on track to take CFE statewide by 2023.
If you’d like to learn more, email the CFE team at [email]CFEteam@texascasa.org[/email].
You must be logged in to post a comment.