Office of Thriving Families (OTF)

The Office of Thriving Families (OTF) forges community partnerships and supports community-based programs and strategies designed to strengthen families and promote safety and stability.

OTF’s motto is “community lead, government supported.”

Vision

Empowering a community of thriving families and individuals to ensure a safe, self-sufficient, and connected DC.

Mission

We aim to strengthen, stabilize, and promote the well-being of families and children by partnering to provide a timely array of quality prevention and supportive services to address identified needs and help communities thrive.

This division contains the following activities:

Primary Prevention - provides direct community-based prevention and supportive services to families and their children. CFSA's primary prevention efforts include the Families First DC (FFDC) program, a continuum of prevention services focused on stabilizing and strengthening families, and the 211 Warmline, which is intended to serve as a comprehensive, unified, social services resource and referral Call Center for all District residents.

Community Services (Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary) - provides oversight of community-based prevention services to families and at-risk children in their homes. Programs include the Grandparent Caregiver Subsidy Program (GCP) and the Close Relative Caregivers Subsidy Program (CRCP), which provide financial assistance services to eligible grandparents and caregivers so that they can maintain children in permanent homes, as well as the Kinship Navigator Program. OTF also oversees contracts with the Healthy Families, Thriving Families Collaboratives and other evidence-based or evidence-informed program (EBP) providers, and CFSA's housing programs, including Flex Funds.

Tertiary Prevention - provides support and service navigation to children and their families with current or recent CFSA-involvement. Programs include the Community Engage and Connect Unit (CECU), which supports families transitioning from CFSA involvement to ensure they have the supports they need to manage independently and not return to CFSA attention, and the Mayor's Services Liaison Office (MSLO), which provides access to District-wide government and community-based resources and facilitates interagency collaboration to support Family Court-involved families.

Evaluation and Data Analytics (EDA) – team of data and evaluation specialists who support all data analyses and evaluation activities across OTF, and in collaboration with the Agency analysts at large. The EDA team reports to the OTF Deputy Director.

The following supportive programs contribute to CFSA’s prevention service array:

Mayor’s Services Liaison Office (MSLO) – The mission of MSLO is to promote safe and permanent homes for children by working collaboratively with stakeholders to develop readily accessible services based on a continuum of care that is culturally sensitive, family-focused, and strengths-based. MSLO supports social workers, case workers, attorneys, family workers, and judges in identifying and accessing client-appropriate information and services across District agencies and in the community for children and families involved in Family Court proceedings.

Families First DC Family Success Centers - The DC Child and Family Services Agency’s (CFSA) Families Success Centers result from the Families First DC initiative, the District’s family-strengthening vision that is broader and bolder than Family First. The centers are in targeted neighborhoods throughout the District.

211 Warmline & Community Response Model - The 211 Warmline & Community Response Model is a collaborative effort between the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) and the Office of Unified Communications (OUC) to reboot and integrate the District’s 211 into the Mayor’s Citywide Call Center. This service is designed to operate as a centralized social services resource and referral call center for all District residents.

Kinship Navigator Program - The Grandparent and Close Relative Caregiver Programs which helps to prevent foster care placements by providing financial assistance and resources to grandparents and great aunts and uncles caring for their relative children. CFSA’s Kinship Division, the school system, or another public or community-based organization can refer families to the Collaboratives where the children/youth are residing with a caregiver i.e., grandmother, grandfather, uncle, aunt, kin where a relationship or bond has been established to receive family strengthening services.

Healthy Families Thriving Communities Collaboratives (Collaboratives) - The Collaboratives are a network of five (5) community-based social services providers charged with assisting at-risk children and families in the District of Columbia to prevent child abuse and neglect, preserve families at risk of child maltreatment, and stabilize families who are formerly involved with the child welfare system. The Collaboratives have historically served as the key service delivery vehicle for CFSA’s prevention and family-strengthening work. Serving all eight (8) wards in the District of Columbia, the Collaboratives are in those neighborhoods with the highest representation of families in contact with the child welfare system:

Collaborative Solutions for Communities (Wards 1, and 2, and 3)
East River Family Strengthening Collaborative (Ward 7)
Edgewood/Brookland Family Support Collaborative (Wards 5 and 6)
Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (Ward 8)
Georgia Avenue Family Support Collaborative (Ward 4)

Community Engage and Connect Unit (CECU) – CECU’s goal is to help families manage independently after their case closes and prevent a return to In Home (IH) or Out of Home (OOH) care. For closing IH or OOH cases, the CECU connects with the social worker and the family prior to case closure and, once the case has closed, provides up to 90 days of service linkage and support.

Community Based Child Abuse Prevention (CBCAP) – CBCAP is a nationwide program that provides funding to states to implement primary prevention services for families not currently involved with child welfare agencies. The program focuses on developing, expanding, and enhancing community-based, prevention-focused initiatives designed to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect, particularly for at-risk children aged 0-5 and their caregivers. In the District, CBCAP supports services aimed at preventing families from entering the child welfare system by offering evidence-based home or community-based parenting support.

Housing and Concrete Supports – The OTF coordinates a range of housing support services to help families and youth secure stable housing that meets their individual needs. OTF plays a key role in administering and overseeing the following housing/concrete supports:

Rapid Housing Assistance Program (RHAP): OTF directly manages eligibility for RHAP, which provides short-term rental subsidies to both families and youth transitioning out of foster care.
Flex Funds: OTF also oversees eligibility for Flex Funds, which offer immediate financial assistance to families and youth for concrete and housing-related needs, such as back rent, utilities, or housing maintenance.
Partnership with DC Housing Authority (DCHA): OTF works with DCHA to identify and refer youth and eligible families for a key housing program—the Family Unification Program (FUP) voucher programs. These programs provide Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) to youth and families involved in the child welfare system, helping them secure long-term housing solutions.

Fatherhood Engagement – The Fatherhood Initiative is a multi-disciplinary workgroup consisting of representatives from the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), DC Health, community partners, consultants, and fathers and father-figures with lived experiences. We are collectively determined to improve the outcomes of DC children and families by providing authentic opportunities for men to become better parents, partners, and providers. CFSA’s Fatherhood Reboot aims to redefine how all DC fathers and father-figures are valued, supported, empowered, and heard within the entirety of the DC Human Services Cluster. Our goal is to further challenge and transform the DC narrative around fatherhood. We are dedicated to promoting the critical role of fathers and father-like figures in the overall well-being of children. Our mission includes dedicated support for fathers and father-like figures of all races, ethnicities, creeds, gender preferences, educational backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, cultural backgrounds, and personal challenges.

Lived Experience – CFSA’s Lived Experience (LEX) Advisory Council is comprised of youth, caregivers, parents, and community advocates who advise the agency on its systems transformation efforts. The LEX Advisory Council is responsible for promoting and supporting essential programs, resources, and services while contributing valuable insights to decisions made in the best interests of families and children. The Council is designed to be representative of diversity of the community. Members may include, but are not limited to youth (16-24), returning citizens, families currently or formerly connected to a District of Columbia Human Services Agency, school leaders, faith-based leaders, community members or individuals identifying as LGBTQ+, business owners, parents, grandparents, seniors, veterans, and members of the English as a Second Language (ESL) community.

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to reach out to the Office of Thriving Families at [email protected].