Monique's Safety Net Program

Mission Statement

The mission of Monique's Safety Net Program is to intervene with high risk families who have experienced some form of abuse in order to identify and intercept child abuse before it develops into a pattern of child maltreatment. The in-home services provided to families by Monique's Safety Net Program are aimed at avoiding the development of child care and abuse problems; intercepting the progression of identified problems; and restoring and maintaining a healthy child environment.

Program Description

Monique's Child Safety Net Program is an in-home parenting assistance service that works with families identified as high risk for child abuse and/or maltreatment in five counties in the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida. The counties of Duval, Nassau, Baker, Clay and St. Johns are served by the Monique's Safety Net staff. This service is voluntary and at no cost to the family served. Families referred are typically identified as high risk for possible child abuse problems by the University of Florida Child Protection Team. Once referrals are made, a case manager will contact the family and arrange weekly visits to address the needs of the family and their children.

The case managers may provide a number of services to families including but not limited to the following areas:

The case managers of Monique's Safety Net Program create a custom designed case plan for each family with specified goals and objectives that meet each family’s individual needs. Each case plan is reviewed with the family and can be modified during the course of case involvement. Parents of families fill out satisfaction surveys when their case is ending. Pre-post clinical questionnaires are administered to the parents of Monique's safety Net Program families to assist in identifying problem areas and to assess success in ameliorating those problem areas. The Beck Depression Scale – 2 and the Adult-adolescent Parenting Inventory -2 administered will be administered at the start of services and at the end of services. These questionnaires will be scored and reviewed by the supervising psychologist of the program.

Active cases are reviewed weekly in a staff meeting with all case managers present along with the supervising psychologist.  Areas of difficulty are discussed at these meetings along with progress of the cases.  Adjustments to the case plans can be made at the weekly staff meetings.

Case Manager Requirements

Monique's Safety Net program will transition from the Children’s Home Society to the University of Florida on April 1, 2009.  During the first six months of this transition, the program will be staffed by two professionals who have been with Monique's Safety Net Program under the Children’s Home Society for the last three years.  After the initial six month transition period, one professional will be replaced by a person with a bachelor’s degree in social work or bachelor’s degree in an equivalent area of study.  At least two years of experience in family intervention will also be required.