The assigned caseworker provides family reconciliation services (FRS) to develop skills and supports within families to resolve family conflicts, achieve a reconciliation between parent and child, and to avoid out-of-home placement. The services may include, but are not limited to, referral to services for suicide prevention, psychiatric or other medical care, or psychological, financial, legal, educational, or other social services, as appropriate to the needs of the child and family. Typically FRS is completed within a thirty-day period. The department provides intake and assessment services (IAS).

(1) Youth and their families who call or self-present at a DCYF central intake or local office requesting FRS must be provided assistance in contacting the appropriate DCYF intake services to make a formal request for FRS.

(2) The FRS caseworker must contact the family within twenty-four hours of assignment to the case to schedule an appointment to begin the family interview and assessment.

(3) FRS is intended to defuse the immediate potential for violence, assess problems, and explore options leading to problem resolution.

(4) Families who require more intensive interventions than those provided by the FRS caseworker may be referred to a contracted provider for services. The family must make a commitment to participate in the contracted services.