Keeping children safe and in the homes of their families is a passion for Family Support Services of Suncoast president and CEO Jenn Petion and her team.
Next month, the child welfare agency will start to implement a nationally-recognized software company’s Service Referral Management module. Binti has partnered with more than 550 agencies in 36 states and in Washington, D.C. – serving 47 percent of children in care around the country.
The Service Referral platform will allow FSS’s team to more efficiently collaborate with community resources and providers.
“One of the most important things we do when we have to remove children from a home is to provide the family services to address whatever the safety issue was,” Petion said. “We want to make sure that we can connect families with the appropriate service and the right provider that’s a fit for them as quickly as possible.”
This, she explained, helps families get reunified with their children faster.
Often these safety issues are related to substance abuse and can co-occur with mental health disorders. Domestic violence is another common challenge, Petion added.
She believes the Service Referral platform will help create a “streamlined” approach for FSS. Petion spoke about how case managers once had to be service array experts.
They had to be knowledgeable about different behavior health services, what providers were available and determine if these providers met FSS’s standards.
With the new technology, case managers only have to reach out to FSS’s service team and share what they believe the need is. The team will then use the platform to access the company’s network of approved service providers to find a fit for the family, Petion explained.
A lot of providers have to have special credentials to offer specific services. “It keeps a case manager from having to have that knowledge or do that vetting process themselves,” she said.
The partnership with Binti began multiple years ago. Petion, who learned about the company in a previous role, thought its platforms could improve efficiency at FSS.
The organization began to utilize Binti’s licensing module, which allows agencies to approve resource families (foster care, et cetera) more quickly. After seeing success with the module, Petion and her team decided to explore more of the company’s products.
“Our partnership with Binti reflects one of our organization’s guiding principles of continuing to innovate within the child welfare space,” Petion said.
“We will always challenge ourselves to do better for the children and families we serve, and this is one of those ways that we’re doing that and making that investment.”
Family Support Services of Suncoast website