Office of Children Services

The Office of Children Services implements a continuum of strategies covering prevention, intervention and treatment. Specifically, OCS encompasses home visiting programs such as Healthy Families and the Family First, children residential treatment efforts such as TRIAD, intensive case management efforts such as Community Partners for Children, and integrated funding initiatives including the Youth & Family Assessment Center and The Children’s Partnership.

The Office of Children Services was created to strengthen Travis County Health and Human Services and Veteran Services’ capacity to address the needs of children, youth and families in our community, and to reduce the incidence of child abuse and neglect as critical factors in youth delinquency prevention.

1. Oversee Travis County Health and Human Services (HHS) direct service programs for children, youth and families including Healthy Families, Triad, and Family First program.
2. Oversee HHS involvement with The Children’s Partnership and the Youth & Family Assessment Center, both initiatives providing integrated, flexible funding in support of Wraparound care management services.
3. Develop a continuum of services for children, youth and their families including the creation of a framework for coordinated service delivery and strategies for prevention as well as needed treatment.
4. Integrate System of Care principles into all child serving practices in Travis County by promoting and modeling child-centered, youth guided, family-driven, strength-based, culturally responsive services.
5. Promote best practice models that have demonstrated success through validated evaluation.
6. Establish clear expectations tied to county funds including fidelity to System of Care principles, evidence of continuous quality improvement processes, and progress toward clear performance measures.
7. Maximize county funds to leverage resources (i.e. state or federal match programs, external accreditation).