1. Kings County Human Services
Agency
Child Welfare Services (CWS)
Maria Serna
California State University Fresno

2. Kings County Human Services Agency
Location
Kings County Government Center
1400 W. Lacey Blvd., Bldg., 8
Hanford, CA 93230
(559) 582-3241
Toll Free: 1-800-289-9981
Office Hours: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Closed on Holidays

3. Kings County is located in the South
Central San Joaquin Valley

4. Mission Statement
• To protect the children and adults of Kings County
who are at risk.
• To promote safety and well being of the families of
Kings County to achieve family
permanence, stability and self reliance.
• To provide temporary economic assistance for those
in need.
• To provide comprehensive employment and training
services that promote personal responsibility, insure
self-sufficiency, job retention and self-esteem.

5. Core Values
• INTEGRITY- Be open and
honest, trustworthy, ethical and fair.
• DIGNITY- Treat all persons with respect.
• EXCELLENCE- Provide
quality, integrated, sustainable and
innovative public services.
• ACCOUNTABILITY- Take ownership, be
fiscally responsible and result driven.
• LEADERSHIP- Be responsible and a
positive example for others.

6. Child Welfare’s Primary Goal
• To prevent or remedy, abuse, or exploitation of
children while preserving, rehabilitating, or
reuniting.
• Another major responsibility is to assure
adequate care of children who are in “Out-of-
Home” placement i.e. foster children.

7. Structure of the Agency
Peggy Montgomery -Deputy Director, Social Services
Robert Isenberg -Program Manager, APS/IHSS/ CPS
Tina Garcia -Program Manager, CPS
Robert Isenberg -Emergency Response
Robert Carmona -Family Reunification
Nancy Cecil -APS/IHSS
Kristi Herrera -Supervisor, ER, Ten Day
Cory Jasso -Supervisor, ER, Screening Intermediate
Shelly Verboon -Family Maintenance/Licensing
Clarissa Picazo -Family Preservation/ILP
Sal Gonzalez -Courts
Susan Turner -Family Maintenance
Julie Flores -Supervisor, Permanency
Planning, Family Reunification

8. The Child Welfare Services Division…
• Committed to expanding primary prevention and
early intervention activities aimed at reducing the
possibility of out-of-home placements for children
and improving overall family functioning via early
intervention activities. The Division is involved in
the following: The Pediatric review Team
(PERT), Multi-disciplinary Review Team, Family
Preservation and Support Board, Child Abuse
Prevention, School Social Work
Collaborative, Strategic Planning, Foster Parent
Training and Recruitment Program, California State
University Fresno social Work Internship
Program, Central California Social Work
Academy, Family Unity Model, and Children's

9. Social Justice Issues Addressed
• Kings County Human Services Agency assists people
who suffer hardship or have been able to participate
fully in social and economic life of the community.
• The agency works to meet the needs of the
community as it grows and changes.
• From protecting children and elders, to expanding
health coverage, to providing resources to keep Kings
County’s workforce strong.

10. Child Welfare Services (CWS) programs include:
• Emergency Response (ER)
• Family Maintenance (FM)
• Family Reunification (FR)
• Permanent Placement (PP)
• Independent Living Program (ILP)
• Foster Parent Recruitment and Training
• Adoption Services
• Family Preservation Support Board

11. Family Maintenance (FM)
• The program I intern in is Family
Maintenance.
• Family Maintenance is a program that serves
“at risk” families in their own homes.
• The goal is to work alongside the family in
identification of risk factors and development
of a family/community plan to ensure child
safety.

12. FAMILY MAINTENANCE SERVICES
(FM):
• Are designed to provide time-limited protective
services to prevent or remedy neglect, abuse or
exploitation for the purpose of preventing separation
of the children from their families. Families can be
ordered by the court to participate in services or do so
voluntarily. Family Maintenance Services are
limited to six months, but may be extended for two-
three-month periods when it can be shown that the
objectives of the service plan can be achieved within
the extended time periods. For dependent children of
the Juvenile Court, reviews are conducted by the
Court at least every six months.

13. What Family Maintenance offers…
• A range of service-funded activities that
include:
Case management, counseling, respite
care, teaching and demonstrating
homemakers, parenting training, and
transportation.

14. Family Maintenance Referrals
• Outside referrals for services include:
Adult education, behavioral health
services, domestic violence, drug
treatment, employment training, group
therapy (e.g. Parents Anonymous), housing
services, and mental and medical services.
• Family Maintenance can be provided through
a voluntary agreement between the parents
and CWS or under order by the Juvenile
Court.

15. Significance of the Agency
• Social Justice- Advocate for the child no matter
what. Child from 0-3 are more vulnerable due to not
being able to communicate verbally due to age.
Children with disabilities, could have a serious
condition that can’t allow them to communicate
well, and can be easily abuse with parents and care
takers. That is the reason why social workers from
this agency advocate for children to make justice.
• Kings County is one of the counties were Social
workers are able to write warrants.

16. Significance of the Agency cont.
• Social work values- The agency set high
standards, they put their personal biases aside, they
don’t allow their personal biases interfere with their
job.
• Always have the National Association of Social
Workers code of Ethics in mind when making
decisions.
• Always assessing for risk and danger.
• Every social worker in this agency does case
management.

17. Significance of the Agency cont.
• Human Rights- Social workers in this agency
educate, show, advocate, discuss with client
their rights to live, safe place, receive services.
• Child safety
• To live the American dream.

18. Work Cited
• http://www.countyofkings.com/HSA/a
bout_us.html