ORLANDO, Fla. — Responsibility for hundreds of foster children in Orange, Osceola, and Seminole County will soon be handed to a new provider.
Embrace Families has been the lead agency for foster care in the tri-county region for 20 years, but in November, the organization made the decision to terminate their contract with the state.
The Department of Children and Families has now selected Brevard Family Partnership to take over.
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A transition between the two agencies is scheduled to be complete by May 15th and both agencies said they are working to make sure service doesn’t get disrupted for any kids in care.
“We have a very extensive a transition team that are ready and geared to get out and meet with them, and they to have a transition team to receive us,” said Brevard Family Partnership CEO Phil Scarpelli.
Scarpelli said Brevard Family Partnership is focused on relationship building, and has already met with Embrace Families foster parents, caseworkers, other staff members.
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The group is leveraging 20 years of foster care experience in Brevard County and preparing to tackle industry-wide challenges like high caseworker burn-out and foster parent turn-over.
Scarpelli said he hopes to support case workers by recognizing the stress they are under in a demanding job. He said the focus will be on mentorship and retention of those that do the challenging work.
Meanwhile his plan is to be hands-on with foster parents, engaging in listening sessions to understand the challenges they face day to day.
“They [foster parents] have association meetings that support one another. We need to be in the mix. And I intend on being there in person to engage,” said Scarpelli.
According to Scarpelli, the organization is still negotiating a final contract with the Department of Children and Families.
Embrace Families had long cited the need for more regional funding, sounding the alarm on a “broken funding formula” for the region.
According to longtime Embrace Families CEO Glen Casel even though 14% of the state’s investigators are assigned to Orange, Osceola, and Seminole county, just 1% of that money was being funneled to Embrace.
In Embrace Families’ decision to terminate their contract with the state, the agency cited the funding challenge and a fractured relationship with DCF.
On Wednesday, Channel 9 asked Scarpelli how Brevard Family Partnership plans to handle the funding challenge.
Scarpelli told Channel 9 he is advocating for more funding for the region while also taking a close look at where costs can be minimized.
“How do you get the biggest bang for your buck? And it’s really about critical and ongoing evaluation, we have saved this company, a lot of money in the last 6 years alone,” said Scarpelli.
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