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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES PRACTICE MODEL

10/24 VOLUME V, PART I, APPENDIX II, PAGE 1

Virginia Department of Social Services Practice Model

The Virginia Department of Social Services Practice Model sets forth our standards of professional practice and serves as a values framework that defines relationships, guides thinking and decision- making, and structures our beliefs about individuals, families, and communities. We approach our work every day based on various personal and professional experiences. While our experiences impact the choices we make, our Practice Model suggests a desired approach to working with others and provides a clear model of practice, inclusive of all agency programs and services, that outlines how our system successfully practices. Central to our practice is the family. Guided by this model, we strive to continuously improve the ways in which we deliver programs and services to Virginia’s citizens.

1. All children, adults and communities deserve to be safe and stable.

• Every child has the right to live in a safe home, attend a safe school and live in a safe community. Ensuring safety requires a collaborative effort among family, agency staff, and community partners and across all programs and services. • Every adult has the right to live and work in a safe environment. We value all programs that address domestic and family violence and the abuse, neglect, and exploitation of older or incapacitated adults. • We value individual and family strengths, perspectives, goals, and plans as central to creating and maintaining a safe environment. The meaningful engagement and participation of children, adults, extended family, and community stakeholders is a necessary component of assuring safety. • When legal action is necessary to ensure the safety of a child and/or an adult, we use our authority with respect and sensitivity. • Individuals are best served when services are person-centered, family-focused and community-based and aim to preserve the family unit and prevent family disruption.

2. All individuals deserve a safe, stable and healthy family that supports them through their lifespan. • We believe mothers, fathers, and children thrive in safe, stable, healthy families. We value family structures that support the best interests of children; however, we believe that children do best when raised in intact, two-parent families. • Both parents should be actively involved in the lives of their children, even if they are not the primary caregiver. • Healthy, lifelong family connections are crucial to the development of children, the stability of the family and the support of infirm, dependent or aging adults. Through the services we provide, we seek out, promote, and preserve these healthy ties to family members and to others in the community to whom the family is connected or who may provide support.

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