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John H. Mulroy Civic Center
421 Montgomery Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
Hours: 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM (Monday – Friday)
Phone: (315) 435-2884
Children’s Division is dedicated to professional
practice in the protection of children from violence and neglect
by their caretakers, preservation of families, the provision of alternative
care, and the achievement of permanence for children to help them
become productive adults.
The Children’s Division of the Onondaga County Department
of Social Services is responsible for the direct and indirect provision
of Child Protective Services, Foster Care, Intake, Adoption and
Preventive Services.
The Child Abuse Hotline is Available 24 Hours A
Day
(315) 422-9701 or 1 800-342-3720
Child Protective Services
is the only public entity responsible for safeguarding the physical,
mental, and emotional well being of abused and neglected children. CPS receives all reports
of suspected child abuse and maltreatment within families and conducts
investigations, first to assess the risk of harm to the children
and then to examine the allegations of maltreatment in each report. In
cases where neglect or abuse exists, CPS provides and arranges
for services necessary to ensure that risks to the children’s
safety are eliminated as well as work to preserve and stabilize
family life whenever possible.
The Intake Unit provides an array of services including
the assessment of an identified family’s service needs, voluntary placement
of children into foster care, and referral for preventive services. To
request services, call (315) 435-2884.
The focus of the Family Services Unit is to address
the risk and safety issues present in identified families in order
to prevent the foster care placement of children. Efforts are undertaken
to coordinate and integrate the family with community services
and resources. If foster care placement is unavoidable, intensive
services are provided in an effort to reunite the family or to
achieve another form of permanency.
The Preventive Services Unit provides services to families
and children when there is a documented risk to the children of
placement in foster care or remaining in foster care without such
services. To
request services, call 435-2884.
Foster and adoptive parents are
special people who open their hearts and homes to children in our
community who can no longer stay with their families for a variety
of reasons. Their
stay may be temporary or in some cases permanent. The Homefinding
Unit recruits, trains and certifies foster and adoptive families. If
you are interested in making a difference in a child’s life,
please call (315) 435-3827
or check out our web site at: http://www.giveyourlifeasmile.com/
There are many children in Onondaga County that are waiting
to be adopted. The adoption unit arranges placements of these
children in appropriate homes. They provide support and guidance
to the children and the adoptive parents until the adoption is
finalized. Photographs and biographies of the children available
for adoption in New York State are available in the New York State
Adoption Album. If you are interested in adopting, please
call (315) 435-3827 or check out our web site at:http://www.giveyourlifeasmile.com/
The Independent Living Unit provides services to
all teens in foster care who are interested in learning real world
life skills. This
is accomplished through intensive casework and participation in
group activities. Our teens have an opportunity to discover
what it is like to take responsibility for themselves and are instructed
in strategies designed to assist them with life on their own as
adults.
Parents and Children Together is a service designed
to step into families who are at high risk of foster care placement
for their children. Intensive casework services are used
to help correct problems, model good parenting and advocate for
the family with schools, medical providers and others in the community.
Give your life a smile and become a foster parent
http://www.giveyourlifeasmile.com/
New York State Office of Children and Family Services Child Protective
Services
http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/cps/
New
York State Office of Children and Family Services Counties of New
York Mandated Reporter’s Guide
http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/publications/pub1159text.asp
New York State Citizens’ Coalition For Children, Inc. Foster
Parent Manual
http://www.nysccc.org/Foster%20Parent%20info/FosterParentManual.pdf
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/
NYS Adoption and Safe Families Act Legislation
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reclegis99/a962staff.html
Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994
http://www.otda.state.ny.us/directives/1996/ADM/96_ADM-02.pdf
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