Placement Philosophy
Temporary Safe, Stable, Nurturing EnvironmentRemoval from birth families and guardians is a difficult journey for our children. Therefore, MCCS hires dedicated, skilled, and compassionate staff to help our children through this experience. When the birth family or guardian(s) are unable to provide for the safety and well-being of a child or sibling group, MCCS chooses the least restrictive, most appropriate placement setting. The placement setting must provide a temporary safe, stable, nurturing environment for the children. MCCS makes every effort to place siblings together. We first seek out appropriate relatives and non-relatives to care for children. This type of placement is known as a kinship placement. When a kinship placement is not available, the staff at MCCS make every effort to place children in a setting that best meets their needs, encourages family to family contact, and promotes reunification with the family of origin. Since most children in foster care are successfully reunified, we need foster parents who share these values. However, there are times when reunification is not possible.
Therefore, MCCS strongly encourages all applicants to be dually licensed as foster/adoption caregivers. Families wishing only to adopt children under age 10 and/or children from other countries will be referred to private adoption agencies specializing in those adoptions. On a case-by-case basis, MCCSB may provide adoption services to foster families of other agencies (who are not approved as adoptive parents) and who live outside the designated geographic area, when they express the desire to adopt a child in the permanent custody of Mahoning County Children Services.