12. Heartland for Children

12.  Heartland for Children

In central Florida, Heartland for Children (HFC) uses a number of DCRC resilience building resources in the child welfare system in a variety of ways.  HFC is the state contracted lead child welfare agency in Polk, Hardee and Highlands Counties, responsible for overseeing all child abuse prevention and child welfare services.  As part of their required pre-license training, all foster parents receive 4 hours of training on Your Journey Together, a resilience building curriculum for parents involved in child welfare.  Additionally, completion of the Devereux Adult Resilience Survey is a required component of the state mandated home study.  The DECA assessments are used as a measure of every young child’s social and emotional well-being at the time of placement in foster care.  These results are used to inform case planning for young children in foster care.  Upon request, foster parents are provided with support and suggestions from a DCRC Early Childhood Specialist for strengthening their foster child’s  protective factors of attachment, initiative and self-regulation.