Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Department of Social Services, Division of Child Protection Services (CPS) vision is to support strong families, as they are South Dakota’s foundation and our future. As part of the CPS mission to strengthen and support families, CPS provides certain services to families where children have been removed from their homes and placed in alternative care. Child Protection Services believes children should be with family whenever possible, and by providing a facility for supervised family time, families havethe opportunity for consistentcontactin order to enhance and promote the bonds that exist as families move towards reunification. Family time should occur in other venues outside the facility, such as the family’s homes, parks,or other family like settings whenever possible and safe.Child Protection Services must also ensure the well-being needs of children in our care are met, andmust provide transportation not only to these services, but to family time. The Sioux Falls office of Child Protection Services provides services to a large number of families. Due to limitations of staff and physical resources, there is a need for a Family Visitation Center (FVC) whocan provide support in the form of supervised family timeto as many families as possible who are working towards reunification, based on referrals from CPS. There is a need for children in foster care to be transported to and from the facility, as well as to various appointments to meet their educational, medical,or mental health needs. At times, the parents also need transportation to family timeor appointments. Child Protection Services is seeking a Provider that can provide services in two areas: Transportation and Family Time Services. In Fiscal Year 2020, the current vendor provided 2911 supervised family timefor an average of 60 families a month, and provided transportation services for 59 families each month, with a total of 80,457miles traveled. These services were in addition to the family time and transportation services provided to families by the Division of Child Protection Services outside of the contract.
