The State of California is in the midst of a challenging experiment: transforming the nature of residential services for children and youth. Four demonstration sites: Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, Sacramento County, and the City and County of San Francisco are developing new program and funding models that will focus on family and community reunification, rather than isolation. Entitled Residentially Based Services, or RBS, this new option was created by AB 1453(Soto). This statute authorizes the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) to select four sites to implement a new approach using short-term intensive residential care as an integrated component of a multi-dimensional response to the needs of children and families that also includes the simultaneous provision of parallel community services for the family to prepare for the child’s reconnection, and follow-along services to help support and maintain the return to life at home, in school and in the community.

Casey Family Programs has made a major commitment to support this effort and has contracted with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services to coordinate technical assistance for the project.

The following are some of the materials that have been developed to assist them in this process. For much more information go to www.rbsreform.org.

Power Point Presentations

An Illustrated Guide to RBS
Re-inventing RBS
RBS – New Vitality for a Necessary Resource
Leading Organizational Change
An Overview of the RBS Framework

Supporting Memoranda

Some Assembly Required
Are You Ready for Some RBS (provider)
Are You Ready for Some RBS (county)
A Framework for Residentially Based Services