Purpose, Mission, Vision, and Philosophy
Purpose: The MCCSB exists to meet the unmet needs of Marion County’s abused, neglected, or dependent children when parents are unwilling or unable to provide proper care.
Key Message(s):
- MCCSB is the only agency whose sole responsibility is to ensure child safety.
Mission: To lead the community in the protection of children by working with families to promote, develop, and maintain safe and permanent homes.
Key Message(s):
- MCCSB is the only agency whose sole responsibility is to ensure child safety. As a result, the agency must act as the community’s leader in the identification of child maltreatment and the protection of children.
- Child safety is paramount.
- Working jointly with families to identify concerns and find solutions to ensure child safety creates better outcomes for children and families.
- Working jointly with families to ensure the proper knowledge, skills and resources is the best form of prevention of future child maltreatment.
- Children deserve safe and permanent homes.
Vision: Safe children. Strong families. Supportive communities.
Key Message(s):
- MCCSB relies on the community to protect children and promote strong families by:
- Relying on reports of concerns which initiate MCCSB services;
- Relying on social service agencies to provide necessary services to meet the needs of children and families;
- Relying on collaborated efforts to provide necessary services to meet the needs of children and families;
- Encouraging the community to reach out and help strengthen and support families in need; and
- Educating the community on agency services and initiatives to create a community of informed advocates.
- Supportive community involvement is necessary to promote strong families. Strong families lead to safe children.
Philosophy: The Marion County Children Services Board believes that all children have the right to grow and develop within their own families in a safe and permanent home environment. We view families as the true experts regarding their needs and work jointly with them to identify concerns and determine solutions to assure child safety.
It is our belief that the best form of prevention is ensuring families have the proper knowledge, skills and resources to assist in their ability to provide proper care and protection for their children.
Because keeping families together is our priority, children are maintained in their homes whenever safely possible. When a parent is unwilling or unable to provide proper care, we believe children should be placed in the least restrictive, most home-like setting while the parents work to alleviate the risk within their home.
Should services aimed at strengthening and supporting families to promote timely reunification prove unsuccessful, we believe that children have the right to be provided with a safe and permanent family through timely permanency planning efforts.
Key Message(s):
- Child safety is paramount
- Working jointly with families to identify concerns and find solutions to ensure child safety creates better outcomes for children and families.
- Working jointly with families to ensure the proper knowledge, skills and resources is the best form of prevention of future child maltreatment.
- It is in the children’s best interests to be are maintained with own family unless exigent circumstances exists.
- If necessary, children should be placed in the least-restrictive, most home-like setting.
- Children deserve safe and permanent homes.
Marion County Children Services does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, sex, age, political belief, political affiliation, and citizenship/participant status in the admission, treatment, or participation in its programs, services and activities, or in employment.