Overview of Our Delaware Programs

Children’s Choice of Delaware is a non-profit, Christian, social service agency providing foster care, adoption, post permanency, Kinship Navigation, Family Intervention and Interstate Compact services. The goal of each program is to provide the children and families served with quality, individualized services aimed at helping each child and family reach their highest potential.

Foster Care Program

The Children’s Choice Foster Care program seeks to provide temporary families for children in the child welfare system in Delaware.  Resource parents are specially trained to care for the unique needs and trauma that children, involved in the child welfare system, face.  Our families strive to provide loving, safe, nurturing homes with a goal of permanency, either with the child’s biological parents, family members or as adoptive resources. The Children’s Choice Foster Care program is staffed by Bachelor’s and Master’s prepared case workers who seek to provide safety and stability for each child in care.  The case work staff work with each member of the treatment team to ensure that the child’s and family’s needs are met and that all supportive services are provided. 

The goal of the foster care program is to help every child and every family achieve permanency while providing temporary, nurturing families to ensure the children’s everyday needs are met. The Foster Care program has a special emphasis on keeping siblings together.

Family Intervention

The Children’s Choice Family Intervention program seeks to engage families at risk of losing custody of their children in preventative services that helps them overcome the barriers to family safety and stability. This program also serves families who have lost custody of their children, but who are engaged in the case planning process to be reunified with their children. This program is aimed at providing support and advocacy services to work with each family on an individual level, to address substance abuse issues, mental health concerns, housing issues, employment concerns, domestic violence relationships and positive parenting skills. Families are provided with a Bachelor’s or Master’s prepared case worker who develops a case plan with the family in conjunction with the Division of Family Services and Delaware Family Courts. The goal of the Family Intervention program is to help primary families achieve safety and stability.

Adoption and Permanency

The Children’s Choice Adoption program seeks to provide children in the child welfare system with forever families and prepare them for their permanency journey through child centered services. This program helps families seeking to adopt children from the foster care system, match with children in the child welfare system in need of forever families. Child and Family recruitment services guide children and families through the matching process, while child preparation services aim to help children put their child welfare experiences into a meaningful story line that makes sense of what has happened to them and what the future will hold for them. Each child and family is assigned a Bachelors or Masters prepared case worker who provides individualized, strengths based services. The goal of the Adoption program is to help children in the child welfare system achieve permanency with their birth families or families seeking to adopt children from the child welfare system.

The Adoption program strives to maintain sibling groups throughout the permanency process.

Our Services

Services for Families:

• Domestic Adoption Home Studies

• Post-Placement Supervision

• Social Reports

• Permanent Guardianship

• Step-Parent Adoption

• Matching Assistance

• Training

Eligibility to Adopt Includes:

• At least 21 years of age

• Able to physically, mentally, and emotionally care for a child

• Able to meet financial, home safety, and criminal background clearance requirements

Post Permanency

Whether permanency was achieved through reunification, placement with kin, guardianship, or adoption, post-permanency services are vital. That's why we invite families to attend six annual trainings, offered statewide, to increase their knowledge and support around adoption and post permanency related issues. Trainings will include topics such as separation and loss, attachment, history of abuse and neglect, mental health and accessing services, navigating the educational system, trauma, current trends in substance abuse, cross cultural parenting, sexual health and sex trafficking, bullying prevention, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum and Disorders, Autism and Developmental Delays and many more.

ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children)

The Children’s Choice ICPC program seeks to provide foster care, adoption, and birth family services to children placed in the State of Delaware from any of the other 49 states. Sometimes children enter the child welfare system in states outside of Delaware even though they have parents, extended relatives and family friends in Delaware who are willing to provide those children with safe, loving, nurturing family environments. The ICPC program helps those Delaware resources navigate the child welfare system to gain approval for the children to be placed in their care.  The program also provides supportive, case management services to each child placed in Delaware with an approved caregiver.  Services are provided by Bachelor’s and Masters prepared case workers who strive to help every child in the program achieve permanency with their caregiver. 

The goal of the ICPC program is to help children in the child welfare system, obtain safe, loving, nurturing families in Delaware with the ultimate goal of successful permanency for each child.

Kinship Navigation

This program provides support to relative and non-relative caregivers who are taking care of children fulltime. Lack of assistance often leads to stress and pressure on the entire family system. Through this program, families are guided to access necessary services available, expand their support system and ultimately reduce stress to promote family stability and well-being. In-home support is also available.

Our Kinship services will provide you with the support and services you and your family needs. This includes:

• Assistance with accessing Food Stamps/ SNAP Benefits, Medicaid, and Finances

• Counseling and Therapy Referrals

• Support Groups

• Respite Care

• Family Activities

• Community Resources

Referrals to Kinship

We provide services to any relative or non-relative caring for children fulltime including grandparents, aunts/uncles, siblings and friends, neighbors, etc. If you are someone you know is caring for another’s child fulltime and needs assistance please call 302.678.0404 or email DEkinshipreferrals@childrenschoice.org.

Support Groups

Monthly support groups are available to help fulltime caregivers and their children come together to share experiences, make new connections and provide support.

What do you get in support groups?

• Self-care help on health, nutritional wellness and reducing stress

• Guidance with behavioral challenges

• Opportunities for fellowship

• Special topics of interest

• Family fun events

Independent Living

• Individualized, Supportive Services

• Achieve Self-Sufficiency

• Assistance in Obtaining Affordable, Safe Housing

• Build support system

• Money Management Skills

• Education, Training & Employment Services

*Serving Sussex County

Additional Programs

Children’s Choice also offers the following services. Click the button below to see details.

• Support and Case Management

• Respite Care

• Support Groups for Families and Youth