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40 | RIVERSIDE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SOCIAL SERVICES

Children’s Services Division

Assistant Director’s Message Bridgette Hernandez

I am so grateful to be part of the Children’s Services’ team and the significant strides we are making to enhance the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families in our communities. This report highlights some of our key initiatives in Fiscal Year 23/24, including the implementation of a new System Improvement Plan for Riverside County Children’s Services and the Probation Department. The five-year plan prioritizes family preservation, promotes equity, continuous quality improvement, and integration of services to address poverty, eliminate system barriers and strengthen at-risk families. The plan establishes the groundwork for a kinship culture that prioritizes placement of a child with a trusted family member or a friend and creates opportunity for that child to stay connected to kin and community in a stable and supportive environment. It builds upon a foundation of excellence that was started a century ago, when our department first began serving children and families in Riverside County. Importantly, Children’s Services continues to expand on its commitment to equity in our child welfare practices and workforce. We are actively engaging families and stakeholders to incorporate their experiences and recommendations into our strategies and actions. We are forging partnerships with internal stakeholders such as Self-Sufficiency, to bring wraparound case-management and improve the outcomes for at-risk families through programs such as Linkages. We are continuously strengthening the safety net for children and families by collaborating with like-minded public and private partners to evaluate our activities, measure outcomes and identify areas for improvement. Thank you to our department and county leaders, our community partners and the entire 1,330-member team of Children’s Services for being present for children and families in this pivotal year as we mark 100 years of service and embrace the challenges and opportunities in the century ahead.

Bridgette Hernandez

We are continuously strengthening the safety net for children and families.