Services

Community Based Services

Lean On Me Family Services, LLC provides specialized, individualized interventions for parents and caregivers whose children are at risk of removal or who have already been removed from the home. We work in the home and community—where the problems exist and where change has to occur—so relationships improve, daily functioning stabilizes, and children can stay safely together or return safely home.

This is not a classroom model and not a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Every service is tied to the safety and risk factors on the service plan. Coaching is hands-on, practiced with children present, and documented so the case manager, FAPT team, and court can see whether skills are actually being used.

Case managers use LOMFS when they need a partner who can move service-plan goals forward—not another provider who only reports that a parent “attended.” Our standing record is a 77% success rate in family reunification and family preservation. That number matters because the work is built to produce lasting change in the home, not short-term compliance on paper.

1 unit = 1 hour of service. Referrals are accepted from local Departments of Social Services, CSA Coordinators, Community Services Boards, Juvenile Justice, and private pay.

Family Preservation Program

Intensive, in-home support for families at risk of removal—when generic parenting classes have not changed what happens at home.

The Family Preservation Program is an intensive, all-inclusive package for families at risk of having a child removed. The work starts with family strengths. Caregivers identify and build on existing protective capacities, resolve problems in the home and community, learn and implement evidence-based parenting skills, advocate for their children in school and other public settings, and connect to community resources they can keep after the case closes.

This model has proven successful; unlike generic parenting classes and other community-based interventions. Skills are taught and practiced in real time, with children present, so caregivers can correct the specific behaviors tied to safety and risk. The provider models and demonstrates state approved evidence-based parenting

strategies from corresponding curricula. The provider coaches in the moment—during meals, routines, discipline, and conflict—then documents what the parent was able to do.

The goal is greater family self-sufficiency, less reliance on public-agency intervention, and a safer home so the case can stabilize and close. Services are delivered in a way that reduces unnecessary re-traumatization and keeps children and caregivers engaged in the plan, with attention to safety, well-being, and permanence.

What this program is built to address

Identified child safety and risk factors in the home.
Parenting behaviors linked to children’s disruptive or unsafe behavior.
Weak follow-through with routines, supervision, and household stability.
Limited ability to advocate in school or other public settings.
Isolation from community supports the family will need after DSS steps back.

Program includes (as requested by the worker)

Applied Parent Coaching, Adult Life Skills coaching, FPM/FAPT appearances, transportation, treatment-team meetings, and random safety-check pop-ins when additional oversight is needed. Other case-specific supports may be added at the worker’s request.

Why case managers choose this program

Preservation cases move fast, and removal decisions are made on what is happening in the home—not on whether a parent completed a class. LOMFS places an in-home specialist where the risk exists, practices the skill in that setting, and documents protective-capacity gains for the service plan. Workers get a coordinated intervention instead of a list of disconnected referrals, and families get a chance to stay together when change is still possible.

Family Reunification Program

Concentrated, in-home support for families whose children are in foster care or kinship placement and need a clear path home.

The Family Reunification Program is an intensive, all-inclusive package for families whose children are in foster care or kinship placement and who need concentrated support for timely, safe reunification. The work is built around the service plan. Parents are coached to demonstrate the capacities workers, FAPT teams, and the court need to see before a child returns home.

Reunification fails when services stay separate from the parent-child relationship. LOMFS puts coaching inside structured, supervised family time and inside the home the child would return to. Parents practice the skill with the child present. The provider observes, models, coaches, and documents whether the interaction is safer, more attuned, and more consistent than it was at removal.

The program is paced with the permanency clock in mind. The point is not to keep a family “in services.” The point is to remove the barriers that are keeping the child in care so legal custody can return home when it is safe to do so.

Capacities this program helps parents demonstrate

Meaningful change in day-to-day parent-child interaction during structured, supervised family time.
Follow-through with parental responsibilities, including appointments, school, activities, household stability, and money management.
Safer adult choices and healthier relationships, with acceptance of responsibility and empathy for the impact of maltreatment.
Connection to community support networks the family can access after the case closes.
Progress on any other barrier named in the service plan.

Program includes (as requested by the worker)

Applied Parent Coaching, Adult Life Skills coaching, structured supervised family time, FPM/FAPT appearances, treatment-team meetings, court appearances, and random safety checks during trial home placement.

Why case managers choose this program

Reunification work is only useful if it produces evidence the court can use. This program is one coordinated intervention aimed at the exact barriers keeping the child in care. Skills are practiced in the home, documented for the case file, and timed to the permanency clock. This program combines coaching, family time, transportation, and meeting coverage into a single referral.

Applied Parent Coaching

Hands-on, in-home parenting coaching with the child present—used when parenting behavior is the barrier to case closure.

Applied Parent Coaching is a specialized in-home and community-based service. It delivers hands-on, skill-based, evidence-informed parenting coaching so parents and caregivers can strengthen protective capacities and provide safe, nurturing care.

This service is for parents and caregivers who need help managing children’s behavior and keeping a structured, safe, healthy home. It is the service case managers use when they need more than proof of class attendance. A certificate does not tell a treatment team whether a parent can set a limit, soothe a child, or supervise a toddler. Live coaching does.

Skills are taught, modeled, and practiced during real family interactions—with children present—so change happens in the same setting where risk was identified. Coaching is individualized to the safety and risk factors on the service plan. The provider documents in real time whether the parent can use the skill with the child there. That is the information the case team needs for FAPT, court, and permanency decisions.

What this service is built to produce

Direct reduction of identified safety and risk factors.
A lower likelihood of maltreatment.
Visible progress on service-plan objectives.
A clearer path to family preservation or safe reunification.

This is the practical tool workers use when parenting behavior is standing between the family and case closure. The coaching is evidence-based, individualized, and designed to transfer—parents leave with skills they can keep using after LOMFS is no longer in the home.

Adult Life Skills

One-on-one coaching that builds a lasting toolbox of adult living skills for Fostering Futures Youth 17 and older and for adult caregivers.

Adult Life Skills is personalized, one-on-one coaching for youth as young as 17 and for adults who need practical knowledge, everyday routines, and the abilities required for independent functioning, daily responsibilities, longer-term personal and work goals, and effective caregiving.

This service is designed for cases in which household instability, money problems, poor follow-through, or weak independent-living skills are blocking marked progress. A parent who cannot keep food in the house, manage a budget, or maintain a livable home will struggle to meet a safety plan no matter how many parenting classes they attend. Life-skills coaching treats those barriers as teachable, observable skills—not character flaws.

Coaching is hands-on. The provider does not only review a topic. The provider practices the skill with the client, assesses progress against service-plan objectives, and leaves the worker with a clear picture of whether day-to-day capacity is actually improving.

Key focus areas

Daily living skills: household management, organization, meal planning, and hygiene.
Financial management, time management, self-care, and sound decision-making.
Healthy relationships, stress management, resource navigation, and connection to community resources.
Application of skills to create a safer, more stable home for children.

The service aligns with VDSS goals of family preservation, family reunification, and successful independent living.

Why case managers choose this service

Case managers choose this service to equip clients with a practical toolbox of adult living skills and teach them how to use those tools independently, supporting long-term self-sufficiency after the case closes. The goal is not a completed worksheet. The goal is a client who can run a household, solve the next problem without a worker standing there, and keep the gains that made reunification or preservation possible.

Transportation

Transportation for clients to appointments, services, structured family time, and other case-related locations, billed at $45.00 per hour plus $0.72 per mile (state mileage rate).

Workers use this service when lack of reliable transport would otherwise stall family time, treatment, or other service-plan tasks.

Why Case Managers Refer to Lean On Me Family Services

Most localities have more than one provider on the list. LOMFS is built for workers who need an individualized, specialized partner—not another generic vendor.

Services can begin within 24 hours of an approved invoice when the case is time-sensitive.
Work is individualized to the service plan—not a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
Coaching happens in the home, with children present when the case requires it, so skills are practiced where the problems occur.
Progress notes and observations are written for the case file, FAPT, and court.
LOMFS has a standing 77% success rate in family reunification and family preservation.

The goal is not only to “work the service.” The goal is to mend what is broken in daily family life so further DSS, Juvenile Justice, and court involvement becomes less necessary.

Service area includes multiple Virginia localities. CSA and private pay accepted.