April 22, 2015

Dear Community Partner,

I am writing to inform you that Devereux Florida has provided Brevard Family Partnership (BFP) with notice that effective July 1, 2015 they will no longer be providing Child Placing Agency and Mobile Response Team Services in Brevard County. Devereux Florida and BFP have been providing services together since 2005, and as you are aware, recently refocused our efforts to assess and improve the Foster Care system in Brevard County. BFP has had a long and strong partnership with Devereux Florida Inc. and desires to maintain that relationship.

BFP has had to make some difficult decisions with the loss of over 5 million dollars in funding over the past 5 years. As a result, there have been several changes to our SOC and consolidating 4 CPA contracts into 1 has been one of them. Please note that BFP’s primary objective is to ensure the most vulnerable citizens we serve are always at the forefront of our planning in any and all circumstances. To that end, BFP is making every effort to partner with Devereux Florida through June 30, 2015 to ensure a seamless and planful transition occurs. Our children and foster parents deserve a well thought out inclusive process.

To ensure continuity of care for our caregivers and the children entrusted to our care; BFP, in consultation with the President of the Foster Parent Association and the Department of Children and Families, have agreed that it is best for BFP to provide Child Placing Agency services in house. What that means is that we believe this decision will strengthen our partnership with our foster parent partners and reduce any barriers to ensuring the needs of the children and families are met more efficiently and effectively while creating stability in the system. We recognize there has been a great deal of change in our System of Care over the past 6 years and to the extent possible we want to limit that change.The decision to recruit, license, and manage foster homes in house at BFP will help to achieve that. Additionally, we have maintained open communication with the Foster Parent Association leadership throughout this process and will continue to do so going forward.

BFP has demonstrated its firm commitment to serving our most vulnerable citizens for over a decade; and their well-being along with access to the highest quality service delivery system possible is of the utmost importance. To that end, BFP will be working diligently over the next 60 days to ensure this transition is as seamless as possible; and it is important to us that our – partners are informed and included in any changes to the local SOC.

Should you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at 321-752-4650 ext. 3002 or by email at patricia.nellius@fpocf.org.

Thank you for your support and partnership,

Patricia Nellius

CEO