The Dennelisse LHCSA

CLIENT ELIGIBILITY

For case management services, Dennelisse accepts HIV affected families with children. For homemaking services, Dennelisse accepts families referred through the NYC Human Resources Administration (HRA, Division of Family Home Care (DFHC). DFHC allows homemaker services for families classified as mandated (children are either at risk of foster care placement or could be discharged to their parents from foster care) or optional (other families situations where preventive services are considered essential but are not mandated) under the Child Welfare Reform Act. Families lacking funds to pay for home care of children are financially eligible for service. Receipt of public assistance has no effect on eligibility. The NYC Division of Social Services provides the funding for homemaker services.

Case Management offers culturally sensitive informational counseling to families in crisis. The intensive case-management approach with HIV/AIDS—affected families includes counseling and education on issues of entitlements, HIV and disclosure, nutrition, lifestyle and sex practices permanency planning, new guardian transition and bereavement.

Homemaker services provide child care and home management when the responsible adult in a family is having difficulty doing so and reinforces parenting skills and provides child care assistance when children are at risk of being removed due to abuse or neglect.

In addition to New York State required training, Dennelisse maintains highly successful education programs and support groups, currently in English and in Spanish, for homemakers and social work staff.

Special homemaker training has several important benefits: 1) Dennelisse homemakers’ increased awareness of trouble signals results in faster, more beneficial intervention in cases of suspected child neglect and abuse; 2) they can act as positive role models of parenting techniques; and 3) they disseminate preventive information about HIV/AIDS in a population not generally reached by mainstream prevention and education campaigns.

For social work staff, Dennelisse emphasizes in-service education opportunities. By keeping current on new ideas, data and techniques in their field, staffers increase their ability to work productively with clients.

Support groups help all staff to deal with fears and other emotions generated by HIV/AIDS and to counteract burnout.

By sponsoring a Transagency Board, Dennelisse is developing successful working relationships with many health and human service institutions and community based organizations and increasing its power to cut through red tape, coordinate community services and improve the quality and accessibility of services to client families.

The transagency model enhances communication among members agencies, provides checks and balances to resolve problems and meet goals and functions as an advocacy base for services.