FIT Team Referral Process

Thefocus oftheFamilyIntensiveTreatment (FIT)Team is todeliverintensivetreatmentinterventionstargetedtofamilies receiving dependency case management servicesduetoparentalsubstanceuse. Thisprogramhasbeendesignedtodemonstratethatrapididentificationofparentalbehavioralhealthdisorders,immediateaccesstoevidence-basedpracticesandmulti-disciplinaryteamingwillresultinbetteroutcomesforchildrenandtheirfamilies. Henderson Behavioral Health (HBH) is the FIT Team provider for Palm Beach County.

Eligibility Criteria: Families eligible to receive FIT

The FIT Team Providers shall deliver services to parents who (at minimum) meet all of the following criteria:

  1. Are eligible for publicly funded substance abuse and mental health services pursuant to s. 394.674, F.S.;
  2. Have a substance use disorder;
  3. Have at least one child between the ages of 0 and 10 years old, with priority given to families with a child between the ages of 0 and 8;
  4. At the time of referral to FIT, have child welfare involvement as follows:
  1. With children under Non-judicial supervision, deemed unsafe but remains in home with a safety plan and child welfare case management;
  2. With children under Judicial supervision in dependency court, deemed unsafe but remains in home (or was returned home) with a safety plan and child welfare case management; or
  3. With children under Judicial supervision in dependency court, deemed unsafe and placed in out of home care as an in-home safety plan was determined to be insufficient; and
  1. Are willing to participate in the FIT Program. However, the parent may be court ordered to participate in FIT services.

Additional Eligibility Considerations: FIT Team services by design provide a greater concentration of services with a strong emphasis on engaging resistant parents/caregivers. The referring CPI/DCM is encouraged to refer families who would thus most benefit from these services. The intensity of the services will demonstrate reasonable efforts in addition to achieving safety, permanency and well-being for the children in these families in an expeditious manner.

Referral Process:

  1. Child Protective Investigators(CPI) from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Dependency Case Managers (DCM) from ChildNet Community Based Care will be the primary referral source for FIT Team Services.
  2. DCF and ChildNet will have a designated Point of Contact (POC) who will ensure all referrals for FIT Team Services are appropriate and meet the eligibility criteria prior to the actual referral being made. The DCF POC is Bobbie Shea - and the ChildNet POC is Krystal Kenison –
  3. The referringCPI or DCM will staff all potential referrals to FIT with their respective Program Administrator/Program Director to ensure it meets the FIT eligibility criteria who in turn will obtain final approval from their respective POC. If the case is considered appropriate The DCF Program Administrator will then r make the referral to the FIT Team for all CPI referred cases and the ChildNet POC will make the referral for all ChildNet referred cases.
  1. The referral will be sent by Email to the FIT Team Supervisor at HBH. The Email address is
  2. The referral should include the following information:

FSFN Case #

Family Name

Contact Information for the family and best time to reach them

Name and Contact Information of the CPI/DCM

Indicate if the case has been court ordered

  1. HBH FIT staff will review the information in the referral form to ensure the family meets eligibility criteria and review additional background information in the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN).
  2. An HBH Fit Team Supervisor will contact the referring CPI or DCM by phone and email if unable to reach CPI or DCM by phone to obtain any other additional information and to coordinate,when appropriate or feasible, a joint meeting to introduce the FIT Team Care Coordinator to the Family.
  3. Within 2 business days of receiving the referral, the HBH FIT Team Care Coordinator will initiate contact with the family whether the referring CPI or DCM accompanies them or not. The HBH FIT Team Care Coordinator will explain the services and then document enrollment of the family in the SharePoint Data System.
  4. The HBH FIT Team Care Coordinator will provide email notification to the referring CPI or DCM that the family has or has not accepted services within one business day.
  5. If the family does not accept the services of the FIT Team – the FIT Team staff will document in FSFN their efforts to engage and enroll the family in the program and the reason the family denied the services.

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