Timely help, support, and parenting education saves families -- SCOH is all about enabling families, who might have otherwise been separated and in foster care, to stay together.

Services to Children in their Own Homes (SCOH) is a Philadelphia Department of Human Services-funded program. Through SCOH, Family Support Services provides comprehensive, home-based, services to families with children ages birth-to-five years-old (and their siblings) living at home. All families served by SCOH are referred by the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS), Children and Youth Division.

Family Support Services’ SCOH social workers collaborate with other agencies to ensure that families get the help they need. Our social workers provide practical parenting information on discipline, limit-setting, age-appropriate expectations, and child development. Parents are counseled, coached, and taught how to advocate for the health, safety and well-being of their children. Social workers may also help families access health care, parenting support groups, housing assistance programs, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Social Security Insurance (SSI), food, clothing, drug treatment, child care, and Early Intervention services when needed.

FSS’s SCOH program changes lives today, so families have a better tomorrow. How do you mother or father your own child if you weren’t parented yourself?

Arlene grew up with many separations, and in so many foster placements, that she had trouble forming relationships as an adult. When she had a baby she didn’t know how to get the help she needed, and her baby was diagnosed as having “failure to thrive.” An FSS social worker helped Arlene negotiate relationships with health care providers so her daughter could get Early Intervention services and health care. Now Arlene’s one year-old daughter is flourishing and has a good relationship with her mother.

To contact FSS’s SCOH program please email childwelfare@FSSinc.org.