A Message from the Director

The Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) statutory mission is to promote, safeguard and protect the physical and social well-being and development of Rhode Island’s children and families.  

The Department’s vision is rooted in prevention. We know that timely and equitable access to services is critical to support at-risk children and families. DCYF has worked diligently to create an infrastructure that ensures that families can access the services they need and when they need it. 

Our dedicated staff aspire to achieve excellence on behalf of our children and families. DCYF is committed to a social casework practice that is grounded in authentic family engagement. This means taking a strength-based approach when we meet a new family and partnering with at-risk families to provide access to support services to maintain child safety, permanency, and family wellbeing.  Additionally, we utilize a race equity lens across our child welfare and juvenile justice system. DCYF recognizes and is committed to addressing the disproportionality of and disparate outcomes for children based on race and ethnicity. 

The Department does its best work when we partner with parents, youth, foster parents, and all our key stakeholders on developing strategies that meet the needs specific to the communities we serve.  We invite all community stakeholders, parents, and youth to engage in the strategic planning process to improve outcomes for our most vulnerable children and families.

Sincerely,

Kevin Aucoin, Acting Director