DCBS services are administered through nine service regions and offices serving all 120 Kentucky counties. In addition, DCBS uses a network of contract officials to deliver services, such as child care. Service is enhanced through a close relationship and coordination with community partners.

The department provides family support; child care; child and adult protection; eligibility determinations for Medicaid and food benefits; and administration of an energy cost-assistance program.

The department administers the state foster care and adoption systems and recruits and trains parents to care for the state's children who are waiting for a permanent home.

With offices in every county, the department provides services and programs to enhance the self-sufficiency of families; improve safety and permanency for children and vulnerable adults; and engage families and community partners in a collaborative decision-making process.

The department was formed in the Cabinet for Families and Children in 1998 to give local offices more decision-making authority and the ability to collaborate more effectively with other community service providers.

Our Mission

The mission of the Department for Community Based Services is to build an effective and efficient system of care with Kentucky citizens and communities to:

• Reduce poverty, adult and child maltreatment and their effects;
• Advance person and family self-sufficiency, recovery and resiliency;
• Assure all children have safe and nurturing homes and communities; and
• Recruit and retain a workforce and partners that operate with integrity and transparency.

Our Vision

A human services system of care that operates with integrity and loyalty to a code of ethics requires courage to take responsibility for providing the highest quality of service to the vulnerable.

The Department for Community Based Services is an innovative, solutions-focused learning organization built on a foundation of transparency in action and with accountability for results. Both in the organization and among our partners, we thrive on a culture of respect for diversity of opinion that is nurtured through open communication.

Highly performing and committed, we are unified in our goal of excellence in achieving outcomes for those we serve with the level of quality we would demand for our own families.