When it is determined that ongoing family services are needed, it is always the goal of Wayne County Children Services to protect children in the least intrusive way to families. Although many people associate Children Services with the placement of abused and neglected children, over 50% of the families WCCS is involved with keep their children at home. Services to families are often short-term and are designed to quickly educate and improve parental functioning, thus avoiding the trauma of unnecessary placement of their children.

Each family involved in ongoing services with WCCS is assigned a primary caseworker and a case plan is developed and provided to the family. The case plan prescribes what services are needed to improve parent functioning to reduce the risk of further abuse or neglect to the children. As time permits, caseworkers counsel families on such things as child development, nutrition, hygiene, basic parenting skills and appropriate expectations for children.