Until I tranfer all our links to the Links Directory (volunteers most heartily accepted), I'll post a few of the ones you'll NEED here to get you started
You are entering a government arena of bureaucracy and red tape from the moment you first become enmeshed with Social Services. The BEST thing you can do, before you do another thing, is to find out exactly what you should/should not do and what you can/can not do. To do anything, you must first understand what you are dealing with. I will be supplying numerous links on this page to get you going. DEDICATE yourself to learning what branch of the government you are dealing with and HOW to deal with them. Learn about your government and how it works. A good place to start with the government is here, as all state governments have federal guidelines they MUST follow in order to obtain funding for their respective states/territories. That's the place to start.