It is the purpose of this chapter to establish a system for planning, coordinating, and providing comprehensive human services administered by county social service boards and human service centers. This chapter must be construed to effectuate the following public purposes:
1. To help individuals or their families to achieve, maintain, or support the highest attainable level of personal independence and economic self-sufficiency.
2. To prevent, remedy, or alleviate neglect, abuse, or exploitation of children and adults unable to protect their own interests.
3. To provide a continuum of community-based services adequate to appropriately sustain individuals in their homes and in their communities and to delay or prevent institutional care.
4. To preserve, rehabilitate, and reunite families.
5. To assist in securing referral or admission of individuals to institutional care when other forms of care are not appropriate.