 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Placement of a child in foster care requires assessment of the child and family's needs and careful planning. The placement process focuses on the whole family rather than only on the child in placement. The child, the family and the foster care providers shall be appropriately prepared for the placement prior to the physical move of the child, except in emergency removals. The social worker shall prepare the child and the parents for the placement by explaining, at a minimum: the reason for the removal; appropriate details about the placement; what to expect from the placement provider and social worker; how to access the social worker or agency in an emergency; when the next contact with one another, including siblings, will occur; and the legal process.
In the event of an emergency removal, the agency remains responsible for explaining the basis of the decision and the reasons that they were unable to prepare the child, family, and foster parents or other placement providers. Social workers shall discuss the placement with the family, the child, the foster parents as soon as possible following the removal and shall assist the family, child, and foster family with the transition.
When the decision is made to remove children from their homes, the County Department of Social Services shall inform the child and family of the decision to initiate a petition in juvenile court and shall inform the parents or caretakers of the right to appeal the court’s decision.
Regardless of the reason for removal, placement of a child is traumatic for the parents of the child. Parents need time to prepare for the separation and the feelings of loss. The parents’ feelings of guilt, anger, and sadness may be expressed in a variety of ways and social workers should respond to parents’ emotions with sensitivity.
The social worker shall inform parents of the reasons the agency is seeking removal of their child and shall tell them frankly what must be done to reunite the family and protect the child’s health and safety. Risk factors identified during the risk assessment process should be clearly discussed with the parents and extended family. It should be stated clearly to the parents from the beginning that, although reunification is the desired outcome (in cases where reunification is the primary permanency plan), alternative permanency plans will be considered. The parents need to know that the goal is to achieve permanency for their child within one year and that it is in their control to determine whether their child’s permanent home will be with them or in another permanent placement.
The social worker shall inform parents that they have a right and a responsibility to be involved in planning for their child’s future and in decision making of an important or lasting nature.
The social worker shall explain that the Out of Home Family Services Agreement (DSS-5240) will be developed jointly with them. The family should also be informed if the agency plans to use a family group decision-making process and/or Community Assessment Team process to develop the Out of Home Family Services Agreement. (Refer to Section 1201, the Yellow Pages for more information on family group decision-making and Community Assessment Teams) The social worker should assure the parents that they will be treated as partners and full participants in the planning for their child, whenever possible. Parents also have the right to know honestly what the agency will do if they do not follow through with the activities and objectives of the Out of Home Family Services Agreement.
All parents of the child have the same rights and should be involved in case planning for their child. Therefore, it is the duty of the social worker to make diligent efforts at the time of placement (if not accomplished before) to locate parents, including legal and biological fathers.
Even after legal custody has been removed, parents continue to have the right to information about their child’s living situation and condition as long as reunification is the plan. The parents should be told appropriate details about the placement. When appropriate, the parents should have the opportunity to meet the foster care provider or to see pictures of the home and family where their child will be living.
The social worker should enlist the parents' help in giving reassurance to the child prior to his/her leaving home. If the parent is able to reassure the child in a nurturing way prior to the foster care placement, the social worker has learned that the parent has the capacity to put his/her own feelings aside long enough to help the child. The social worker can use this strength to help the parent make further changes. Sometimes parents are too angry, too immature, or too impaired to provide such help at the time of the initial move, but may be able to help later.
The aftermath of the child's removal from the parent can cause an intense reaction. Parents may suffer intense feelings of anger and/or depression after the loss of their children. Even when the parent has not been an effective parent, he/she has some bond to the child. The social worker should initiate contact within the first day of placement, and it can be helpful for the parent to have some way of contacting the social worker immediately after the child's removal so that he or she can know how the child is doing. This contact, even if by telephone, can help the parent understand that the social worker is interested in him or her as well as the child. This can be a major step toward connecting with the parent to form a working relationship. At the time of placement, the social worker should also arrange a time for the next contact jointly with the parent. An emergency plan shall also be developed for the parent(s), in case immediate help is needed from the social worker.
Parents will often be angry and frustrated at the agency that took their children. They may direct their anger at the social worker. This may be uncomfortable for the social worker, but it can also be an indication that the parents are motivated to improve. The system asks a great deal of parents. The fact that their child has been removed from their care indicates to them that they have been judged as inadequate parents. It is natural that they feel angry at a system that causes them such personal loss of esteem.
In addition, the County Department of Social Services asks that they commit themselves to an extensive, time-consuming Out of Home Family Services Agreement in which social workers will be monitoring them to see if they are following through. This would be a difficult situation for anyone, especially parents who themselves may have lacked consistent loving parents, and have such overwhelming needs of their own that they do not have the emotional energy to care for demanding children. As an added stress, they know that if they cannot change their behavior, they risk the permanent loss of their children.
Services shall be offered to parents that are appropriate to the needs of the individual and which are designed to best address the condition necessitating removal of their child. Services should at all times be supportive of the parents and parents should be made aware of the behavioral changes expected as a result of the service.
When it becomes apparent that reunification will not be the plan, it is usually accompanied by major disruptive crisis in the family system. The family may know that reunification is highly unlikely but may ask the social worker if they can get their child back. It is not kind to offer false hope about reunification. The parents can be told that the Court has ultimate responsibility for this determination. As the social worker establishes a working relationship with the family, agency recommendations can be discussed more fully. The social worker can assure the parent that they will be able to contribute to the decision about what happens to the child, and may discuss voluntary relinquishment for adoption as a concurrent plan.
Recognizing that the act of separating a child from his/her parents and home is a traumatic event, preparing the child for this event is crucial. The social worker preparing the child shall keep in mind the concept of viewing this separation through the eyes of the child. Ideally, the child should have a period of preparation for placement in order to have time and opportunity to understand the new situation. Prior to placement, a child should have an opportunity to establish a trusting relationship with the social worker who will have the responsibility of working with him/her during the placement period. Except in an emergency, that social worker should be present during the physical move. The social worker should be skilled in handling placements with the utmost sensitivity. The child will feel extreme grief, loss, fear, and uncertainty. The child needs the support and the continuity of a caring social worker. The social worker should use counseling skills to help the child leave home and transition to foster care placement.
A child should have a period of preparation for placement in order to have time and opportunity to understand the new situation. The child shall know at all times what is happening to him/her, what is going to happen to him/her, and why. When appropriate, taking a child for pre-placement visits to the foster care home or facility will help prepare the child for placement. If the child cannot visit the placement before the move, pictures of the home and of the foster care provider will help ease the child’s fear.
The social worker should allow time, even in emergency removals, for the child to gather personal items and clothing to take in order to maintain some sense of continuity and familiarity. It is helpful for agencies to supply suitcases for children who are moving to a foster care placement and to allow the child time, when appropriate, to pack the suitcase with personal belongings to reassure the child that his/her “stuff” and, thus, his/her sense of identity is important.
The social worker shall also encourage parents to help in preparing the child for the move. Children need the reassurance of their parents. The parent(s) should be asked to help in the transition by making suggestions about bedtimes, routines, favorite foods, or other such things that can help the child feel more comfortable. Efforts by the parent(s) to share this information should be reinforced by the social worker telling the child that their mother or father made the suggestions to help him/her. However, parents may be too angry, too immature, or too impaired to help the child.
The child should be told when he/she will see his/her parents and siblings. If possible, social workers should discuss visitation before the child leaves the home. The social worker should also ensure that the child has a picture(s) of family members to take with him/her to the foster home.
Early in the work with the family the social worker should begin building the child’s life book by taking and procuring photographs of the child, birth family and foster placement. Children will continue to need physical documentation of their histories throughout placement.
In order to care properly for a child being placed in their home, foster parents, relatives or other foster care providers need to be told as much information as possible regarding the reason for the child's placement and the needs of the child.
Medical information about the child shall be shared with the foster parents at the time of placement and updated as new information is learned. The Child Health Status Component (DSS-5243) shall be completed and provided to the foster parents within seven days of placement and the child shall be referred for a physical examination within the first week of an initial placement. Medical information is critical, since the foster care provider frequently takes the child to medical appointments. The foster care provider needs to know of any special medical problems that the child may have in order to care for the child appropriately. Foster care providers should be encouraged to take the Child Health Status Component and any other medical information about the child to medical appointments.
It is recognized that foster parents and residential care providers have a need to know the HIV status of children in their care. Infections or viruses that are less serious in a non-infected child can be fatal to an HIV-infected child, and foster parents must be aware of symptoms that require immediate medical attention. However, prior to disclosure of a child’s HIV status, DSS must consider and protect the child’s right to confidentiality. While concern for confidentiality exists throughout the service delivery system, information regarding persons infected with HIV requires special consideration. This is due to the potential social and psychological damage that can be caused by inappropriate sharing of such information.
G.S. 130A-143 provides that HIV status and information is strictly confidential and shall not be released or made public except under certain circumstances. One such circumstance provides that release of all or part of the medical record can be made with the written consent of the person or persons identified or their guardian. In this context, guardian applies to a local DSS having authority to release HIV status and information on a child in its custody on a need to know basis to foster parents and residential care providers.
Information on the child’s HIV status should be shared only with persons who have a need to know, and persons informed should be told that re-disclosure of the information is prohibited without consent of the child, the parent or guardian. Best practice would suggest involving the parents in these decisions to the extent possible and appropriate.
If the child is school-aged, the necessary information regarding the child's educational needs shall be shared with the foster care provider in order to enroll the child in school and to collaborate with school personnel in ensuring that the child's educational needs are met.
The foster care provider shall be told specific information about the child’s behavior. It is important for the foster care provider to know what may be expected from the child behaviorally in order to respond appropriately to those behaviors. Agency policy and practice shall ensure that licensed placement providers are verbally informed of and provided with written policy addressing the following issues regarding discipline:
The social worker should also inform the foster parent of the concurrent permanency planning process for the child and of possible alternative plans for achieving permanence for the child. The foster parent should be informed of their role in planning for the child in partnership with the agency and the birth family, including participation in the Permanency Planning Action Team meetings. The social worker can also discuss with the foster family whether they want to consider becoming a child’s permanent family if reunification is not possible.
|
For questions or clarification on any of the policy contained in these manuals, please contact your local county office. |
| |||||||||||||