	Foster Care Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

FC 9: Services for Children and Youth

Children and youth receive services that promote well-being.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, services offered by the tribe or local Indian organizations should be considered when identifying services for the child.

FC 9.01

Foster parents provide each child in care with:

a pleasant and safe atmosphere and nurturing family relationships that promote positive attachment;
a physical environment and materials that support the child’s development;
nutritious meals and snacks;
age-appropriate boundaries, supervision, and discipline;
an orderly daily schedule that promotes positive participation in age-appropriate educational, social, recreational, and community activities; and
basic personal needs and an allowance, as appropriate.

Interpretation: Treatment foster parents often use therapeutic behavior modification programs which can include point and level systems.

Research Note: One small, well-designed study of treatment foster care for youth with histories of chronic and serious juvenile delinquency found that highly structured and intensive approaches to supervision and discipline can be effective for children with behavior problems.

FC 9.02

The child receives needed counseling and support services that are culturally relevant, including services to help cope with separation and loss.

FC 9.03

Each child receives support from family members, community members, foster parents, and foster care workers regarding identity development in the areas of culture, race, ethnicity, language, religion, and sexual orientation.

FC 9.04

The child receives support to achieve his/her full educational potential through:

appropriate communication and collaboration between the foster care worker, educators, foster parents, and parents;
efforts to keep the child enrolled in a familiar school or, if change is unavoidable, to enroll the child in the best educational setting available;
educational assessments and an individual education plan when needed;
early childhood care and development and early intervention services;
tutoring; and
advocacy.

Interpretation: Treatment foster care workers or foster parents work closely with the school to promote consistent application of treatment interventions and to monitor the child’s progress.

FC 9.05

Opportunities are provided for the child to:

participate in ethnic, cultural, and religious activities and develop a sense of identity consistent with his/her cultural or native traditions;
experience social, cultural, and recreational activities characteristic of the foster parents’ community;
participate in age-appropriate group activities to meet, support, and share positive experiences with peers; and
participate in age-appropriate after-school programs or independent living activities.

FC 9.06

Counseling or mentoring, information, and institutional and business resources in the community are identified that can promote self-sufficiency, informed decision making, and readiness to assume responsibility for:

activities of daily living;
obtaining housing and household management;
obtaining and keeping employment;
budgeting, saving, and investing;
money management, including high costs associated with loans and buying on credit, and debt counseling;
use of community resources;
use of information about when and why public assistance is available;
serving as a resource to the community; and
effective interpersonal communication and conflict resolution.

Interpretation: Information provided is culturally relevant, based on the child's stated goals, and appropriate to his or her age and developmental level.

FC 9.07

Workers have access to comprehensive, up-to-date information about culturally-relevant community services, and maintain regular contact with collateral providers to share information about service delivery.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Children and youth who receive Foster Care Services live in a stable home, remain safe and healthy, and achieve permanency and well-being.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	INDIAN ORGANIZATION As defined in ICWA, "Any group, association, partnership, cooperation, or other legal entity owned or controlled by Indians, or a majority of whose members are Indians."


	FOSTER PARENTS State- or county-licensed adults who provide a temporary home for children whose birth parents are unable to care for them. Foster parents are not considered employees or personnel and are specifically referenced in all relevant standards.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	SUPERVISION Assumption of responsibility for directly overseeing and evaluating the work or work products of personnel within an organization. Also includes inspecting the act or process of accomplishing a function or activity.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	ETHNICITY An orientation toward and identification with a population group that shares national origin, religion, race, or language.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	ADVOCACY An act performed with or on behalf of others through direct intervention, empowerment, or representation. Case advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a particular individual consumer. Cause, social, or systems advocacy refers to actions taken in relation to a common issue affecting a group of persons.