	Kinship Care Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-KC 13: Worker Contact and Monitoring

Kinship care workers visit regularly with children, families, and kinship caregivers to develop positive relationships, and continuously monitor progress towards achievement of service and permanency goals and the safety and well-being of children in care.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, representatives from the tribe or a local Indian organization should be informed of regular contact with children, caregivers, and families; and be given an opportunity to participate.

NA The agency only provides informal kinship care services.

PA-KC 13.01

The kinship care worker meets separately with the child and the parents at least once a month to:

assess safety and well-being;
monitor service delivery; and
support the achievement of permanency and other identified goals.

Interpretation: Therapeutic kinship care providers visit with the child at least twice a month.

Interpretation: Visits may occur more frequently when such a need is indicated in the service plan or as a result of changing needs. Visits may be reduced once a permanent, planned living arrangement is finalized, unless the needs of the child or caregiver require more frequent contact.

PA-KC 13.02

The kinship care worker communicates regularly with the caregiver and visits the home at least once a month to:

share relevant, legally permissible information concerning the child;
assess safety and well-being;
monitor service delivery; and
support the achievement of permanency and other identified goals.

Update: Revised Second Interpretation - 12/01/10

PA-KC 13.02 Original Second Interpretation:

Therapeutic kinship care providers visit with caregivers at least twice a month.

Interpretation: The first visit with the kinship caregivers should occur within the first 2 weeks of placement.

Interpretation: Kinship care workers should visit therapeutic kinship homes at least twice per month.

PA-KC 13.03

Therapeutic kinship caregivers receive support through:

weekly contacts by the assigned worker;
in-person contact every 2 weeks and more frequently when indicated;
on-call crisis intervention 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
additional personnel, technical assistance, and training as required to respond to complex issues; and
evaluation of the need for, and availability of, a different placement.

Interpretation: Additional personnel should be available during critical or stressful periods, such as the time from the end of the school day until bedtime.

NA The agency does not provide specialized therapeutic kinship care services.

PA-KC 13.04

Current information about the child’s placement is available to authorized personnel at all times.

Interpretation: When a child moves, information about the new location and placement is entered in the case record within 24 hours.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, current information about the child's placement should be made available to tribal representatives.

PA-KC 13.05

The agency implements practices and protocols to prevent and respond to missing children and allegations of maltreatment in the kinship home.

Interpretation: Missing children include children who run away, are abducted, or are otherwise unaccounted for. Protocols for preventing and responding to missing children and allegations of maltreatment should be developed in collaboration with law enforcement, public agencies, tribal governments, and community organizations.

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	PURPOSE: Kinship Care Services maintain the family system as the primary source of care and preserve the continuity of care, culture, relationships, and environment essential for child safety 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.


	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."


	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.


	CAREGIVER The provider of physical, emotional, and social needs to another person, often dependent and unable to provide for his or her own needs. Caregiver is the generic term used for the direct service providers in Community Care and Support Services (CCS).


	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."


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


	SERVICE PLAN A written plan of action based on the assessment of consumer needs and strengths that identifies problems, sets goals, and describes a strategy for achieving those goals and engaging in joint problem solving with the consumer. Also known as a "treatment plan".


	CRISIS INTERVENTION The immediate response to the acute needs of a person in crisis including referral to appropriate community resources, advocacy, support, or direct assistance.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	CASE RECORD A written compilation that describes the client and the services delivered. Records can be in hard copy and/or electronic format. The case record can be used as a source of information for quality improvement or other evaluation activities, for research purposes, or to demonstrate accountability to funding bodies.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	PROTOCOLS Instruments and procedures used to accomplish a particular goal, activity, or purpose.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.


	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.