	Foster Care Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-FC 19: Personnel

Personnel are qualified and receive support to promote the safety and well-being of children, youth, and families, and facilitate permanency within established timeframes.

Interpretation: PA-FC 19 refers to employees only. Foster parents are not to be considered personnel.

Note: When the agency is unable to fully implement one or more of the standards within this section, intensive efforts should be placed on fully implementing the other standards. For example, if the agency is unable to recruit workers with specific qualifications, it can ensure that appropriate supervision and workload standards are implemented.

PA-FC 19.01

Foster care workers are qualified by:

an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field; or
a bachelor’s degree in social work or a comparable human service field with two years of related experience.

Research Note: One study found that workers with MSW and BSW degrees received higher ratings on quality assurance scales and on state merit examinations. Other literature suggests that components of foster care services require different knowledge and skills. For example, working with high risk families requires the advanced practice skills obtained through an MSW program.

PA-FC 19.02

Foster care workers have the competencies and support needed to:

help children and families plan for and adjust to transitions;
assess risk and protective factors and family strengths and needs;
facilitate permanency and family connections;
help parents improve their ability to care for their child;
evaluate the continued need for placement;
recruit, evaluate, and develop a collaborative relationship with foster parents; and
help foster parents provide a safe, nurturing environment.

Interpretation: Competency can be demonstrated through education, training, or experience.

PA-FC 19.03

Foster care workers demonstrate a commitment to a child’s right to live as a member of a family and achieving permanency for all youth in care.

PA-FC 19.04

Foster care workers and supervisors, depending on job responsibilities, are knowledgeable about relevant provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) including:

the importance of ICWA and special considerations for working with Indian children;
the identification of Indian children;
determination of jurisdiction;
appropriate notice and collaboration with the child's tribe;
placement preferences that support the child's connection to his or her native culture and heritage;
active efforts requirements to reunify families; and
court procedures.

Interpretation: The agency can consider the average number of cases where the Indian Child Welfare Act applies when determining which personnel need to be trained. Screening personal must be trained on the relevant provisions of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

PA-FC 19.05

Supervisors are qualified by an advanced degree in social work or a comparable human service field and two years experience working with children and families, preferably in foster care.

PA-FC 19.06

A manageable workload, which includes caseload and other agency responsibilities:

makes it possible for workers to meet practice requirements;
does not impede the achievement of outcomes, and
takes into consideration the qualifications and competencies of the worker and case status and complexity.

Update: Revised Interpretation, Added Note - 03/01/10

PA-FC 19.06 Original Interpretation:

Generally, caseloads do not exceed 18 children or 8 children with special therapeutic needs. Case complexity can take into account: intensity of child and family needs, size of the family, and the goal of the case.

Interpretation: Case complexity can take into account: intensity of child and family needs, size of the family, and the goal of the case. Generally, caseloads do not exceed 18 children or 8 children with special therapeutic needs. However, there are circumstances under which caseloads may exceed these limits. For example, caseload size may vary depending upon the volume of administrative case functions (e.g., entering notes, filing, etc.) assigned to the worker. Caseloads may also be higher when agencies are faced with temporary vacancies on staff.

Note: The evaluation of this standard will focus on whether the assigned workload is manageable for staff, taking into account the factors cited in the standard and interpretation. The specific caseload sizes stated in the interpretation are only a suggestion of what might be appropriate. Each agency should determine what caseload size is appropriate, and reviewers will evaluate: (1) whether the agency's designated caseload size reflects a manageable workload, and (2) whether the agency maintains caseloads of the size it deemed appropriate.

Research Note: Child welfare research and literature suggest that a manageable workload enables a worker to conduct home visits where they can build positive relationships, which are important for achieving outcomes. Staff retention literature indicates that high caseloads and time-consuming paperwork are primary factors in child welfare workforce turnover. Research and literature also suggest that high turnover rates impact timeliness of reunification and foster parent retention.

One example of a caseload weighting formula suggests that a useful system is developed with input from staff, is based on time and case study data, uses readily available information, and is not too complex.

PA-FC 19.07

Supervisors or experienced workers provide additional support when workers are new or are still developing competencies.

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	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.


	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


	EMPLOYEE Paid member of an organization. Foster parents are not considered employees and are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	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.


	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.


	WORKLOAD The amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a specified period of time. See also CASELOAD.


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master's level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor's degree, an associate's degree, or an educational certificate.


	SOCIAL WORK Professionally responsible interventions carried out by persons with formal, professional education at the BSW or MSW level from an accredited school of social work and appropriate licensing, certification, and registration credentials. Interventions are directed toward improving the transactions between people and environments to enhance the adaptive capacities of the participants and improve environments for all that function within them. Social work is a professional practice with a consumer group consisting of individuals, families, small groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities and involving the disciplined application of knowledge and skill.


	QUALITY In this context, the extent to which contemporary and generally recognized standards for professional practice are met and exceeded, and desirable service outcomes achieved.


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


	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.


	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."


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


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


	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.).


	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.


	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.


	CASELOAD The aggregate number of clients and/or consumers of service (including individuals, families, and groups) for whom a given employee is responsible. See also WORKLOAD


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.