Transcript Foster care in France

« Joints Efforts towards the Realisation of
Children Rights in Croatia »
Vincent Ramon, Project Officer, ANFP
French National Association for Family Placement
Zagreb, October 26 2011
Foster Care :a complex issue
Illustration GRAPE 1995
Legislation in Child Protection :
 2002-2 : Giving rights to the service users to be informed,
involved and represented in the run of any care service.
Law introducing quality management, assessment and
guidelines on good practice. Qualified care thus requires
qualifications of monitoring and mangement.
 2005-706 : Professionnalisation of family placement:
The caregiver becomes « family assistant »
 2007-293 :New directions in Child Protection System.
Legislation on Types of carers
 Law n° 2005-706 June 27, 2005 + Enforcement decrees
 Professional Foster Care : “Family Assistant”
 Consolidated texts in the Social action and families code (CASF –
www.legifrance.gouv.fr ) art. L 421-2 and following et D 421-2 and
following– D 451-100 an following concerning State Diploma for
foster care
 Volunteer foster care :no law, signature of an ethic chart
(ordinance 11/09/2005)
 Person of Trust : Civil Act art.375 and following
 Foster care for adults with disabilities or the elderly
(Ministère des solidarités et cohésion sociale)
Organisation of family placement
in Child Protection:child at risk or in danger
Assessment
Team
Administrative
Placement
Child at risk
Child in danger / abused
Parents disagree
Justice
System
Judiciairy
investigation
Orientation
by ASE
Private
Public
chidren’shome
Foster care
licenced Foster
care and
children’s
home
Under Judge responsability
Administrative or Judiciairy placement ?
Statistics
29%
71%
administrative
placement
(agreement of the
child’s parents)
judiciary
placement
(imposed or
forced
intervention)
More Statistics : children in child
protection (data 2011)
50
47%
40
34%
30
19%
20
10
0
public and private
Family Placement
children’s homes (mostly
private)
Children (%)
other types
More statistics : foster parents
56000 Family Assistants in France (65 million inhabitants)
%
Public system (ASE)
Private sector (NGO's)
30%
70%
Professionalisation of Care : the
dominant figure of the Family Assistant
 Creation of a Professional status for Family Assistants in 2005:
family assistant is defined as a new profession in Social Work
 same status, nationwide
 initial and on-going training during 3 years (60h initial
preparation training prior to placement, then 240h on-going,
compulsory )
 Creation of a “Family Assistant” State Diploma (DEAF)
Who can become a carer ?
 Inclusion criteria:
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Married or not, Single , Male or Female
age over 25
enough space for the foster child(ren) in the home
no Illnesses that would contradict fostering (such as…)
Sufficient social equipment in the area(school, clinic etc..)
good enough knowledge of French language
capacity to offer a safe, healthy, nurturing environment
“Rather Good”parenting skills
 Exclusion criteria:/foster carer and adults in household
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judicial record n°2- banishment to work with children
judicial record n°3 - Criminal offense
Licensing and Recruitment
Public
Private
Need to be licensed
Need to be licensed
Individual assessment
by Psycho& Soc W
Individual + couple
assessment by Psycho& Soc W
Meeting foster family at home
Meeting foster family at home
Signing of a job contract
Signing of a job contract
Training of Family Assistant :
initial and « initial on-going »
 Recruiting, training, support, monitoring, promoting are the
employer’s responsibility. Training is at the employer’s cost.
 Compulsory Initial training
 60h prior to the first placement : information and preparation
 Compulsory initial On-going training
 240h over a maximum of 3 years, including: integration of the
child in care, educative care, professional communication,
diploma examination (optionnal)
Foster care monitoring : the
employer’s duty
 public system: Child protection team (ASE) :
 Key social worker for the child (workload : 20 to 30 children/ Soc W)
 ASE psychologist : workload 100 to 250 children / psychol.
 emergency support 24/7 by peers
 private services : more staff, and more pluridisciplinary
 mostly performed by the key social worker for the child (workload :
up to 20 children or up to 5 teenagers per social worker)
 psychologist : workload up to 30 children or 10 teenagers / psychol.
 emergency support 24/7 by the Service Manager(mostly)
Foster carers’ support system
 organized and delivered by local agencies, public or
private
 They are locally tailored-to-the-needs, as are recruitment
and training
 Support tools include : -peer support,
-mentoring,
-on-going training
-involvement in teamwork…
The profession of Family Assistant
 same rights as in the general Working Code, except that there is
no limitation in the number of working hours
 working contract and monthly wage :
 1st child 120x legal minimal wage/hour/child (950€ after
tax)
 2nd child 120+70x minimal wage /h/child (1200€ after tax)
 3rd child ( 120+70+50)(1400€ after tax)
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Private sector : seniority impacts favorably the monthly wage
Allowances for each child in care (on top of the wage) :
Upbringing (30x14€) + Clothing ,Pocket money, Education
Extra allowance for children with « complex situation » or
special needs (130€)
Family Assistant’s rights
 No taxes on wages
 Holidays : 30 days per year (and a 13th month paid if the child
remains in the family during the holiday)
 Sick leave
 pension contribution and pension rights
 unemployment rights
 union rights, right to appeal if licensed is withdrawn
Family Assistant duties : as members
of the agency staff, they
 Participate in Care Planning
 Meet the child’s key social worker at least once a month(+ phone
any time)
 Are encouraged to keep a daily record of care
 Are encouraged to write down observations and report
 Participate in case conferences with the agency’s staff
 Have an obligation to disclose (in the framework of « disclosure
with shared secrecy ») if the child reveals abuse or neglect (as any
other social worker under French Law)
Different types of care… but not of
carers. In child protection :
 Emergency care
 Family foster care for teenage mothers
 « Modulated » care (weekdays or weekends)
 Short-term Assessment placement for the infants and
toddlers 0-5
 Placement for Infants and toddlers (0-5)
 Placement for adolescents
 Specialised placement : complex child and parental
situations (mental illness/drug addiction)
Several use for Foster Care
 child protection: most of children under the « Protection
system » (in care), financed by General Council(local taxes
in each region, decentralised)
disability : Less children, out-of-home, « specialised » care,
financed by social security funds(social security -State)
Mental illness :very few children, out-of-home mental
healthcare, financed by social security funds (State)
Promotion of Foster Care
 there are not national promotional or informational
campaigns (the professionalization of fostering might play
a part, here)
 Some regions have a website to inform about Fostering
 Each service deals independently with the promotion and
information about fostering and the recruitment of its
carers
The Voice of the Child is heard :
 In Court : Children aged 7 (and sometimes less)
 Meeting with the Minor’s Judge at the child’s request
 With their key worker (or the agency’s Psychologist)
 Compulsory if change in the care plan and situation of the
child
 Duty of the fostering agency : information on the child’s
rights (Law 2002-2)
 Useful Tool for the child : The Lifebook
Biological parents : indirect
users and partners with rights
 To be informed about the child, and the services provided.
 To sign down the “Individual Care Document” (DIPC)
 To be informed on the Individual Personalised Project
 To keep their parental responsibility (in most cases)
 To be partners : consulted, associated and involved in the
design and the review of their child’s care plan.
 To keep the right to decide in every aspect related to parental
responsibility (school education, healthcare, religion).
Weaknesses of Family placement in
France : professional status of carers
 To what extent can fostering be considered a
« profession »? It’s not « just a job »!
 The need for permanency and continuity of care is not
compatible with the General Working Code (maximum
number of working hours, etc.)
 The emotional and affective impact makes fostering a very
special work, indeed.
 Such specificity needs to be protected.
Strengths of Family Placement in
France
 The training of Family Assistants
 Integration in multidisciplinary teamwork(in progress)
 The recognition of fostering as being a « work » : requiring
tasks, tools, knowledge, skills, competences, rights and
duties, a salary, and being part of the multidisciplinary team
Strengths of Family Placement in
France
 The fostering agency carries and guarantees the child’s
project (third party role)
 Such« third party » role balances and regulates between:
the child, the foster family, the biological family.
 The fostering agency’s commitment into quality of
monitoring and support to the foster carer is the
counterpart of the personal and human commitment
they require from the foster families.
Recommendations and wishes for
the future
 Generalise public agencies’ « specific units for family
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placement »
Differentiate short, middle and long term placement
Clarify the project for the child
Develop Permanency and long term care planning
Delegate more often parental authority
Facilitate the open adoption
Improve the initial assessment and its methodology
Recommendations and wishes
for the future
 Develop the ongoing training on « clinical aspects of family
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placement »
Train and train with the minor’s judges and the social workers
in such clinical matters
Develop Co-parenting instead of « substitution model »
Strengthen support and monitoring
Create real partnerships between Fostering ,Residential care
and Adoption services in Child Protection
Thank you for your attention!
This presentation is the fruit of a cooperative work between
 ANPF the French National Association for Family Placement
www.anpf-asso.org
and
 APFEL Acting for the Promotion of Foster care at the European
Level
 Please feel free to join us and network at
[email protected]
Power Point made by Vincent Ramon & Frédérique Lucet