Transcript Recruitment & Retention of Resource Families Lorrie Lutz October 2002 Recruitment AND RETENTION of Resource Families Lorrie L.

Recruitment & Retention of
Resource Families
Lorrie Lutz
October 2002
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Recruitment AND RETENTION of
Resource Families
Lorrie L. Lutz, MPP
Consultant
This learning was supported by the National Resource Center for Foster Care
and Permanency Planning
And the
Casey National Center for Resource Family Support
Presentation Overview
Characteristics of Successful Resource Families
Attending to the Details in Your Shop
Recruitment Nuances
State
Community/Neighborhood
Child Specific
Performance-Based Partnerships with Private
Community-Based Agencies
Policy Development –making lasting systemic
changes
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They Are Recruiting Smart!
Characteristics of Effective
Resource Families
From the research that has been completed
over the past 5-10 years as part of
understanding the evolving best practices of
Concurrent Planning, Dual Licensure and
more recently Recruitment and Retention—
we have learned something about what is
required of successful foster/resource
families.
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These Characteristics Include:
Resource Families See Themselves as a
Support to the Birth Family.
Resource Families Support and Encourage
Frequent and Consistent Visitation
Between the Child and his/her Birth
Family.
Resource Families are willing to live in the
ambiguity of not knowing what might
occur next.
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Characteristics (cont)
Resource parents have acquired a basic
satisfaction with where they are in life, with no
significant, driving unmet needs.
Resource parents demonstrate a willingness to
share relationships with a child.
Resource parents evidence resiliency when earlier
losses were experienced.
Resource parents demonstrate resourcefulness
when confronted with challenges.
Resource parents maintain positive connections
with the community.
Linda Zosche-Jefferson County Colorado
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Link Between …. Characteristics …
Retention… and Recruitment
Building a link between resource family characteristics
and recruitment is based on the hypothesis that if
foster/resource families have a well-developed
understanding of their own capacities and they can
relate those capacities to the needs of the children and
families in the system, it will result in more satisfied, less
conflicted resource/foster families.
This could result in greater retention---one of the
mainstays of a strong recruitment program.
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Mary Ford’s Work at NACAC
As part of NACAC’s work in Minnesota, Mary Ford of
NACAC is developing a training guide that will be
published by the Department of Human Services. She
strives in this guidebook to helping resource families
understand their own philosophy and spiritual
foundation and how this foundation or lack
thereof will impact their role as a resource family.
Further, during the training Ford asks prospective
resource families a series of sensitive and thoughtful
questions that go to the heart of the role of a resource
family.
These well-crafted self-assessment questions expose
vulnerabilities and assets in ways that assist prospective
resource families in coming to their own conclusions
about their ability to be successful in this role.
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Some of the Questions Include:
Would you like to share a little bit about your philosophical,
spiritual or religious belief system and how it helps you?
What would you say to birth parents who said they were
sorry for abusing or neglecting their child?
How do you imagine sharing your foster child with other
important people in this or her life?
Is it important to you to be certain about the outcome of
your placement? Why or Why not?
Please describe how you’ve recovered when you
experienced losses in your life.
Mary Ford NACAC
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They are Attending to the
Details!
Attending To the Details—
Kentucky’s Model
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Kentucky began its efforts by flow-charting the details of the recruitment
process.
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This provides an opportunity you to identify those points in the process
when the prospective family can get lost …..
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Can it be streamlined? More Responsive? More Timely?
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For example, the initial phone call—how many of you have ever called your
own system?
 Are those that answer the phone friendly?
 Are they informed?
 How many times are families transferred?
 Are materials sent in an expedient manner?
 Are the materials compelling?
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Flow Chart Your
Processes
Recruitment
while some is
child specific -most is general
recruitment
efforts
Family Calls
Direclty referred to
an intake staff
member
Sent to an intake
worker who must
call FF back.
Data Collection on
potential foster
family
Packet is sent to
Family
October 2002
The recruitment
information
needs to be
standardized-based on agency
recruitment
messages
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Informational Meeting
Yes
Wait time for TRAINING is 30-90 days-however:
1) Face sheet--and follow up contact within
2 weeks.
2) We will send a standard "welcome letter"
3) We will initiate contact by the FP Network
and when possible students contact the
prospective family and a letter.
SPREAD CONTACT OUT!!!
4) In addition we might look at a state
calendar and group regional trainings
together and families make choices. SNAP
will champion the conversation.
Paper work
disseminated at first
TRAINING session.
Need it back by
session three.
Class continues for
10 weeks
Not interested
Need to get the
information to the
FP network. There
may be some
agency follow up-Network will follow
up. Standard
survey.
Lorrie will assist in
development.
Withdrawal
Due to
background
check, etc.
Self-Select Out or we
encourage selection out
due to additional
information I.e.
unmanaged psychiatric
issues
Assignment
to worker
Standard
Home Study
Initiated by
session four.
Including all
PCC homes.
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Home Study and Completion of the Process
Home Study
Completed
Sent to R&C
Sup except in
extenuating
circumstances
Clarification and Exploration
of issues as required
Letter of welcome
to FP and to
Network
Foster Parent
Peer Mentor
assigned
through the
Foster Parent
Network
Partnership
Development
Corrective Action
Plan
Not Approved -we meet with families to
communicate
this denial.
Placement
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Then Set Goals Based on What You Learn
Creation of a conversion goal that __% of
families that call attend the initial training.
Creation of a conversion goal that __% of
families who attend the initial training go on to
complete the licensure process.
Creation of a goal that ___% of families who
complete the licensure process are still serving
children and families 18 months later.
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They Are Effectively Using
Performanced Based Contracting
A Partnership Model With the
Private Community Based
Organization
Elements of Effective Performance
Based Contracting
Statewide recruitment goals that are data
driven.
Regional/community/neighborhood
recruitment—with very specific recruitment
targets—again these targets are data
driven.
Tight Reporting Controls
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Statewide Goals linked to regional recruitment
Based on statewide analysis of data gain consensus
on priorities.
While the goals are statewide— how they are
achieved is through the local counties, regions and
communities
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In the state of Minnesota, NACAC has the contract to
develop in partnership with the counties—region specific
recruitment and retention action plans that list the
projected number and types of parents to be recruited.
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Plans include detailed recruitment strategies, locations for
distributing materials, where and when presentations will be made
including places of worship. PTAs, union gatherings, county fairs,
etc.
Video has been created to support the recruitment efforts
New recruitment materials have been developed that are varied for
audience.
Regional specific retention activities
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Data-Driven Recruitment in
Missouri
Contracts Specify the numbers and types of
homes required. (adolescents, sibling groups).
Shelia Kitchen, was enthusiastic about the contracting model. She was clear that the
greater the specificity in the regional plans, the more effective we are in recruitment
of the kinds of families needed.
The reality is that the more accurate and
detailed information that the private providers
have about the needs of the county regarding
specific needs for homes, the better they are at
recruiting accordingly.
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Data Driven Recruitment in Missouri
Payments for very specific activities.
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Recruitment of a family who goes through the entire
process from the point of the in-home consultation,
training and licensure.
In-home consultations
Provision of the initial pre-service training session.
Completed assessments where the foster/adoptive
family applicant is found to be skilled in all
competencies listed in STARS and is recommended for
licensure as foster parents or approval as adoptive
parents.
Completed Adoption Assessments.
In-service training provided to foster/adoptive
families.
Reassessment of foster/adoptive families.
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Utah takes it from the Region
to the Neighborhood.
Neighborhood Recruitment
Contract awarded to a hybrid not-for-profit
community organization named in Utah
code the “Utah Foster Care Foundation”
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“The turning point in our recruitment efforts was when the Board of
Directors agreed that we should not conduct any major recruitment
efforts until we fully understood the needs of the various regions of the
state. We sought to understand the regional needs for homes for older
children, sibling groups and children of diverse cultures. Then we had
a clear message for the community recruitment efforts
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Neighborhood Recruitment Utah
Neighborhood Specific Needs are identified:
Salt Lake Valley Metro Neighborhood:
There are placements for 28% of the children in care.
24 foster/adoptive homes, 43 placement capacity, 9
empty
homes and 21 openings.
152 children in care, 6 placements for any age child.
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Utah Neighborhood Recruitment (cont)
Age Group
Status
Infant Preschool
There are placements for 32% of children (16
placements/50 children)
School age
There are placements for 20% of children (10
placements/50 children)
Adolescent
There are placements for 21% of children (11
placements/52 children)
Structured Adolescent
There are placements for 13% of children (5
placements/31 children)
Asian
There are placements for 21% of children (11
placements/52 children)
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Utah Neighborhood Recruitment (cont.)
These regional/neighborhood plans serve as the basis for the “swat team”
approach used by Foundation staff.
Once they compile the neighborhood data, using zip codes which assist
in data analysis, they decide on a neighborhood to target and focus two
months of recruitment within that targeted community.
They contact newspapers where press releases and articles are published.
They contact foster parents who assist in hosting open houses where
community members come to learn more about foster parenting.
One extremely effective recruitment strategy has been the partnerships
that have been created with schools within the communities. The schools
agree to distribute flyers announcing Open Houses and other community
recruitment efforts.
According to Kelsi Lewis, Director of the Foundation “It is remarkable the
number of families who attend the community gatherings with these flyers in hand.
We are very grateful to the schools for their support of our recruitment efforts.”
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Tight Reporting Requirements
Effective Elements of Performance Based
Contracting—Reporting Requirements
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Tight Reporting Requirements—On a monthly
basis the private providers must report on the
following:
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Number of inquiries from potential foster/adoptive families
Number of in-home consultations
Number and names of foster/adoptive family applicants who
withdrew or were selected out of the foster/adoptive application
process.
Number and names of foster/adoptive family applicants
beginning pre-service training.
General description of the recruitment activities provided by the
contractor during the month.
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Child Specific Recruitment -Maine
A critical aspect of Maine’s evolving recruitment
effort is to provide dollars focused on childspecific recruitment.
When children are coming out of the state
system as legal risk adoption, the state makes it
a point to recruit and certify homes specifically
for that child.
In hard to places cases, private agencies are
provided information about the kind of home
needed for the specific child and the private
agency focuses on recruitment.
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When a child being placed in a home really needs
a male role model—A seasoned foster father in
Maine takes action…
According to Stephan Duplessis of Maine ….“The foster father is often
forgotten in the process of fostering…it is the foster mom who is the
focus of recruitment messages and support efforts. My goal is to reach
out to the potential foster father and help them understand the nature
and importance of their role.”
As a member of the Advisory Committee for FACT (Families and Children
Together), a community-based organization that has a contract with the
state for the recruitment of foster families in Maine, Steffan takes it upon
himself to contact prospective foster fathers. In these conversations, he
seeks to understand if the foster father is able to identify what they hope to
both give and get out of the fostering experience. Steffan suggests “If the
individual cannot talk about his desire for some kind of connection
with the child, I worry that he is not fully understanding his role. The
male role model is critical to these children, and often to their families.
I try to help the prospective foster father find his place in the fostering
process.”
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Good Luck!
A Look At How Various Policy
Initiatives Are Impacting
Recruitment and Retention
Policy and its Impact on
Recruitment and Retention
Dual Licensure
Full Disclosure
Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
Allegations
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Background on Dual Licensure
Historical child welfare practice did not
allow foster parents to adopt or they strongly
discouraged them from doing so through
written and unwritten rules.
As recently as the early 1970’s, most public
adoption agencies had policies against
practice of foster parent adoption.
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Reasons Included:
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Fear of losing their valuable cadre of foster families.
Fear that foster families hoping to adopt, would
undermine attempts to attain the primary goal of
family reunification.
Historical licensure processes that were based on a
foster families’ ability to provide temporary care, not a
lifetime commitment.
Decisions to place a child in a particular foster home
frequently were based on available space and not
because a foster family was determined to be the best
possible match for a particular child
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For these reasons and others, a child who became
freed for adoption and who was doing well living
with a foster family, would have in the past been
moved to another family – without allowing the
foster parent to have any input into the process of
selection of the adoptive family or even continued
contact with the child, thus exacerbating the child’s
experiences with loss, lack of continuity and
permanent relationships.
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Today, child welfare practice reflects a
very different picture.
The increasing reality is that foster
parents, and not newly recruited
adoptive parents, have come to serve as
the most consistent and viable option
for permanence for children in care.
According to the Children’s Bureau Express, 64% of
children adopted from the child welfare system are
adopted by their foster parents (although not necessarily
the families with whom they were first placed).
Not only are foster parents adopting children in their
care, but according to the National Adoption Information
Clearinghouse, these placements are very successful…
with 94 percent of these adoptions remaining intact
throughout the life of the child.
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The Promise of Permanency
It appears that the promise of permanency for children in the child
welfare system who are unable to return to their birth parents, lies
in many instances with their foster parents – relatives or nonrelatives.
Because of this, seasoned child welfare staff have been working to
ensure that once a foster family has bonded with the child and
made the commitment to adopt, the standards, rules and process of
transitioning from a foster parent to an adoptive parent is as
smooth and seamless as possible. In this vein, some child
welfare agencies are beginning to explore the development of
“dual licensure” policy and practice.
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Dual licensure means that foster parents and
adoptive parents walk through the same
screening and interview, home study, training
and background check processes, and in the
end receive the same “approval” to provide
foster and/or adoptive care.
Dual licensure allows for a foster parent, who
has cared for a child for some length of time, to
naturally and easily change their role from that
of a foster parent to an adoptive parent, without
having to go through an entirely new home
study and training process.
Comments from State Representatives
Scott Dixon, Foster Care Specialist from the State of Texas has an interesting
perspective. “It used to be that when foster parents adopted children, they were
perceived as seeking a ‘back door’ adoption. By opening the process up, it
allows both adoptive parents and foster parents to be completely honest about
their struggles and their motivations. While a foster family may be very clear
that they do not want to adopt every child that comes into their home, if one
comes who has no other place to go and the family bonds with that child…they
have a choice—one that they can discuss openly while making an informed
decision.”
[
Kit Hansen, President of the Utah Foster Parent Association and foster mother
agrees. “About eight years ago I remember vividly a circumstance where two
children who had been in foster care for eight months, were abruptly pulled from
the foster home and never saw the family again. These children were attached
to the foster family and the foster family was devastated at the loss. This should
never occur.”
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Comment from the Children’s
Bureau
Patsy Buida, the Foster Care Specialist at the Children’s Bureau
ACF/DHHS suggests “It (dual licensure) is a tool to maximize use of
resource families in a flexible way that lets them decide how to
interface with the system and what type of parenting fits their lifestyle—
short-term foster care or long term adoption. If a family has committed
to and bonded with a child, it makes no sense to search any longer.
Social workers spend a considerable amount of time being anxious
about the fact that we don’t always know enough during our first
placement to make the best match between the child and the resource
family. We want to move children because we learn more about the
kind of family that would be the “best” match. We need to get more
comfortable in doing the best we can with the information we have.
Timely permanence is as important, if not more important as a “perfect
match”.
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PRACTICE
IMPLICATIONS
Practice Implication #1:
Child and Family Matching Becomes an Earlier Concern.
 Difficulty in finding/making the “right” placement match
between children and families, if the first placement is truly is to
be the last/best.
 Dual licensure encourages earlier placements with resource
families who can support the reunification process and also
serve as permanent resource if children cannot return to their
parents.
 It may mean that staff will need to make placements with
resource families without the same amount of information about
the child and the family-- as was common practice in adoptive
or even pre-adoptive placements
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Practice Implication #2
Family-Centered Practice and Reunification
Continue to Be a Critically Important Focus.
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The practice framework for dual licensure needs to be rooted in
family-centered principles and strategies – a framework that seeks to
preserve children’s ties to their families of origin by involving other
related or non-related family resources to support that process and
serve as backup permanent resource if needed.
If a child is placed with a foster/adoptive family, overburdened child
welfare staff may see a child as safe and ‘successfully’ placed in a
home that can serve as a permanent option if needed, and therefore
may not work as diligently towards reunification.
Staff will need to be provided a “toolbox of resources” to support this
approach to practice such as: family-centered assessment
instruments, consistent and frequent supervision, a pool of resource
families who understand their role as mentor to the birth parents, and
a practice model that supports open and inclusive case planning with
parents and resource families.
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Practice Implication #3
Systems Re-organization Supports Dual Licensure and
Enhances Continuity of Relationships For Children With
Families and Staff
States and counties that have been successful in implementing a dual
licensure model have reorganized their systems in ways that support
earlier planning and decision-making around permanency for children.
Rather than having separate foster care and adoptive units, many have
combined these units and integrated practice.
In these reorganized units, a single worker stays with the child
regardless of the outcomes of the case, i.e. reunification, guardianship
or adoption.
With this continuity of relationship, the child and family do not have to
tell their story more than once, and the worker who was with the child
during the attempted reunification phase, supports the child in the
transition to the goal of adoption, should that be necessary.
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Practice Implication #4
Keep the pool growing: Ongoing recruitment is
urgently needed.
States were concerned that by encouraging foster parents to become
adoptive parents they would substantively and dangerously diminish
their pool of foster parents.
While this is in fact a reality, most individuals surveyed believe
that timely permanency for children is worth the extra demands it
places on the system to continually recruit and train new foster
parents as resources for children and families.
Dual licensure requires intensive efforts on the part of public and
private agencies to expand their recruitment efforts and often require
a shift in the message about the role of a diverse pool of families
who can meet the complex needs of children and families.
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Practice Implication #5
Resource Family Understanding and Support of
the Permanency Planning Process is Critical
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Dual licensure is likely to be successfully
implemented when resource families understand
and can support the process of Permanency
Planning – a process which is grounded in the
belief that whenever safely possible, reasonable
efforts should be made to help children remain
with or be returned to their birth families; and
that parents, foster parents and agencies must
work together to achieve the range of
permanency outcomes.
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Full Disclosure As a Practice
Model
Full Disclosure
It honors the integrity of the process and
ensures that birth parents and resource
parents have the same information, thereby
allowing them to make informed decisions.
Full disclosure provides the birth parents with
a “lay of the land” and a road map of what
needs to occur and when, if their children are
to be returned home.
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Full Disclosure…Did You?
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Explain permanency planning timeframes to the
parents?
Discuss the range of permanency planning options with
the parents?
Discuss service plan and assessment process with
parents/family?
Discuss and agree to a mutually satisfactory visitation
plan?
Discuss purpose, types and behavioral expectations of
visitation.
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Full Disclosure…Did You?
Talk with the birth parents/family about
your role as a representative of the agency?
Talk with the birth parents/family about the
role of the resource family?
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Treatment of Child Abuse and
Neglect Allegations
How Does This Impact
Recruitment and Retention?
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