FOSTER CARE POLICY AND PROCEDURE MANUAL

Foster Care Program overview:

The purpose of the Foster Care Program at the Agency is to provide or broker the resources and services necessary to help a child achieve their stated permanency plan in an alternative family care setting. Generally foster care should be viewed as a short-term service designed to meet the immediate, urgent or emergent need a child has for physical and emotional safety. Services are designed to meet the child’s and the family’s needs which necessitated placement.

Quality licensed foster homes are critical to ensuring safe and appropriate homes for foster children. Those interested in becoming foster parents come to the Agency in a variety of ways. Some typical ways are: from referrals by other foster parents, community based organizations, such as churches, and through written and oral advertisements and presentations. Fostering Solutions is also committed to community involvement and partners with other child welfare agencies to recruit and retain foster homes.

Herein contains the policies, rules, and procedures that Fostering Solutions adheres to in operating the Foster Care Program.

FOSTER HOME CERTIFICATION

Rule 400.12301 Department Authorization

Fostering Solutions is authorized by the Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing (BCAL) to certify foster homes for licensure.Fostering Solutions is audited by BCAL analysts yearly to ensure ongoing compliance with Department of Human Services (DHS), BCAL, Modified Settlement Agreement (MSA), and Fostering Solutions policies and procedures.

Rule 400.12302 Program Statement

Fostering Solutions provides foster care services to children that are under the age of 18 (21 years of age for those participating in Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care), potentially capable of accepting other family ties as well as able to participate in family and community life with minimal risk of danger to themselves and others. Children of any race, color, or creed will be given care if he/she has a need best met by the foster care program. Fostering Solutions will provide services to children that may be in the custody of the legal parent(s), a legal guardian, a court, the Department of Human Services, the Michigan Children’s Institute, or the Agency.

Fostering Solutions strives to keep an average of 30 foster homes certified. These homes are trained and prepared to accept sibling groups, teens, infants, children with special needs, children with developmental delays.

Fostering Solutions provides foster families with case management and support services. Foster parent inexperience and burnout are two factors that increase the chance of maltreatment of a foster child, however unintended that may be. Social Service Workers should ensure that foster parents have the resources they need to care for children effectively and successfully. These resources include:

  • Training that pertains to the type of care they are providing,
  • Knowledge of foster care resources in the community (e.g. foster parent support groups, etc.),
  • Knowledge of the agency’s on-call services and accessibility of Social Service Workers and Supervisors,
  • Additional support as needed (e.g. additional home visits, referrals for services, help with transportation, appointments, etc.)

The Social Service Worker will not wait for these services to be requested. They should be offered as the potential need is observed through home and office visits with the family.

Fostering Solutions serves children and families primarily in Lenawee, Monroe, Hillsdale, and Jackson counties. However, Fostering Solutions is licensed to provide services throughout the state of Michigan.

Fostering Solutions offers foster care services to Temporary Court Wards, Permanent Court Wards, and Michigan Children’s Institute wards. Children/youth in Foster Care are those who:

  • may be victims of child abuse/neglect,
  • may be awaiting adoption and/or release of legal parent’s rights,
  • may incorrigible at home in such a way that family functioning is disrupted by the behavior,
  • may be living in families unable to provide appropriate structure to limit acting out at school or in the community,
  • may be released from residential or inpatient care, but are not ready to return home,
  • may be identified as medically fragile and have significant medical needs above and beyond typical child care,
  • may be a case where intensive foster care has been ruled out and a less intensive family like setting has been determined as being most appropriate.

R 400.12303 Policy and Procedures

Fostering Solutions annually updates their policy and procedures based on policy changes that occur due to changes in the Michigan Settlement Agreement, the Department of Human Services policy, Bureau of Child and Adult Licensing rules, and changes within the Agency. The Foster Care Policy and Procedure document is provided to families during the initial orientation. The Foster Care Policy and Procedures covers recruitment and retention, certification training, application request, orientation, application submission, records check, initial evaluation, foster parent/agency agreement, foster parent training, behavior management, religion, communication, personal possessions, allowance and money, clothing, substitute care, supervision, hazardous materials, unusual incidents, emergency policy and procedures, reevaluation, license recommendation, borrowed home, special evaluation, and foster home records.

R 400.12304 Recruitment and Retention

Fostering Solutions will have an ongoing recruitment and retention program to ensure an adequate number of suitable and qualified homes, to meet the needs of the children served by the Agency. The Agency’s Board of Directors, Program Director, supervisors, staff, and foster parents will all be integral members of the Fostering Solutions Foster Care Recruitment and Retention Team. This team will meet regularly to develop and implement a multi-faceted strategy for recruiting and maintaining foster families.

Retention, specifically, is thought to be a by-product of quality services. Fostering Solutions strives to create an environment where foster parents experience a relationship with the Agency that is characterized by the sharing of information, ready access to worker support, and within the framework of respect, and positive regard. Fostering Solutions will ensure that foster parents are clear and confident about their rights and responsibilities and Agency expectations, as the foster parents are regarded as part of the team that is responsible for making decisions about the child and the family.

Fostering Solutions will engage in quality improvement activities and assessment, to all foster parents, so that performance assessment and feedback can be utilized to improve service delivery. Participation and feedback from foster families is critical to ensuring continuous quality improvement.

Fostering Solutions will also participate in the County Coalition team meetings, which serve as a committee to support county recruitment and retention activities. This team collaborates to identify and plan multiple events throughout the year, in which foster families are invited.

Some additional identified recruitment and retention activities include:

  • Posting information about foster care on bulletin boards in grocery stores, coffee shops, and other businesses in the community.
  • Utilizing social media to recruit prospective foster families. Providing basic information about child welfare and also contact information to reach the agency for additional information.
  • Participation in parades and/or hosting an information table at farmers markets, art fairs, and community festivals. Providing brochures and other information to help people learn more about how many children are waiting to be adopted and who can become foster and adoptive parents.
  • Partnering with local restaurants to have them attach small flyers to take out meals or pizza boxes or use tray liners that encourage people to consider becoming foster or adoptive parents.
  • Hosting appreciation events such as a Fall Harvest party or Winter Holiday party, where current and prospective foster families are invited to attend.

R 400.12305 Certification Training

Fostering Solutions ensures that all supervisors of workers that perform foster home certification functions receive certification training and complaint training by the BCAL prior to performing any certification functions.

R 400.12306 Application Request

The licensing worker or recruitment staff will discuss with the prospective foster parents the types of children that the foster care program serves and the various needs of those children, and the Agency will document that the prospective foster parents have expressed a willingness to care for the types of children served by the agency. This may be done prior to or during the initial orientation. After the initial orientation is completed and documented, a BCAL 3889 Children’s Foster Home License Application is given to individuals who express a willingness to provide care for the types of children the program serves. The licensing worker shall document the desire of the prospective applicant and their completion of the initial orientation. Once both of these conditions have been met, Fostering Solutions will provide an application and the following information to prospective foster parents:

  • A copy of the act.
  • Administrative rules for foster homes.
  • Administrative rules for child placing agencies.
  • Good Moral character rules.
  • The child protection law.
  • The children’s ombudsman act.
  • Fostering Solutions program statement.
  • Fostering Solutions foster care services policy.
  • Fostering Solutions foster parent training requirements.

Fostering Solutions will also document in the foster family record that the licensee has been given the application for renewal not less than 60 calendar days before the expiration date of the license.

R 400.12307 Orientation

Fostering Solutions will provide an orientation to all prospective foster parents. Orientation will be provided within a group setting, or as an individual orientation. The following are the topics covered during an initial orientation:

Orientation Agenda

  • Welcome
  • Introductions
  • History of The Agency
  • Department of Human Services (DHS) and it's role
  • Purposes of foster care
  • Characteristics and needs of the children placed by the agency
  • Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
  • Attachment and separation issues
  • Impact of fostering on the foster family
  • Role of the foster family
  • Licensing Process
  • Grievance Procedures
  • Importance of a child’s family
  • Parent and sibling visits
  • Agency foster care policy and procedures
  • Agency foster parent training requirements
  • Supportive services and resources
  • Provisions of the Children’s Ombudsman Act
  • Provisions of the Child Protection Act
  • Foster Care Review Board appeal procedures

R400.12308 Application Submission

Once the licensing worker receives a completed BCAL 3889 Children’s Foster Home License Application, which is signed by each adult care-giver in the home, the home study process begins. At any time the applicant may withdraw from the home study process. The licensing worker may consider a home withdrawn that does not cooperate with the completion of the licensing process after 60 days.

R400.12309 Records Check

Once the licensing worker receives a completed application, the worker will request the department of state police to conduct both a criminal history check and a criminal records check through the federal bureau of investigations for the applicants. The worker will also request the department to conduct criminal history checks on all persons are in the home that are over the age of 18. The records check will include a check of all previous licenses, criminal convictions, and substantiated child abuse and neglect records. For the applicant this is completed through the process of electronic fingerprinting. The licensing worker will arrange an appointment for the applicant at a fingerprint site that is contracted through the Department. The licensing worker will provide the applicant with the proper form and instruction at the time the applicant is registered. The fees for the records check will be paid for by the State of Michigan. For household members over the age of 18, who are not an applicant, they will be required to undergo a records check as well, however electronic fingerprinting will not be required.

If the licensing worker receives information from the records check indicating a lack of good moral character or suitability on the part of the applicant, the licensing worker will determine if an administrative review team (ART) request will be made to BCAL to license the applicants.

If the licensing worker during the licensing process receives information indicating a lack of good moral character or suitability on the part of any person residing in the home who is over the age of 18, other than the applicant, the licensing worker will initiate another records check.

The Agency is also responsible for initiating a criminal history check of a resident minor within 30 days after turning 18 years of age.

If an applicant, licensee, or adult household member is identified on central registry as a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect in this state or any other state or Canadian province, he or she shall not be licensed or reside in a licensed foster home.

R 400.12310 Initial Evaluation

The licensing worker will complete a written initial foster home evaluation before certifying the home for licensure. The Initial Evaluation process consists of:

  • A safety assessment of the home.
  • An inspection of the well and septic system for all households with private water and sewer.
  • An assessment of all household members.
  • An examination of any previous licenses held.
  • A records check for all adult members of the household
  • Medical exams for all members of the household
  • PRIDE Training
  • Equipment to provide appropriate care (i.e.: crib for infant, car seats for children under age eight, etc.) The agency can help with some items if needed and may be able to help locate equipment from local community resources.

This information is documented in the completion of the BCAL 3130 Initial Evaluation. This report contains the dates and places of contacts, including visits to the foster home, persons interviewed or observed, along with an assessment of the following:

  • Applicant/Licensee must be residing in the United States legally,
  • Marital and family status and history, including current and past level of family functioning and relationships and any incidents of domestic violence, either as perpetrator or victim,
  • Educational history and any special skills and interests,
  • Employment history, current financial status, including property and income, money management skills and outstanding financial obligations,
  • Physical, mental and emotional health of each member of the household, inclusive of a statement regarding any past and/or current mental health treatment or counseling by any member of the household,
  • Any history or current use of substances, including alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances, of each member of the household, as well as description of treatment received,
  • Parenting skills and attitudes toward children,
  • Methods of discipline of children,
  • Adjustment and special needs of the applicant’s own children, including children not living in the home,
  • Strengths and weaknesses of each member of the household,
  • Experiences with own parents and any history of out of home care,
  • Reasons for applying to be a foster family,
  • Previous experiences in providing child foster care, child day care, or adult foster care,
  • Willingness to accept a foster child with the child’s individual characteristic, needs and background,
  • Willingness to parent cross-racially or cross-culturally and to create an atmosphere that fosters the racial identity of and culture of a foster child,
  • Willingness and ability to work with birth families and to understand the foster child’s attachment to the birth family,
  • An understanding of and willingness to participate in concurrent planning,
  • Willingness and ability to give a foster child guidance, love and affection, and accept the child as a member of the household,
  • Existence of social support system and alternate care providers,
  • Spirituality or religious beliefs,
  • Previous adoption evaluation or placements,
  • Previous licenses, criminal convictions and substantiated child abuse or neglect for any member of the household,
  • Three current references from persons not related to the applicants,
  • Adult Child Reference will be completed to gather information from any adult child(ren) no longer residing in the home,
  • A medical statement, including all treatments and all prescriptions, (DHS-3190) for each member of the household that indicates that the member has no known conditions that would affect the care of a child placed in the home. The statement shall be signed by a physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner within the 12 months period prior to the initial evaluation,
  • Safety and maintenance of the applicant house and property, including but not limited to: beds, sleeping space, pets, weapons, and water hazards,
  • Adequacy of the applicant’s house, property, neighborhood, schools, community and resources as determined by an on-site visit,
  • The age, number, gender, race, ethnic background, and the special characteristics of children preferred by the applicants, and
  • Training needs of the family.

This information is gathered through personal interviews with each family member and must include a minimum of one home visit. Licensing workers must maintain regular (at least monthly) contact with applicants throughout the Initial Evaluation process in order to apprise them of progress towards completion.

The Licensing worker will make recommendations and document placement specifications consistent with the information contained in the evaluation. The recommendations will include specifications pertaining to age, gender, race, number of children, characteristics of children best served by the family, and children who may not be placed in the home. By the conclusion of the evaluation, the applicant will be notified regarding policies and procedures pertaining to concurrent planning for foster children, as well as the fact that a copy of the initial home evaluation is available to the applicants upon request.