When a child is placed in out-of-home care, OCS is mandated to make reasonable and active efforts to reunite the child’s family. Resource families have a significant role in the reunification efforts by ensuring availability of the child for family contacts and as appropriate, developing a relationship with the child’s family. A resource family is required to support a child’s relationship with his or her family in a positive manner. Frequent and regular family contacts are necessary for successful reunification to take place. Regardless of why a child came into care, the child’s family relationship remains important.
For every child in care, a case plan is required. This case plan must be completed within 60 days of when a child is removed from their home. The assigned worker develops a case plan in collaboration with the child’s family, the child or youth, and the Tribal worker, if applicable.
When a child is placed in out-of-home care, the initial permanency goal is to reunite a child with the child’s family as quickly and safely as possible. School age children should be included in case planning when they are developmentally age appropriate. The case plan outlines the services, resources, and timeframes of what the parents, child(ren), resource families and the assigned worker need to do for the child to safely return to the parent’s home permanently. The case plan is developed based on:
The case plan needs to state the current overall permanency goal for the child and the plan of action to reach that goal.
The child’s safety, permanency and well-being is of paramount concern in the development of the case plan. Resource families are in an excellent position to contribute information about the child during the case planning process.Resource families are expected to cooperate with the agency to carry out the case plan for the foster child.
Team Decision Meeting or “TDM” is a meeting called by the OCS assigned worker to discuss decisions concerning a child. The purpose is to bring together people involved with the child and the child’s family to make the best decisions possible concerning the child and to help ensure that a network of support is there for the family, the child, and the people who may care for them. TDMs are scheduled in most regions whenever there are safety concerns for a child, or a need to discuss a possible placement change.
Out-of-preference staffings are for Alaska Native children who are not placed in homes that meet the ICWA placement preferences. These cases are staffed monthly with the Tribes to look for relatives or Alaska Native placement or until the child is placed with a family that meets the placement preferences of ICWA, or the child’s Tribe provides written approval for the out-of-preference placement. The purpose is to monitor and document efforts to move children into Native homes.
A youth on probation is held accountable for their behavior by conditions enforced by their assigned probation officer and usually ordered by the Court. The probation officer develops a plan that includes collaboration with the foster parent(s) and a plan of care in the foster home.
The probation officer leads the team, meets with the parents, and monitors the youth’s progress. The probation officer will be in regular contact with the resource families.
The Division of Juvenile Justice foster family homes will work with a probation officer by carrying out the plan of probation and notifying the probation officer of any violations of the conditions of probation or concerns about the youth.
The Division of Juvenile Justice foster family homes may be asked to provide “sight and sound” supervision. Sight and sound means providing intense supervision by always keeping the youth in sight or within hearing of the designated foster parent.
The Family Contact Plan is separate from but related to the case plan. Family Contact Plans provide direction regarding frequency, and level of supervision required for contacts between children in out-of-home care and their parents, siblings, and other family members. Resource families should be included in family contact planning to ensure that regular contacts between children and their birth families occur. Resource families are encouraged to assist in facilitating family contact and support reunification.
As a resource family, you have a right to a copy of the child’s portion of the case plan, the Family Contact Plan, and a copy of the Foster Care Plan and Agreement and should keep those copies in your files. If you do not have a copy within 30 days of placement, contact either your assigned worker or assigned worker’s supervisor to obtain a copy.
If the child in care is 16 years or older, the case plan must include a plan that addresses programs or services to help the child prepare for independent living. Resource families are encouraged to start introducing very basic independent living skills to youth 14 and older. The case plan should identify the foster home begin teaching basic skills like hygiene, cleaning skills, cooking skills, time management, responsibility, providing an allowance to help them establish basic budgeting skills etc. Once the youth is 16 resource family can coordinate with IL Specialist to introduce youth to our program and start engaging in services.
A transition plan is developed by Independent Living Specialists and youths who are age 16 or older in state custody and placed in out-of-home care. The transition plan is customized to
The plan is signed by the youth and the Independent Living Specialist and becomes part of the youth’s case plan.
Resource families may be contacted or in special cases invited when a yout 16 or older has ANother Permanent Planned Living Arrangement (APPLA) goal to give feedback to how the foster family is following the reasonable and prudent parent standards.
Family Service cases are reviewed at meetings, known as administrative reviews. This review occurs every 6 months since a child entered out of home care.
The purpose is
This review is held in preparation for a court proceeding called a Permanency Hearing, which is held in court at twelve months of a child being in out-of-home care. If there has been a prior removal of the child from the home, a permanency planning conference may be held within six months of the second removal. The purpose is to establish the permanency planning goal and discuss permanent placement options for the child. Permanency planning is an ongoing process and can occur more than one time.
If there are multiple options for permanent placement, or when there are no options, a placement decision conference may be held. The purpose is to identify a permanent adoptive or guardianship home for a child. TDM meetings are also used for this purpose as needed.
Permanency planning is a term that is used in child welfare to determine the plan to have a child leave the custody of the state agency in as timely and safe a manner as possible. Permanency planning begins at the initial assessment and assumption of custody. This plan initially focuses on how the child and family will successfully and safely reunify and exit the state system permanently.
Generally, during the first year of the child’s care with OCS, the permanency goal is to reunify the child with the family. The assigned worker evaluates whether reunification is possible for the family and for the child. The first six-month review usually begins to explore whether the permanency goal of reunification is appropriate or if OCS should move towards an alternative permanency goal for the child.
No later than ten months after a child has been placed in out-of-home care, OCS evaluates the success of efforts to reunite the family, the needs of the child, including how long the child can wait to have a permanent family which time the court reviews the facts of the case and determines whether reunification is the appropriate permanency planning goal for the child. If it is determined that an alternate goal is more appropriate, the assigned worker starts to implement the permanency plan.
If reunification is no longer possible, the child’s permanency goal will become adoption, legal guardianship, or another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA). Adoption is the preferred permanency option if reunification is not possible.
Concurrent planning is intended to minimize the length of time that a child remains in out-of-home placement.
Concurrent planning means that two permanency plans are identified and actively worked at the same time with the full knowledge of the child’s family and team. As an example, while working toward reunification with the child’s family, OCS works with the family to identify alternative permanency options for the child, such as adoption if the child cannot be reunited with his/her family.
OCS must provide and document reasonable/active efforts to help families remedy the conditions that caused the child to come into care.
In some situations, the court may rule that the reasonable efforts standard for reunification do not need to be applied. Should this happen, OCS can move toward a different permanency plan for the child, which may include adoption, guardianship, or another permanent placement.