Youth’s Parental RightsCitation: DCFS Pol. Man. § 6-1230 In policy: It is the policy of the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to provide for the needs of expectant parents in foster care and their baby, both prior to and after … Read More
Caregivers
Building Sustainable Post-Permanency Support Systems: A Strengths-Based Framework for Child Welfare Leaders
Post-permanency programs help adoptive, guardianship, and kinship families build on the stability, commitment, and relational strengths that made permanency possible. Child welfare leaders need to create a coordinated support system that honors family expertise, responds early, and reinforces resilience before … Read More
Promoting Reunification as a Kin Caregiver
As a kin caregiver, you play an important role in the child welfare system by helping support the family connections that are essential to a child’s health and well-being. Because kin caregivers must navigate the often-blurred line between being a … Read More
New Insights on State Kinship Diversion Policies
Defining Kinship Diversion Many families rely on kin — relatives and close family friends — to provide support in times of crisis or when a parent may need extra help. It is common for kin to step in to provide … Read More
2024 Report to Congress Progress Report: Federal Implementation of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers
Supporting Family Caregivers: Addressing a Critical — and Growing — Public Health Issue The need for a robust, coordinated approach to supporting family caregivers has never been greater . Each year, at least 53 million people1 provide informal, usually unpaid, … Read More
FAMILY JUSTICE JOURNAL
INTRODUCTION In January, as I finished giving testimony in our state legislature, the chair of the committee spoke up. She knew the dependency case involving my grandson had just ended. “Congratulations,” she said, “on finalizing the adoption of your grandson.” … Read More
Navigating Foster Care: How Parental Drug Use and Caregiver Attitudes Shape Children’s Mentalization Processes—an Exploratory Longitudinal Follow-up Study
Introduction Foster care is government-subsidized and -regulated temporary care for children who have been removed from their families for reasons of abuse and neglect. Children can be placed either in family or residential care. While family foster care includes arrangements … Read More
Resource Guide for Kinship/Grandfamily Providers
The 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers provides a roadmap for organizations and agencies to better support kin/grandfamily caregivers and the children they raise. Kin caregivers, also called grandfamily caregivers, are grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends raising children as … Read More
iFoster Supports New Actions to Support Children and Families in Foster Care
These regulations address several aspects of the 7 key areas identified in iFoster’s Lived Experience Guide to Fixing Foster Care 2023 “These regulations address several aspects of the 7 key areas identified by the foster care community in iFoster’s Lived … Read More
Child Welfare: HHS Is Taking Steps to Help States Support Relative Caregivers with Evidence-Based Programs
When parents can’t care for their children, relatives often step in as caregivers. To help these caregivers, states can access federal matching funds if they operate programs Health and Human Services determines to be evidence based. This requires states to … Read More