Helping children, families, and communities grow stronger together.
Making It Possible
With passage of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, the work of finding and involving the families of children in foster care is more than best practice, it’s a federal mandate.
learn more>Resources and Tools
Teaming and differential response? Yes, it can work. To learn more, download this publication and view the article on pages 88-95
FosterClub has a new tool to help agencies use social networking to reach youth who have emancipated from foster care
Teaming and permanence for older youth are a primary focus of the Spring 2009 issue of CW 360°
The American Adoption Congress offers “Top Ten Ethical Considerations in Open Adoption Practice,” by Mary Martin Mason
Youth and Family Perspectives
“We had to be there to make sure it was what we wanted.” — Mark, age 11, on participating with his sister in a family team meeting.
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Making It Possible
New Mandate for Family Finding
Finding and involving family members of a child in foster care – long considered a best practice – has achieved even greater importance. Recent federal legislation, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008, now mandates that child welfare systems notify relatives within 30 days of a child entering the child welfare system; it also requires that relatives be educated about their options to “participate in the care and placement of the child.”
Fortunately for practitioners, pioneers in family-finding techniques have been developing and writing about a wide range of strategies not only to find families, but also to involve them in planning and decision making on the child’s behalf.
Teaming is one valid and increasingly popular approach used to engage family. Various forms of family teaming offer particular promise in involving birth parents and relatives so that children grow up in a stable, enduring family rather than foster care. Using a teaming approach also can protect against a variety of emotional wounds familiar to children in foster care, such as being cut off from their families without knowing why; multiple placements; and closed adoptions.
For more information on the federal legislation, see:
- The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008
- Program instruction on the Act from the Administration for Children and Families (October 2008)
- Questions and Answers About the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (January 2009)
- Resources related to the Act compiled by the Center for Law and Social Policy
- An overview of the law from the perspective of one state – California – as it endeavors to retrofit its system to meet the new mandates
Learn More
- Download a bibliography on family finding compiled by Casey Family Services for more information on family search techniques.
State Spotlight
Maine looks to foster youth to develop new policies, including a bill of rights and a permanency framework.
Archive
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- From Innovation to Action
September 2008, Volume 2 - Court Reforms that Support Youth in Achieving Lifelong Families
February-March 2008, Volume 2 - Engaging Youth in Achieving and Sustaining Permanence
November 2007, Volume 1
About Connections Count
Produced by the Annie E. Casey Foundation/Casey Family Services, Connections Count is an electronic newsletter focusing on best practices, tools, research, and data on youth permanence in child welfare.
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Casey Family Services
127 Church Street
New Haven, CT 06510
Tel: 203.401.6900
Fax: 203.401.6901