Casey Supports for Foster and Adoptive Parents
As a foster or adoptive parent, you play a special role in helping children who have had a difficult life discover what it means to be safe and secure. Our goal at Casey Family Services is for you to become a child’s last foster placement. Depending on the plan for that child, you might help Casey reunify the child with his or her birth family, help transition the child to an adoptive home, or even permanently adopt the child.
No matter what your role, Casey will be at your side every step of the way. We are an extension of your personal and community network and will assist you in developing a network of supports to help you parent the child or youth in your care. The supports Casey provides include:
Clinical Services
Casey understands that youth in care often need the support of highly trained professionals who can teach them how to deal with the trauma of abuse, neglect, and separation from their families. As needed, Casey ensures that its clients access and receive mental health services, recreational therapy, substance abuse treatment, and post-permanency supports within their community. Every social worker at Casey holds a master’s degree in social work or related field.
Financial Assistance for Foster Parents
Parenting a child in care is an investment in our nation’s future, and Casey supports your efforts by providing a monthly room and board stipend, as well as reimbursements for clothing and other special needs.
Parent Training
Children who are in foster care have experienced trauma and may exhibit challenging behaviors or require special care. Casey offers a variety of training programs at each local office and access to publications designed to help foster and adoptive parents increase their knowledge and skills. Casey also hosts conferences to educate foster and adoptive parents about the inspirational role they play in changing and enriching a child’s life.
Peer Support
Foster and adoptive families often find that they benefit from other people who have “been there” and can serve as informal or formal mentors. Casey connects foster and adoptive families through peer support groups, social activities, and educational programs. In addition, we might connect you with a “buddy parent” to mentor you through the entire experience, starting when you contact the agency.
Permanency Team Meetings
Families supporting youth in care participate in regular face-to-face meetings with a social worker and other adults in the child’s life to make plans and decisions about a child’s current situation and future. Permanency teams focus on long-term goals for the child, particularly who will parent them. Teams may include foster or pre-adoptive parents, birth parents, grandparents and other relatives, teachers, mentors, professionals from the child welfare system, and other caregivers — often identified by the youth.
Respite Care
All parents need occasional time away to relax and refresh their energy. Casey can help foster, pre-adoptive, and adoptive families plan child care services for a few hours, a day, or a weekend, either at home or in another family’s home.
Learn More
- Download the Fostering and Adopting with Casey Family Services brochure (PDF).
- Download the Fostering and Adopting with Casey Family Services brochure in Spanish (PDF).
- Request information on fostering and adopting with Casey Family Services