The role of foster parents (or other caregivers) in providing reunification services is to work actively with the birth parents, as well as their children, agency staff and others as full members of the Child and Family Team. The effective provision of reunification services requires a commitment to children and families, a belief that children should be with their parents whenever possible, a non-judgmental attitude toward birth parents and the calmness to deal with emotionally charged situations.
Foster parents play a critical role in achieving permanency for children. They are frequently the best source of information regarding the child's progress and when fully involved in the Child and Family Team, can provide valuable input to permanency decision-making. Five core competencies for foster parents include the ability and desire:
· to protect and nurture children;
· to meet children's medical, physical, emotional and developmental needs;
· to address developmental delays;
· to support the child's family relationships;
· to promote permanency planning, with a special focus on reunification; and
· to work as a member of the Child and Family Team.
Best practice requires foster parents who are willing to supplement the capabilities of birth parents - not supplant them - in providing nurturing and meeting the child's developmental needs. The process for achieving permanency for children calls for foster parents who can participate in effective alliances with the agency, birth parents and others in providing services for reunification, concurrent planning and guiding older youth toward independence.
The role of the foster parents "to protect and nurture" children refers to their responsibility to keep each child in their care safe and provide for the child's well-being needs. It can also mean role-modeling and coaching parenting skills; effectively engaging parents in learning healthy ways to be with their children; maintaining a safe, comfortable environment for children and parents which supports contacts of all kinds; and initiating and sustaining a relationship with the parents which allows for peer support and encouragement.
"Meeting developmental needs and addressing developmental delays" can include foster parents' encouragement of birth parents to assume responsibility for parenting tasks related to the child's developmental stage and needs (within the limitations of court orders and safety considerations). Including parents in doctor's appointments, school staffings and events, recreational activities, holiday and birthday celebrations are some ways foster parents support and enable parents to understand and meet the developmental needs of the children.
"Supporting family relationships" can involve the foster parent's willingness to establish and maintain a relationship with the child's parents and siblings that builds on strengths and is non-judgmental towards parents. It can mean becoming a part of the parent's social network and functioning in many ways as part of the extended family for the parents.
"Promoting permanency planning" requires foster parents' active assistance to parents in efforts to regain custody of their children, such as allowing and supervising frequent visits in the foster home, parent's home or other appropriate locations. Because foster parents are involved on a daily basis with the child's activities, their first-hand knowledge is integral to the ongoing assessment of the parent-child relationship as it is reflected in the visits.
"Working as a member of the Child and Family Team" requires skills and abilities in regard to all of the core competencies along with a conviction that children belong with their families whenever safely possible. In order to collaborate effectively in the assessment of, and planning for, children, foster parents would benefit from a basic understanding of family systems and the underlying conditions of substance abuse, domestic violence and mental illness.
Reunifying children with their families requires foster parents to perform two extremely important functions: being committed to a child's care and well-being while in their home and at the same time being invested in the child's successful reunification. Therefore, it is a commitment and a letting go. This is particularly true in a concurrent planning approach to child welfare practice. Foster parents will be asked to prepare for reunification ("letting go") while simultaneously planning with the caseworker for an alternative permanency option ("commitment"). Although this is an extremely difficult task, it is necessary for the child's stability in the foster home as well as the achievement of timely permanency. This process requires the full understanding and support of the caseworker.