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Caregiver groups are a major source of information and encouragement for foster, kinship, and adoptive families. Coming together with other families provides a safe, nurturing environment to talk about common experiences and concerns. Social events with other caregiver families help children understand that there are other families in their own community like theirs and lends an atmosphere of normalcy to foster, kinship, and adoptive experiences. Foster youth know more about their own experiences than anyone else in the child welfare system. Listening and learning from young people who were raised in foster, kinship or adoptive care helps caregivers appreciate the life-altering experience of living in the foster care system. Despite the problems that brought their children to the attention of the child welfare agency, most biological parents care deeply about their children. In most cases, caregiver families have the difficult task of providing quality care for another person’s child while working with the child’s parent to help them reunify with their son or daughter. This delicate balancing act calls for extraordinary skill on the part of a child’s caregiver, but can make the difference between success and failure for the child’s relationship with his or her biological parent(s). Child welfare caseworkers are on the front lines of child welfare practice. Charged with the legal responsibility for multiple children, caseworkers work the children and families with complex and varying needs. Caseworkers and caregivers need to work collaboratively to make sure each child’s needs are being met. Building a strong relationship with a child’s caseworker supports the child’s growth and development. Caring for a child in the foster care system requires a level of skill greater than caring for other children. Education and support are essential elements of successful placements for children and their caregiver families. In California, the California State Community College Foster and Kinship Care Education Programs provide education and support to caregivers of children and youth in out-of-home care so that they can meet their educational, emotional, behavioral and developmental needs. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) are community volunteers, appointed by a local juvenile court, to advocate for the best interest of a child in foster care. CASAs develop a relationship with a specific child in care and report to the court on a regular basis about the child’s progress and needs. Most children in foster care do not have a CASA. In those cases where the child has a CASA volunteer advocating on their behalf, the child’s caregiver can be an invaluable resource of information and support to ensure that the child reaps the greatest benefit possible from having a CASA volunteer. Each child in foster care has an attorney or a guardian ad litem (GAL) to represent them in court. All children in foster care in California have a court-appointed attorney. Attorneys for foster children are required to investigate child’s situation, make recommendations about the child’s welfare to the court, and do what is necessary to represent the child’s legal interests. Caregivers should make every effort to provide the child’s attorney or GAL with current, detailed information about the child’s well-being. Child welfare agencies and biological parents of children in foster care also have court-appointed attorneys in most states. Understanding the role of each attorney in the juvenile court process helps caregivers appreciate the legal status of the child in their home. Judges make life-changing decisions about children in foster care, including whether they will be separated from their parents and placed in a foster or kinship home, whether and when they can return home, and what services must be provided to them while they are in foster care. Caregivers are a key source of information for judges because they have first-hand information on how a child is faring in care. In addition, foster and kinship families are more likely than anyone else to provide permanent homes for foster children who cannot return to their parents. Foster and kinship caregivers interact with a wide range of people on the child welfare team in addition to providing daily care of the child. Caregivers deserve and expect respect as a member of the team. While other team members perform a host of functions that affect the child’s life, a child’s experience in foster care depends first and foremost on the foster or kinship parent who cares for the child on a daily basis. Caregiver families can be proud of the crucial role they play in caring for our nation’s abused and neglected children. |
