Child welfare agencies are a primary partner for foster, kinship, and adoptive parents of children in foster care.  Agencies have legal responsibility for children living apart from their parents in the foster care system.  A caregiver’s ability to provide daily care for a child in foster care comes from the public child welfare agency.  Caregiver families caring for children placed through private foster family agencies (FFAs) work directly with their FFA caseworker, but the county or state agency retains ultimate responsibility for the care of the child.

The relationship between a caregiver family and their child welfare agency is an important one.  Foster, kinship, and adoptive families should make every effort to work collaboratively with their agency caseworker to ensure that each child’s needs are being met.  Caregiver families are increasingly working directly with birth parents as mentors and supporters.  In addition, child welfare agencies are making efforts to include caregivers in the decision-making processes about foster children living in the caregiver’s home.  Many agencies routinely include caregiver families in team decision-making meetings (TDMs), multi-disciplinary team meetings (MDTs), staffings and in other important agency discussions. 

Foster, kinship, and adoptive families are important sources of information for child welfare agency caseworkers.  Caregivers observe children on a daily basis and understand a child’s needs on a practical level.  Caregivers also have access to information about the child from a variety of sources on a regular basis, including teachers, doctors, therapists, and a host of other service providers.  Caregivers should make sure to pass important information along to the child’s caseworker so that agency decisions reflect the best interest of the child.

Child welfare agencies help ensure the well-being of foster children by making sure that their foster and kinship parents have access to important information about the child. Caregiver families should ask for any information that may help them provide quality care for the child in their home.  State legislatures are also involved in making sure caregiver families can effectively care for children by passing laws that provide more access to information and allow caregiver families to lead normal family lives.

For information on being a member of the child welfare team and ensuring that every foster child and youth has a permanent committed adult in their life, see the following resources:

Team Decisionmaking:
Involving the Family and Community in Child Welfare Decisions
www.aecf.org/initiatives/familytofamily/tools/f2f_tdm_sept_02.pdf

Importancia de los Equipos en la Toma de Decisiones:
Participación de la familia y la comunidad en las Decisionesvinculadas con la Asistencia Social para los Niños
www.aecf.org/initiatives/familytofamily/tools/spanish/sp_part2_team_decision.pdf

A Family for Every Child:
Strategies to Achieve Permanence for Older Foster Children and Youth
www.aecf.org/initiatives/familytofamily/tools/family_every_child.pdf