3.3 Responsibilities of the Placement Resource
Placement Provider Responsibilities Include:
- To comply with the policies of the child placement agency.
- To treat children in their care, the child’s birth family and members of the child welfare team in a manner consistent with their ethical responsibilities as professional team members.
- To participate in out-of-home care provider pre-service training and pertinent in-service training as determined by the Missouri State Foster Care and Adoption Advisory Board.
- To participate in Division and community resources, as well as court activities as a team member and colleague who has pertinent information based on day-to-day knowledge of the child in their care;
- To assist the child and the Division in planning and effecting the child’s case plan objective for permanency;
- To attend, and be heard, at court hearings regarding the child placed in his/her home.
- To provide a nurturing family life experience to the child, including guidance, stimulation, and affection.
- To teach and direct the behavior of the child by administering discipline in a humane and sensitive manner that is consistent with state laws and regulations and children’s division policy and shall not include any form of corporal punishment.
- To provide food, clothing (appropriate for the season, child’s age and current styles), shelter, and personal care.
- To provide care that is respectful of the child's cultural identity and needs.
- To share necessary information with school personnel in order to secure a safe and appropriate education for the child, and to encourage the expression of the child’s strengths and special talents.
- To “act as the parent” in public school planning and placement if the student has disabilities. Part of that responsibility is to give consent and written permission at the time of initial evaluation and/or placement for special education and related services and at the time of reevaluation when additional assessments are required. (This applies only to foster/relative providers. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will assign a “surrogate parent” for youth in residential facilities.)
- The foster family, the Guardian ad Llitem, or the volunteer advocate whenever possible, may request that the child be permitted to continue to attend the same school that the child was enrolled in and attending at the time the child was taken into custody by the division ,per RSMo 211.032.7(2), and 167.022 RSMo.
- To provide the following educational assistance, which includes, but not limited to, the following:
- Assist with homework as needed;
- Attend parent/teacher conferences;
- Pick up report cards;
- Encourage participation in extra curricula activities; and
- Inform the FST members of the child’s educational performance.
- To share information necessary for the medical, psychiatric or educational needs of the child with appropriate practitioners, the caseworker and other members of the child welfare team.
- To cooperate with the Division in arranging for routine medical and dental care as well as ensuring that the child receives appropriate care during any illness;
- To maintain a record of health and health care, especially immunization records;
- To keep a life book for the child to record developmental progress as well as regular and special events in the child’s life while placed in their home.
- To maintain absolute confidentiality of private information about the foster child and his birth family;
- To be flexible and cooperative with regard to family for visitation, including family contacts and communication through phone calls and letters as appropriate;
- To share information learned about the child and the child’s family, and concerns that arise in the care of the child, with the caseworker and other members of the child welfare team.
- To give two weeks advance notice to the child’s caseworker, except for emergencies, when requesting removal of a child from the home.
- To inform the caseworker within 60 days of the caseworker’s initial query of their desire to adopt a child when the child is free for adoption. If choosing not to adopt, the foster parent shall support and encourage the child’s placement in a permanent home by providing history on the child and accommodating transitional visitation.
- To notify the Division of any pertinent conditions, problems or major family changes;
- To provide the child with opportunity for recreational activities and for participation in family, school, and community activities;
- To provide information to the worker and maintain a record of observed behaviors that will be useful in case planning and to participate in staffings;
- To follow all procedures established by the children’s division and its contractors for requesting and using respite care.
- To validate the child’s feelings regarding their birth parent;
- To assist in preparing the child for any move that must be made.