3.3 Responsibilities of the Placement Resource Provider
Resource 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 youth in foster care in their care;
- To assist the youth in foster care 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 youth placed in his/her home.
- To provide a nurturing family life experience to the youth, including guidance, stimulation, and affection.
- To teach and direct the behavior of the youth in foster care 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, youth’s age and current styles), shelter, and personal care.
- To provide care that is respectful of the youth’s cultural identity and needs.
- To share necessary information with school personnel in order to secure a safe and appropriate education for the youth in foster care, and to encourage the expression of the youth’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 resource providers. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will assign a “surrogate parent” for youth in residential facilities.)
- The resource family, the Guardian ad Litem, or the volunteer advocate whenever possible, may request that the youth 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 Section 211.032.7(2), RSMo, and 167.022.
- To provide the following educational assistance, which includes, but
is not limited to, the following:
- Assist with homework as needed;
- Attend parent/teacher conferences;
- Pick up report cards;
- Encourage participation in extra curricular activities; and
- Inform the Family Support Team (FST)/Permanency Planning Review Team (PPRT) members of the youth’s educational performance.
- To share information necessary for the medical, psychiatric, or educational needs of the youth with appropriate practitioners, the Children’s Service Worker, 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 youth receives appropriate care during any illness;
- To maintain a record of the youth’s immunization records, physical, developmental, and mental health care;
- To keep a life book for the youth 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 youth in foster care and his birth family;
- To be flexible and cooperative with regard to family visitation, including family contacts and communication through phone calls and letters as appropriate;
- To share information learned about the youth and the youth’s family, and concerns that arise in the care of the youth, with the Children’s Service Worker and other members involved with the family.
- To give two weeks advance notice to the youth’s Children’s Service Worker, except for emergencies, when requesting removal of a youth from the home.
- To inform the Children’s Service Worker within 60 days of the caseworker’s initial query of their desire to adopt a youth when the youth is free for adoption. If choosing not to adopt, the resource provider shall support and encourage the youth’s placement in a permanent home by providing history on the youth and accommodating transitional visitation.
- To notify the Division within two weeks of any pertinent conditions, problems or major family changes;
- To provide the youth 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 youth’s feelings regarding their birth parent;
- To assist in preparing the youth for any move that must be made.