16.4 Placement Process
The Selection/Screening Team will receive the referral and review the material. The Team will interview, as appropriate child(ren), resource people such as the current caregiver, therapist, referring Children’s Service Worker, etc. They will decide if the child is an appropriate candidate for CFC. Three decisions can be made:
- The child is not appropriate for the program;
- The child is appropriate, but compatible career foster parent home is not available in the county of origin or nearby counties; or
- The child is appropriate, and there is a compatible Career foster parent home.
NOTE: In this situation, the child may be placed on a “waiting list. Staff are further encouraged to review the key individuals in the child’s life and attempt to recruit a Career family specifically for that child.
The Career foster parent worker will share all referral information with the prospective career foster parents and assess with them their ability to meet the child's needs. That Children’s Service Worker will notify the referring worker/case manager regarding acceptance of the child into the program.
The case manager/Children’s Service Worker will receive an oral and written decision from Screening/Selection Team liaison, including the identification of a potential career foster parent home.
The Children’s Service Worker will then carry out any of the following actions, as appropriate to the child being placed:
- Coordinate all planning with the service county, if the county of current placement is different from the case manager county:
- Receive notification from the Career foster parent program coordinator when a resource becomes available if a child has been placed on a waiting list; and
- Notify the Career foster parent coordinator in writing if the placement is no longer needed.
NOTE: A career foster parent may not care for more than four (4) children with a maximum of two (2) who are qualified for CFC simultaneously. In rare cases, special supervisory approval may be sought to accommodate siblings of the CFC child.
The Children’s Service Worker shall receive notification from the Career foster parent coordinator of the date of the pre-placement visit(s).
NOTE: The pre-placement visits are vital to a successful placement and should not be rushed.
Furthermore, the Children’s Service Worker will share a thorough description of the potential CFC family with the child and assess his/her interest in them. Assess the Career Foster Care foster families’ commitment to the permanency goal and, as appropriate, willingness to work with birth parent(s), kin and potential adoptive resource. Transportation for the child to/from the pre-placement visits needs to be assured.
NOTE: Career Foster Parents may be reimbursed via the CS-65 for transportation costs of pre-placement activities. The actual number of visits is governed by the needs of the child and the CFP family.
A minimum of one (1) in-home, overnight pre-placement visit is required. An assessment period where the child is removed from the home must follow every pre-placement visit.
A CFP may receive a prorated maintenance payment, via the CS-65, on a per diem basis for lengthy pre-placement visits, even though the child remains officially with another caregiver.
The Children’s Service Worker must gain commitment from both the child and CFP family and then proceed with the placement. The worker will assure the child's arrival at the CFP home when all parties agree that the child is ready.
When the permanency goal is reunification with relatives and/or kin, introduce family and CFP as early in the process as possible to increase family involvement and promote family/CFP relationship.