Foster Care Case Planner Job Description

Fusion Fostering

When a child is placed in your care, you are responsible for looking after them, not just physically but also in terms of helping them grow and develop. Children may have health issues that need to be taken into account. Being taken into care can be traumatic for a child.

They will be surrounded by people they don't know. Foster parents can provide love and support to the child by having an understanding and reliable adult. It will help them to grow and mature.

If you take on a child, they must attend school. A child's education is important. It is important that they don't have a negative effect on their learning.

Foster parents must be interested in their child's education. It is your responsibility to make sure that they have access to medical care when they need it and that they have adequate transportation to get to and from appointments. Some children in care may have disabilities that need medical attention.

Children in care can have challenging behavior. They may have had negative experiences with being parented and not being used to responding to instructions. They may be vulnerable or have had traumatic pasts.

Case Planners for FamilieS with Abused or Negative Children

Families with abused or neglected children are assigned case planners in the preventive services field. They assess the needs of the child and the family, facilitating measures to avoid foster care when possible, and working to preserve the family unit. The case planners help families who are disorganized and have a chance to restore order.

You will usually have a caseload of 12 to 15 families, with visits to each child at home or school once a month. The position is critical to determining the child's needs and counseling the family members to resolve their conflicts. You will help them establish priorities, set goals and develop a treatment plan that will strengthen the family unit.

You may lobby local community members to contribute resources. Other duties include maintaining detailed notes of the family's progress, participating in parenting workshops, and procuring documents required by government agencies. Communication skills are important when interacting with the family and with your agency superiors, local community resources, and court or government officials.

You must be flexible and efficient in your time management in order to juggle multiple families' needs. Those with a calm temperament and strong personal empathy for troubled children will thrive in the position. The Hispanic community requires bilingual case planners with a high level of Spanish.

Most preventive services agencies require case planners to have a bachelor's degree in a related field. A master's in social work is preferred. You can use your previous experience working for children's charities and non-profits, educational organizations, state-run social services agencies, or other family service providers to establish your track record in youth-based community services.

A Case Plan for Children and Young People in Care

Case planning is about identifying the decisions and actions that are required to achieve stability and security for the child or young person in care. The child or young person, their family, their caseworker, and their family and their carers are all involved in the development of the case plan. A stable home for all children and young people is what they deserve.

The goal for kids in care is always to return to their birth families safely. If that is not possible, the aim is to find them a permanent home through adoption, guardianship or sometimes long-term foster care. A document called a Case Plan is used to set out the steps being taken to support the wellbeing of the child in care and to ensure they have a safe, stable and loving home for life.

The Case Plan should be updated and reviewed regularly. A good case plan can give a glimpse into the life of a child or young person. Quality conversations with the child or young person, their family, caseworker and their wider support team are what grows it.

If a child or young person chooses to review their file at some point in the future, they should be able to understand how their lives developed, how their strengths were promoted, how their needs were supported, and why certain important decisions were made. When the child or young person is first placed with you, your caseworker will give you information about the Case Plan. If you are a long-term care giver, your caseworker will continue to involve you in the development of the case plan.

Foster and Guardianship: A Legal Team for the Laws of Family Reunification

If separation from the birth parent is voluntary or involuntarily necessary, foster care and guardian care designed to provide safe and healthy care to children. Adoption can sever the legal ties between birth parent and child, but it can allow some level of shared responsibility and parental rights. There are many differences between the two.

Foster Care is a program that helps children who cannot live with their family. A child may enter foster care for a number of reasons. Foster care may be used to supplement parents for a child with extreme behavioral issues.

The child is protected from endangering himself or herself. A foster home is a temporary solution intended to provide affection, stability and consistency to help a child grow and restore psychological wellbeing. Children in foster care usually allowed to visit their families until they are able to be with them again.

Services are provided to help facilitate a healthy reunion when the child is out of the home. If circumstances prevent a reunion with a child?s birth parents, Social Services will look to family members and other persons in the child?s life to see if a permanent home can be found. If another suitable opportunity does not exist, a foster family can choose to seek permanent residence by adoption or legal guardian.

Guardianship is a permanent solution and is used for cases involving relatives. Foster care is usually preferred over kinship care because it allows a child to maintain a close relationship with their family. A guardian assumes legal and financial duty until the child reaches the age of 18 if a reunion with birth parents is not possible.