No one ever told you what the “Role of your Foster Care Agency” is, their obligation to you as a Foster Parent, your Foster Families Examiner thought you might be interested in exploring this subject.

Most of the time as a foster parent everyone is always talking to you about what your role is, but what about the Agency where you placed your license issued by your state?

The first thing we need to understand that agencies are different, just as states are different and  lay out their own set of rules and regulations (Administrative Law) . In the case of the foster care agencies, these are called “Administrative” rules and regulations; in state they are called State Statutes. So in pulling off just one of the states randomly lets see what those obligations are;

The agency shall:

• (a) Provide the foster parent with accurate information about the foster child, including the reason the foster child is in foster care, within three business days after placement;
• (b) Provide the foster parent with medical records, including immunization records, for the foster child, within three (3) business days of placement;
• (c) Help the foster parent to understand her or his rights and responsibilities;
• (d) Include the foster parent in the development of any service agreements for each foster child in her or his care;
• (e) Inform the foster parent of the foster child’s permanency plan, keep the foster parent updated as to the progress of the achievement of that plan, and allow the foster parent to provide input into the plan;
• (f) Explain payment criteria, including foster care board and care payments, clothing allowance,and any supplemental expenditures made to meet the foster child’s needs;
• (g) Evaluate the foster parent’s ability to provide for the needs of the household on a case by case basis. If a foster parent has a financial problem, CFSA or the agency may assist the foster parent in accessing assistance through community resources;
• (h) Provide appropriate supportive services, when available, that will enable the foster parent to meet the unique needs of the foster child and deal effectively with problems inherent in the foster child’s adjustment to care;

How many of you out there in cyber land have ever had all these services offered to you? Take a look at (a) have you ever had accurate information given to you about the foster child, take a long look at (h) we will be talking more about it in part 2 ?