Caregiver FAQs

Contact your child’s social worker well in advance of your respite date so the social worker can have adequate time to find a respite family for you. Caregiver is employed and must have child care for young foster children – how does caregiver find information on this? Atypical needs are identified by feedback from those familiar with the child’s needs, including birth parents, foster parents and service providers.

The county placing agency has a responsibility to make a diligent effort to place children with special needs into those foster family homes that have a higher level of skill, training, and certification, often called Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC) or group home care. The licensing, approval or certification agency will provide you with any needed Training to ensure the success of the foster child’s placement in your home. In the cases where the child is already known to the county placing agency, the social worker will be able to provide you with the child’s Health Passport a fairly complete picture of the child’s health history, behavioral issues and emotional needs. Service Plan – This is an agreement between CPS and the parents of children in substitute care (foster care, kinship care, etc).

• We will explain that just because you are not with your child doesn’t mean that you do not love him or her.
• It is important to keep the social worker and the child’s attorney informed of any additional training you may need to meet the specific needs of the child in your care.
• You will receive limited information about the child’s birth family, full disclosure of which is prohibited by law.
• In some areas of Texas, CPS works with mediators to help resolve cases more quickly so children do not have to stay in foster care as long.
• Contact the agency that licensed, approved, or certified your home for information about your foster home.

When reunification simply is not possible, as determined by the courts, many foster families choose to adopt the children they have cared for. The purpose is to improve the overall well-being of children in foster care and to keep them closer to home and connected with their communities and siblings. Community-Based Care is a way of providing foster care and case management services that calls on a community-based approach to meeting the individual and unique needs of children, youth, and families.

Foster Care

This website is intended to provide information about services and resources for children and families in Illinois. This mandate requires that all children 5 years and older who exit a foster home complete an exit interview about their experiences. Learn more about what the KIND Act means for families, relative caregiver certification and resources for relative caregivers. DCFS maintains an online listing with pictures and descriptions of children in need of a loving family. Some states have a specific ombudsman who oversees grievances related to foster care services.

It’s important that you let your child’s social worker know, at time of placement, that you need child care. It is best to speak to your foster child’s social worker and your foster child’s primary care doctor first to request that your foster child have a health assessment. It is best to speak to your foster child’s social worker and your foster child’s primary care doctor first to request that your foster child have a health assessment – see Health Passport .

Menu Child Protective Services

As a foster parent, will my name, address and telephone number be kept confidential? Once my home is licensed, approved, or certified when will a non gamstop casino child be placed with my family? For information on becoming a foster or adoptive parent, search the Foster Care Recruitment and Training Information web page to learn more about the process of becoming a foster parent.

Birth parents or the legally responsible caregiver from whom the child was removed have a legal right to have a means of contact with their child, and will be given your name and telephone number at the time of placement. When children can’t live safely at home and no appropriate non-custodial parent, relative, or close family friend is willing and able to care for them, the court can give temporary legal possession to CPS. When children can’t live safely at home, CPS tries to find relatives and family friends who can provide stability while the children can’t live with their parents (see kinship care). The county placing agency should provide you with the name, address and department number of the Juvenile Court in which the foster child’s case is to be heard. Respite care allows for the foster children to be placed with another caregiver for a short period of time – not to exceed 72 hours per session.