A Family for Every Child is dedicated to finding loving, permanent families for every waiting foster child. Our blog is focused on providing support to families who are thinking about or are a part of the foster care or adoption process.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

HOW THE CHILD WELFARE SYSTEM WORKS


Inside the Child Welfare System
A Family For Every Child would like to thank you for believing that every child deserves a family. Your support has enabled A Family For Every Child to make a difference in the lives of our children in foster care. Because of your support, all of our programs have been busy serving children in foster care and families going through the adoption process.

We hope you will find the following information helpful in understanding why we all need to work together.
How the Child Welfare
System Works


The child welfare system is a group of services
designed to promote the well-being of children
by ensuring safety, achieving permanency, and
strengthening families to care for their children
successfully. While the primary responsibility
for child welfare services rests with the States,
the Federal Government plays a major role in
supporting States in the delivery of services

What Happens:
When possible abuse or neglect is reported After a report is screened in
In substantiated (founded) cases To people who abuse or neglect children To children who enter foster care

What Happens When
Possible Abuse or
Neglect Is Reported

Any concerned person can report suspicions
of child abuse or neglect. Most reports are
made by mandatory reporters; people
who are required by State law to report
suspicions of child abuse and neglect.

What Happens After a
Report Is
Screened In
CPS caseworkers, often called investigators,
respond within a particular time period,
which may be anywhere from a few hours
to a few days, depending on the type of
maltreatment alleged, the potential severity
of the situation, and requirements under
State law. They may speak with the parents
and other people in contact with the child,
such as doctors, teachers, or child care
providers. They also may speak with the
child, alone or in the presence of caregivers,
depending on the child’s age and level
of risk. Children who are believed to be
in immediate danger may be moved to a
shelter, a foster home, or a relative’s home
during the investigation and while court
proceedings are pending. An investigator’s
primary purpose is to determine whether
the child is safe, whether abuse or neglect
has occurred, and whether there is a risk of
it occurring again.

What Happens to
Children Who Enter
Foster Care

Most children in foster care are placed with
relatives or foster families, but some may
be placed in group homes. While a child
is in foster care, he or she attends school
and should receive medical care and other
services as needed. The child’s family also
receives services to support their efforts to
reduce the risk of future maltreatment and
to help them, in most cases, be reunited
with their child. Visits between parents
and their children and between siblings
are encouraged and supported, following a
visitation plan.
Every child in foster care should have
a permanency plan. Families typically
participate in developing a permanency
plan for the child and a service plan for the
family, and these plans guide the agency’s
work. Reunification with parents, except
in unusual and extreme circumstances, is
the permanency plan for most children. In
some cases, when prospects for reunification.

In FFY 2010, 128,913 children leaving
foster care (51 percent) were returned to
their parents or primary caregivers. 50% of
Them will return to care at least once. The
median length of stay in foster care for
these children was 33 months.

Thousands "Age out" each year, at 18,
alone and unprepared for life.
From all of us at A Family For Every Child, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It is only through the generosity and support of community foundations like you that we are able to make a real difference in the lives of our children in foster care. Together we can find a family for every child.

If you have any additional questions feel free to contact me any time!

A Family For Every Child
Associate Director
(541)343-2856



No comments:

Post a Comment