Resources and information about out-of-home care (also called foster care), including family foster care, kinship care, treatment foster care, and residential and group care. Includes information on working with children and youth in out-of-home care; working with birth families; recruiting, preparing, and supporting resource families (i.e., foster, adoptive, and kinship families); independent living services; placement decisions and stability; and systemwide issues. Also access the National Foster Care Month website.
Overview
A brief overview of out-of-home care, related resources, and frequently asked questions.
Foster care
Provides information and resources about becoming a foster parent, family foster care, treatment foster care, OPPLA/APPLA, achieving a continuum of care, and statistics.
Group and residential care
Offers resources about group and residential care, including assessment and placement decisions, licensing, intensive and secure residential treatment, practice issues, transitioning children and youth from residential care, supporting families, and outcomes.
Kinship care
Features resources for managers of kinship care programs, impact and evaluation of kinship care, locating and working with kinship caregivers, achieving & maintaining permanency in kinship care, and supporting kinship families
Casework practice
Resources and information about working with children and youth in out-of-home care and their birth families, including infants and toddlers, older children and youth, sibling groups, children from minority groups, and others. Other topics include mental and physical health, education, casework practice with birth families, and parent-child visits.
Transition to adulthood and independent living
Resources about helping adolescents transition to adulthood and live independently, including information about programs, promising practices, support services, resources for youth, training, and extending out-of-home care for youth past age 18.
Placement decisions
Provides information about making the decision to place a child in out-of-home care, maintaining placement stability, disruption, and interjurisdictional placements.
Resources for foster families
Provides resources for foster families, including information on supports for foster families, parenting children in foster care, working with birth parents, and adoption.