Strategies for Success in Recruitment, Certification and Support of Foster Caregivers

Recruitment Strategies

Identify foster home development as a community issue. Create public value for foster care / adoption; enlist local leaders - both formal and informal.

General Strategies

Accept any and all speaking invites

Have prepared handouts available for all speaking engagements

Every PCSA employee should be a recruiter and should have key speaking points on foster parent recruitment (Summit CCS has policy every employee will assist at a community event four hours/month)

Encourage current foster care providers to recruit

Consider monetary incentives for staff or agency foster parents, for recruitment that results in families that are certified

Provide information about fostering and adopting on web sites

Give weekly interviews on talk radio, guest columns in the newspaper, paid ads, etc.

For adoption recruitment, do child specific advertising on TV - "Wednesday’s Child", weekly or minority newspapers, etc.

Provide Displays

Ask for foster/adopting display in public library during Foster Care (May?) and Adoption Months (October?). Ask librarian to pull related books, add agency display info.

Similar displays for manned tables, booths at fairs, etc.

Put up recruitment posters at youth sites such as recreation centers, YMCAs, other places that serve children/youth, where interested adults are likely to be, too.

Targeted Recruitment Strategies  

The key is to create public value for fostering/adopting with influential members of a particular group. Targeted campaigns are generally more effective than general info or presentations:

Assess your needs by analyzing the children you have in care - do you need foster homes in a certain geographic neighborhood? Do you need minority foster homes? Do you particularly need homes for adolescents?

Do you want to target a specific type of family? Identify Common Interests of local foster / adoptive parents - do they bowl, fish, what radio station do they listen to?, etc. Market your recruitment efforts towards those activities, events. Kellogg’s Families for Kids contracted for research on this topic, report is available at PCSAO.

Recruitment Ideas for Target Foster Home Populations:

Labor Union Members - Lorain customized literature to appeal to union members, developed relationship with union leader; who then authored article in the union newsletter, then sanctioned a general presentation at union meeting.

Faith Based Recruitment - general congregational presentations do not usually reap benefits.

One Church / One Child incorporated value acceptance it was a community responsibility; leadership (usually minister’s) commitment is key to identifying homes within the church community.

Summit CCS has a presence at seasonal and annual gospel events, repeatly bringing attention to the need for foster care providers.

Geographic Recruitment

Approach any foster parents in the desired community; ask them to host "Foster Ware" Parties, to come to the parents’ home, learn more about fostering, etc. Agency should provide refreshments, brief presentation, written info. Word of mouth from one foster parent to another is a highly effective strategy.

Go out and walk and talk, door to door. Many people consider fostering, but have never acted on the thought, and may when asked directly.

Build partnerships within the desired community; gain respect of established institutions, neighborhood centers, community leaders, etc. Family to Family, or Family Centered Neighborhood Based Services can provide technical assistance in this process. Call Stacey Saunders at PCSAO (614/224-5802) for further information.

Minority Recruitment

Target marketing efforts to minority radio stations, minority newspapers or other publications

Create positive relationships with respected members of the community - within churches, neighborhood centers, also other non-traditional community leaders

Create presence at minority events - gospel events, concerts, festivals. Have displays, preschool or school age waiting children, offer to co-sponsor community events, request presentation time, etc.

Targeted Recruitment for Teens

Seek experienced families (ones that are successfully raising teens of their own, or once had teens of their own)

Give honest profiles of kids in your custody - are they violent? / or just frustrating?

Showcase your youth in public - Rising Up Moving On presentations; get media coverage; ask youth to host or MC foster parent recognition events

Include teens as a part of recruitment / certification process - stress positives of fostering teens

Certification Process Strategies

It is essential the process be organized and timely. We must minimize wasted efforts and work, coordinate activities to minimize dead time.

Lorain County has developed a tight time schedule for process, with clear deadlines and responsibilities for all involved, including the foster parent candidate. A sample checklist is attached.

BCII criminal background checks - are required, costly, take time, often cause delays. Suggestions - Explain, ask for disclosure, take fingerprints at initial orientation meeting or second meeting; apply for ORI # so FBI will establish direct mailing to cut out one possible delay (talk with Belinda at BCII); also, develop relationships with local law enforcement to initiate immediate local screening.

Attempt to align training with education institution. Lorain CCS awards CEUs for precertification and some ongoing training hours.

PCSA representative should initiate personal contact ASAP after certification info and application request and mailing. Send out additional information two-three weeks prior to beginning of classes. Orientation and certification process should be scheduled periodically (some agencies schedule quarterly, or three times / year, some schedule on demand - four or five candidates warrant a class. Don’t wait too long between initial interest and start of classes.

Ongoing Support of Foster Caregivers - General Strategies

RESPECT, value their expertise and service

Partners in case planning with children placed there

Competitive per diems

Don’t overload and burn out your good foster parents - Lorain CCS has policy to place only one sibling group in a foster home.

Limit bureaucracy required for FPs to deal with agency - Back-up plans for agency support - maybe assign two workers to a pool of FPs, with a primary worker for each one, but the other as somewhat familiar back-up.

Increased support and contact, not just kids’ case worker, but a worker to address concerns and support for FP (but do balance support with intrusiveness)

Increased opportunity for joint activities with other foster kids and families

Ongoing recognition, not just in May - could local business offers special discounts or discount events for foster caregivers and families?

Specialized Support Strategies

Respite Care for Providers

Foster parents and kinship care providers need dependable respite in caring for children. We suggest formalized respite policies addressing the following:

Respite as prevention - may be standardized (i.e. two weeks / year), scheduled time (summer camp), or respite by demand (as requested by FP)

Crisis Respite - What is the backup plan in time of crisis?

Is respite policy related to child’s visitation schedule? Is there a maximum length of time child can be out of home before bed is free and agency is no longer paying a per diem?

Daytime respite - Summit County has on-site respite center, available on a limited basis, to foster parents that schedule in advance.

Payment - Agency may pay respite provider and FP; allowance to FP to purchase and schedule own respite; or respite is permissive at any time, but only one per diem payment

Availability - other foster parents, adoptive parents, agency approved individuals with criminal background checks. Marion County does background checks and has abbreviated training for individuals wanting to be respite providers.

Consider developing a progressively supportive respite policy for foster parents that are therapeutic or care for intensive multi-need children.

Foster Parent Support Groups

Like anyone, foster parents benefit from support and relationships with their peers

Must be Foster Parent driven

Ohio Family Care Association (OFCA) has start-up funds and technical assistance for Support Group initial set-up

PCSA must be ready to listen, and responsive to concerns voiced

PCSA could offer to couple training sessions or speakers with support group meeting

PCSA could offer meeting space

Foster Parent Groups may want to develop mentoring relationships within the group of experienced and new foster parents

Generally, any facilitation of the development of FP groups, without running them is helpful.

Increased Training / Skills Development

Support HB 332 (see attached outline)

Use ITNAs (Individualized Training Needs Assessment) for targeted foster parent training.

Open up training for kinship caregivers, even if not certified

Consider long distance learning and other flexible strategies to assist with time management

Form a foster training coalition of other public or private agencies to enrich opportunities

Out of County Placement Issues

Involve all in initial case planning vs. not involving FP since in other county

Provide basic, essential info immediately (new budget language requires this)

Offer a toll-free number or some other mechanism for easier access for FP to call custodial agency with issues

Plan for accessing appropriate support services in county of placement

Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) - facilitate FP recognition as the "surrogate parent". (FP must have special training through local CERC Center).

Handling of Foster to Adopt issues

Statewide, over 60% of our adoptions of waiting children are by foster parents

Some parents screen out kids they identify as "temporary", want good permanent placement potentials. Work to recognize, offer them the OAPLE book, video, website.

Some agencies (Lucas CCS) are working to develop a legal risk policy on foster to adopt issues; at same time, some kids get adoption worker prior to award of Permanent Custody. Lucas works aggressively to ID kids that will not be reunified, and place in permanent home.

Concerns concurrent planning / HB 484 may cause conflict, working on reunification and permanency planning at the same time. Lorain CCS asks for the commitment of foster parents to care for kids as long as needed; then they inform the foster parents that most of the kids are reunified within one year. And if reunification doesn’t happen, 85% of their adoptions are with the foster parents. Do your research - what are the stats for your county? Be honest.

Family Centered Neighborhood Based (Family to Family) counties have found that the birth parent, foster parent, caseworker triangle helps to minimize conflicts. Foster parent is more interested in helping birth families they personally know, to succeed in reunification; when success toward reunification is not apparent, birth parent is more comfortable with permanent placement with a foster parent they know.

We also need to foster on more older youth adoptions - Independent living skills are key, but children need permanent connections.