Report outlines recommendations for treatment foster care
With federal and state changes aimed at reducing placement of foster children in residential settings coming in 2021, a new report calls for strengthening the state’s treatment foster care structure in order to be ready.
In the report released today, PCSAO and the Office of Children Services Transformation (OCST) at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services identify initial recommendations for expanding and defining the number of tiers currently considered “treatment” foster care (as distinguished from traditional family foster care), serving children with more challenging medical or behavioral health needs; establishing appropriate payment ranges for caregivers; and modernizing the role of the caregiver through supports, training, recruitment, and retention.
The recommendations represent more than six months of work in 2019 by a broad-based group of stakeholders assembled by PCSAO and OCST. Work on the project will continue this year. The effort is part of PCSAO’s Children’s Continuum of Care Reform and offers a pathway for Ohio to prepare for changes under the Family First Prevention Services Act. The project receives support from Casey Family Programs and the Institute for Human Services/Ohio Child Welfare Training Program. Stakeholders include the Ohio Children’s Alliance, the Ohio Family Care Association, county children services agencies, private providers, caregivers, former foster youth, and others.
In the coming months, workgroups will flesh out the recommendations, refine the proposed tiers, and develop a comprehensive structure for treatment foster care.