	Foster Care Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

CA-FC 2: Assessment

Families participate in an individualised, strengths-based, family-focused, culturally responsive assessment that informs service and permanency plan development.

CA-FC 2.01

All family members are engaged in the assessment process, and extended family members are involved when appropriate.

CA-FC 2.02

The information gathered for assessments:

includes internal, external and historical factors that may contribute to concerns identified in initial risk and safety assessments and initial screenings;
identifies child and family strengths, protective factors, and needs;
includes the impact of maltreatment on the child;
includes factors and characteristics pertinent to selecting an appropriate placement;
identifies family resources for the child and the parents; and
is limited to material pertinent for meeting service objectives.

Interpretation: Therapeutic foster care programmes also receive or provide a diagnostic assessment prior to, or within 30 days of, placement to identify needs and determine the most appropriate placement.

Note: Refer to the Assessment Matrix for additional assessment criteria. The elements of the matrix can be tailored according to the needs of specific individuals or service design.

Research Note: Literature suggests that assessment of the child’s self-esteem, fear of rejection, ability to tolerate intimacy, aggression, and impulsivity can help identify the most appropriate placement for the child, is important for developing service plans, and preventing placement disruption.

CA-FC 2.03

Assessments are conducted in a culturally responsive manner to identify resources that can increase service participation and success.

Interpretation: Culturally responsive assessments can include attention to geographic location, language, and religious, racial, ethnic and cultural background. Other important factors that contribute to a responsive assessment include attention to age, sexual orientation, and developmental level.

CA-FC 2.04

The child receives an initial screening from a qualified medical practitioner within 72 hours of entry into care to identify the need for immediate medical or mental health care, and assess for infectious and communicable diseases.

Update: Revised Standard, Revised Interpretation, Revised First Note, Added Second Note - 03/01/10

CA-FC 2.04 Original Standard, Interpretation and First Note:

The child receives an initial health screening from a qualified medical practitioner within 72 hours of entry into care to identify the need for immediate medical or mental health care, and assess for infectious and communicable diseases.

Interpretation: The mental health screening identifies suicidal ideation or history of suicide attempts and aggressive, dangerous, self-destructive, or psychotic behaviours.

Note: The organisation should implement this practice within the stated timeframe in the majority of cases, but will receive a rating of 2 if in all other cases, the screening is conducted within 5 days of entry into care.

Interpretation: The portion of the initial screening that addresses mental health identifies suicidal ideation or history of suicide attempts and aggressive, dangerous, self-destructive, or psychotic behaviours.

Note: In order to receive a rating of 1, the screening should be conducted by a qualified medical practitioner. In order to receive a rating of 2, the organisation can work with a qualified medical practitioner to develop a screening tool that can be administered by trained personnel at the organisation. The organisation should implement this practice within the stated timeframe in the majority of cases, but will receive a rating of 2 if in all other cases, the screening is conducted within 5 days of entry into care.

Note: See CA-FC 10.03 for additional information about the comprehensive health assessments needed to identify and address children’s health needs.

CA-FC 2.05

The assessment process is initiated through individual meetings:

with the child within the first 72 hours of initial placement or any subsequent placements;
with the child’s parents within the first two weeks of placement; and
with the foster parent within the first two weeks of placement.

Interpretation: The meeting with children in therapeutic foster care occurs on the day of placement, and the meeting with therapeutic foster parents occurs within 10 days of placement.

CA-FC 2.06

Assessments are completed within timeframes established by the organisation, and are updated periodically.

Interpretation: Assessments may need to be updated prior to case reviews or decision-making processes, and when the child or family’s circumstances change.

QUICK JUMP TO


	PURPOSE: Children and youth who receive Foster Care Services live in a stable home, remain safe and healthy, and achieve permanency and well-being.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organisation-operated programmes or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organisation’s material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organisation that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licenced to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialisation, income support, long-term care, and other care giving are among the functions of family life. The definition of “family” will rest with an individual’s indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, or significant others. Organisations that believe family is the central constellation in a child’s life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of “family.”


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilises professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of programme planning and service development for the organisation as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	OBJECTIVE A sub-goal stated in operational terms, i.e., a statement that makes clear what expected results are to be measured or assessed.


	PROGRAMME A system of services offered by an organisation. For example, an organisation providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programmes to different populations, e.g., a mental health programme for adolescent teens. The word “programme” can be used interchangeably with the word “service” or to describe specific programmes.


	CRITERIA Systematically developed, objective, and quantifiable statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decisions, services, and outcomes.


	SERVICE PLAN A written plan of action based on the assessment of consumer needs and strengths that identifies problems, sets goals, and describes a strategy for achieving those goals and engaging in joint problem solving with the consumer. Also known as a “treatment plan”.


	QUALIFIED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER See QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organisation’s tasks under the organisation’s administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organisational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	CASE REVIEW A regular and periodic examination of a consumer’s service needs, service delivery goals and objectives, intervention plans, prognoses, and the timelines required to achieve them. The direct service provider and supervisor frequently conduct the case review, but it may also involve others, as in an interdisciplinary or inter-organisational case conference. The client, or the parent or legal guardian in the case of a minor, are included in his/her periodic case review by the team.


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organisation for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child’s family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	FOSTER PARENTS State- or county-licenced adults who provide a temporary home for children whose birth parents are unable to care for them. Foster parents are not considered employees or personnel and are specifically referenced in all relevant standards.