Information Professional + Educator

The county placing agency has a responsibility to make a diligent effort to place children with special needs into those foster family homes that have a higher level of skill, training, and certification, often called Intensive Treatment Foster Care (ITFC) or group home care. The licensing, approval or certification agency will provide you with any needed Training to ensure the success of the foster child’s placement in your home. In the cases where the child is already known to the county placing agency, the social worker will be able to provide you with the child’s Health Passport a fairly complete picture of the child’s health history, behavioral issues and emotional needs. Service Plan – This is an agreement between CPS and the parents of children in substitute care (foster care, kinship care, etc).

Agency contact information

Known as an attorney ad litem, this lawyer represents your child’s desires and/or best interest in court. The judge may think you do not care about your child if you do not appear at court hearings. You should always go to court when you get a legal notice or a phone call saying that there will be a hearing about your child. CPS may remove children from their homes in an emergency before going to court to ensure their immediate safety. CPS may go to court to remove children from their homes if it believes children have been abused or neglected or are at risk of future abuses or neglect and they need to be removed for their protection.

Together, you will decide what changes you need to make for your child to return home and set up a plan for making these changes. Mediation is a less formal situation than court.If you wish to use a mediator to help resolve differences, ask your caseworker if mediation is available in your area. Only judges or juries can take away your rights as a parent without your agreement. An attorney can explain things to you that are not clear and can make sure the judge understands how you feel and what you want.

• Foster parents must be at least 21 years old and can be married, in a civil union, single, divorced or separated.
• If there is a court hearing I cannot attend, how will my input be provided to the court?
• CPS may remove children from their homes in an emergency before going to court to ensure their immediate safety.

Your child’s needs are the most important consideration in deciding where he or she will live while in CPS care. After working with you for five months, your caseworker must make a decision about what recommendation to make to the court in order to resolve the legal case. You and your caseworker should begin by talking about why your child is in state care. The caseworker makes sure your child gets good care and tries to help you work out your problems so your child can return home. The case worker is your main point of contact when your child is in CPS care.

DFPS Agency

It is important that family members, once aware that non gamstop casino the child is in foster care, immediately contact the county where the child resides to request placement and adoption of the child. How does a family member obtain placement of and adopt a related child who is in foster care? It is important to keep the social worker and the child’s attorney informed of any additional training you may need to meet the specific needs of the child in your care.

Menu Child Protective Services

If you are unable to reach the social worker, most counties have a “Worker/Officer of the Day” who can assist you in locating the appropriate person. If you happen to call the previously assigned social worker and learn that the case has been transferred, the former social worker or their supervisor should be able to assist you. You should call the county placing agency and ask to speak with the “Worker/Officer of the Day”. The caregiver may file a grievance or request a State hearing regarding a license suspension or revocation. If the allegation is substantiated, the county will refer information regarding the caregiver along with case information to the Child Abuse Central Index (CACI) of the California Department of Justice for inclusion in the statewide database. After the investigation is completed, you will be notified by the county CPS, the county placing agency, and/or the licensing agency regarding the outcome of the investigation or the decision made.

What does it mean when there is a ‘Hold” placed on my foster home and the county will not place children into my home? Inclusion of caregiver’s name in the CACI means that no future placements will be made with caregiver. The caregiver will receive notice that referral to CACI is to occur and at the same time, will receive a Request for Grievance Hearing form. Depending on the preliminary findings regarding the allegations, the foster child may be removed from your home immediately . How much notice will I be given if the county placing agency decides that the child will be removed from my home?

Verify the date when your home will be licensed, approved, or certified before the county places the child in your home. Although all the necessary steps of preparing one’s home and acquiring the proper license, approval, or certification may have been completed, this does not guarantee that a child will be placed with you. However, future placements are still at the discretion of the county CCL regulation 89045(a). The county Child Protective Services (CPS) and/or a licensing agency will initiate an investigation into the allegations by conducting a visit to your home, from immediately up to ten days after the County receives a report of the allegations.