Thanks for all the feedback

Since the last update in November 2022, the department has continued talking with stakeholders to hear their perspectives on the most important topics to include in this first iteration of the Child Foster Care Licensing Guidelines.

We are more than halfway through our six scheduled workgroup meetings and have focus groups with youth and young adults who have been in foster care, parents whose child/ren have been in foster care, relative and non-relative foster parents in January and February. We had an excellent response rate for both the foster parent (relative and non-relative) and foster care licensor surveys and continue to analyze what we’ve heard from these people who hold so much knowledge. We will circle back to those groups with summaries about what we learned and will also post findings in the ‘What’s Been Done’ section of this engagement page in upcoming months.

A workgroup consisting of child advocates, representatives from community organizations and state ethnic councils, ombudspersons for families, child protection staff and representatives of county and private licensing agencies will have met six times by the end of February 2023. Workgroup meeting summaries can be found on this engagement page.

• Topics covered in meetings held thus far include discussions on how to best support relatives during the licensing process; how to ensure a meaningful home study assessment; current practice regarding the use of safety plans; and effective use of licensing actions as tools to ensure child safety.

One core theme that comes up time and again in our discussions is how essential it is that licensing agencies, placing and/or child protection agencies work together to ensure the safety and well-being of children while they are in foster care.

Additional highlights from this period include:

• We met with the Equity Leads in DHS’ Child Safety and Permanency and Licensing Divisions as well as the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council to share about our work and to begin discussion of how to best implement DHS’ Equity Analysis framework while drafting the guidelines. This work will be on-going as the Guidelines are being drafted.
• We have been in regular contact with the Indian Child Well-being Unit and will be meeting with the ICWA Advisory Council to share about our work and to open paths of communication to ensure that the Guidelines cover issues important to Indian children and families. Please note: the Guidelines do not apply to tribal social services. The Guidelines do apply to county, private, and tribal agencies designated or licensed by the department’s commissioner to perform licensing functions and activities, all of whom care for Indian children.
• We met with the African American Well-being Unit and staff from that unit are participating in the Workgroup.
• We have initiated important conversations regarding the training available to workers whose responsibilities include assessing foster care applicants and writing the summary of their assessment (the ‘home study’). Work is underway to update existing curriculum and to strategize ways to increase the reach of who accesses the training.
• Fifteen community members, including several youth, have provided their written feedback regarding the Guidelines. Please consider doing so and share THIS SURVEY LINK with others.