How well I still remember one of the anthems of my generation: “For the times they are a changin’.” And how applicable these words continue to be, especially in our world of Child, Youth and Family Services.
It seems that the past decade and a half has been a blur of major public policy and service delivery paradigm shifts, and these are changes for the better.
One of the most profound changes can be summed up in these words: Foster Care as we have known it for decades is on its way out.
With the advent of California’s “Continuum of [Foster] Care Reform” (CCR) and the plethora of child welfare services reform initiatives at the federal level, the times really are changing. It is time for our industry to snap out of its “Boo-hoo, what are they doing to us now?!” mindset and embrace change, proactively moving forward to make it successful.
This monumental change is exemplified in the role of the “foster family,” soon to be aptly re-branded in California as a “resource family.” The practice of a foster child going into a foster home or group home and basically remaining in the “foster care system” until they age out is ending. Group home placement or “congregate care,” as some refer to it, is rapidly being dismantled and reconstructed to provide only short-term treatment services.
[For more of this story, written by Jim Roberts, go to https://chronicleofsocialchang...ment-retention/10215]
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