Foster Care

In foster care, like education, there are countless terms and acronyms to know. Here are a few that might be important in the classroom:

• CSW (Children's Social Worker)--This person is an advocate for what is best for a child. She is required to visit a child's foster home at least once every thirty days. She oftentimes serves as a liaison between foster parent and biological parent. The CSW is the hub of a foster child's case. However, most CSWs are overworked and cannot address all concerns.
• court-appointed special advocate (CASA)--This person is not a social worker or foster parent, yet provides extra support for children who may need it. A CASA may be used specifically as an educational liaison to help the child and educational rights holder through educational items, such as IEPs or transition to post-high school. Although extremely helpful, very few foster children will be appointed a CASA. CASA of LA works with children in LA County.
• educational rights holder--This person is able to make educational decisions for a foster child. Biological parents usually hold this right, and many times still remain educational rights holders even if a child is in foster care. It is important for an educator to be aware of this, especially when implementing changes in an IEP.
• foster family agency (FFA)--An FFA is an agency that works as a liaison between foster parents and a foster child's biological family and a child's county social worker. Not all foster families work with an FFA. An example of an FFA in LA County is Children's Bureau.
• foster parent (a.k.a. resource parent)--A foster parent's role is to provide a stable home for a child who cannot be cared for by her biological parents. Usually, a foster parent cares for a child temporarily, but a child's placement could become permanent through adoption if no biological family are suited to care for the child. The foster parent is expected to give the same level of parental care as they would for any biological child in their home.
• placement--This term is used to describe either the foster child himself or the actual time of a child entering in to foster care.
• permanency--The end goal is foster care for every child is permanency. This permanency could be reached by reunification with biological parents or placement with other biological family members. Or this permanency could be reached through adoption.
• reunification--This is when a child reunifies with biological family after spending time in a foster home.
• travel restrictions--It is important to know that in Los Angeles County, foster children need permission to travel outside of the county. Therefore, if a child's class is taking a field trip out of the county, he may need extra time to get a permission slip signed to allow for court or biological parent permission.