Social Worker Value 2
Collaborative Partnerships with Kinship and Resource Families
Cutting edge training and supportive services for kinship and resource families
Provide ongoing linkages to trainings both initially and throughout the life of the case (e.g., Grossmont College Foster and Kinship Care Education Pro-gram)
• Attend the same trainings and support groups as kinship and resource families
• Provide feedback to supervisor on gaps and training needs
• Check in with kinship and resource families to identify and reduce barriers to attending training
• Attend mandatory trainings so that you can educate kinship and resource families on current social work practices, mental health practices, trauma and secondary trauma, etc.Utilize Family Centered Meetings (FCMs) to provide training and support for kinship and resource families • Create detailed tasks for kinship and resource families to assist in enhancing safety, permanency, and well-being
• Facilitate the relationship between caregivers and the child’s/youth’s service providers so that caregivers can support the child’s/youth's needs and goals
• Connect kinship and resource families to respite resources, support groups, and mentor families
•Participate in events (e.g., meet and greets, picnics, respite nights, foster parent support groups, kinship support groups) for and with kinship and resource families to create an avenue for information sharing, learning, ongoing discussion of challenges/needs, and relationship development
• Attend the same trainings and support groups as kinship and resource families
• Provide feedback to supervisor on gaps and training needs
• Check in with kinship and resource families to identify and reduce barriers to attending training
• Attend mandatory trainings so that you can educate kinship and resource families on current social work practices, mental health practices, trauma and secondary trauma, etc.Utilize Family Centered Meetings (FCMs) to provide training and support for kinship and resource families • Create detailed tasks for kinship and resource families to assist in enhancing safety, permanency, and well-being
• Facilitate the relationship between caregivers and the child’s/youth’s service providers so that caregivers can support the child’s/youth's needs and goals
• Connect kinship and resource families to respite resources, support groups, and mentor families
•Participate in events (e.g., meet and greets, picnics, respite nights, foster parent support groups, kinship support groups) for and with kinship and resource families to create an avenue for information sharing, learning, ongoing discussion of challenges/needs, and relationship development
Consistent communication and information sharing
• Utilize established communication protocols (e.g., check-in calls/emails/texts twice a month, setting timeframes for returning calls, providing a clear contact plan and alternative numbers to reach staff and supervisors)
• Utilize clearly established confidentiality guidelines (i.e., knowing what information can be shared with parents and caregivers)
• Clarify confidentiality policies and service delivery to parents and caregivers to assure maximum allowed communication
• Use family-friendly language when providing kinship and resource families with all relevant and allowed information to provide care and support for the child/youth
• Involve kin, resource families, and safety networks in FCMs, court hearings, and other important meetings with service providers and share the plan (written and verbal) with them afterwards
• Give kinship and resource families the opportunity to provide input regarding safety planning
• Utilize clearly established confidentiality guidelines (i.e., knowing what information can be shared with parents and caregivers)
• Clarify confidentiality policies and service delivery to parents and caregivers to assure maximum allowed communication
• Use family-friendly language when providing kinship and resource families with all relevant and allowed information to provide care and support for the child/youth
• Involve kin, resource families, and safety networks in FCMs, court hearings, and other important meetings with service providers and share the plan (written and verbal) with them afterwards
• Give kinship and resource families the opportunity to provide input regarding safety planning
Seeking and creating opportunities for biological families and kinship and resource families to communicate and work together for a child’s/youth’s best interests
• Schedule FCMs that include caregivers within the first few days of involvement and throughout the life of the case
• Engage in regular communication with caregivers to provide a balanced view of the biological family (e.g., the “All About Me” form)
• Share Safety-Organized Practice (SOP) concepts with kinship and resource families (i.e., include children and youth voice in decision making, ensure use of shared language and common frame of reference, identify family strengths)
• Obtain family visitation and contact logs during monthly compliance visits
• Ensure efforts to maintain contact and visitation (e.g., camp connect, holiday celebrations) with sibling and extended family
• Facilitate the arrangement of a clear communication plan between birth families and kinship/resource families
• Engage in regular communication with caregivers to provide a balanced view of the biological family (e.g., the “All About Me” form)
• Share Safety-Organized Practice (SOP) concepts with kinship and resource families (i.e., include children and youth voice in decision making, ensure use of shared language and common frame of reference, identify family strengths)
• Obtain family visitation and contact logs during monthly compliance visits
• Ensure efforts to maintain contact and visitation (e.g., camp connect, holiday celebrations) with sibling and extended family
• Facilitate the arrangement of a clear communication plan between birth families and kinship/resource families
Being accountable and responsive to the cultural values of all families
• Learn about cultures in the community through increased meetings with community leaders
• Ask kinship and resource families about their understanding of the case using the three questions: What’s working well, what are we worried about, and what needs to happen next?
• Acknowledge cultural viewpoints
• Ask kinship and resource families if they want an interpreter
• Preserve the child’s/youth’s culture, and recruit families with similar cultures to children and youth (i.e., cultural matching with service providers, consulting with social workers of similar cultures, cultural broker program)
• On an ongoing basis, let the family (biological, resource, kinship) tell their story to elicit/gain insight into the various different cultures within one family
• Actively bridge cultural understanding between families (biological, resource, kinship)
• Let kinship and resource families identify their support network and utilize those networks
• Acknowledge your own culture and know your own biases
• Discuss your own and kinship and resource family’s culture as a regular part of supervision
• Ask kinship and resource families about their understanding of the case using the three questions: What’s working well, what are we worried about, and what needs to happen next?
• Acknowledge cultural viewpoints
• Ask kinship and resource families if they want an interpreter
• Preserve the child’s/youth’s culture, and recruit families with similar cultures to children and youth (i.e., cultural matching with service providers, consulting with social workers of similar cultures, cultural broker program)
• On an ongoing basis, let the family (biological, resource, kinship) tell their story to elicit/gain insight into the various different cultures within one family
• Actively bridge cultural understanding between families (biological, resource, kinship)
• Let kinship and resource families identify their support network and utilize those networks
• Acknowledge your own culture and know your own biases
• Discuss your own and kinship and resource family’s culture as a regular part of supervision
