Designate some homes specifically for emergency placements

About this recommendation

Some foster homes are particularly well-suited to supporting emergency placement for short stays, which can give overtaxed placement desks enough time to find kinship placements or a well-matched general licensed family.

How to do this

• Create a specific license or license designation for emergency homes. Set clear expectations for these homes, such as when they need to answer the phone, whether they can reject placements, whether they must commit to keeping a placement for a certain length of time, and if they have certain specific responsibilities (such as getting a child set up with enough clothes, transporting to the school of origin, etc.). You might require specific training for these homes.
• Limit emergency placement lengths. An emergency placement should not last more than 7 days, and ideally not more than 2-3 days. The goal is to have just enough time to be able to identify and reach kin, or a well-matched foster family, not to serve as a real placement.

Anticipated costs and benefits

Who's doing this

7 of 54 states and territories have implemented this recommendation.

• Maryland can license some homes specifically for crisis placements.
• California can add an enhancement for "immediate need" to certain RFA approved families, indicating they are equipped to take kids in the middle of the night.
• New Hampshire foster families can earn a credential on to their license for emergency and crisis care. NH has two kinds of these homes. Emergency care means a child who is already in care and their placement disrupts for some reason, but we already know the child; families receive a higher stipend for up to 10 days. Crisis care means a child who needs to come into care during off-hours, and there is a list of foster parents who agree to be called; they receive a higher stipend for up to 5 days.
• Washington has a special contract for a private child placing agency that provides receiving care.
• Michigan has transitional placement providers, which is a contract with current licensed foster parents. These homes have preferences, but cannot decline a placement within those preferences. They must keep the placement for 2-4 weeks. They are paid $100 a day during placement plus $245 a month to keep the bed open when they don't have a child there. This is mostly used for children new to care, or kids with higher levels of need. In order to qualify, an adult in the home must be home (not working). These homes are also eligible for longevity bonuses.
• Rhode Island has an Emergency Response Program. Some families are paid a $15 (taxable) stipend per day in exchange for being on call. If they receive a call, they have a no-reject, no-eject policy for 14 days. These families are for children under the age of 12. There is a second program, Emergency Response X, for children age 12 and older, with lighter requirements around no-reject/no-eject. These families are to support DCYF in assessment, planning for transition, etc.
• Indiana provides a higher per diem rate to certain homes in exchange for the following: you can only say “no” twice every quarter, you’re open to taking ages 0-18, you will answer the phone in the middle of the night, and you will and maintain placement up to 7 days. The state can sometimes provide this higher stipend for longer than the 7 days if necessary.