Foster parents may not be aware of their foster child’s previous connections. Set the expectation with potential and current foster parents that part of their formal responsibility is to help the youth in their care keep in touch with the supportive connections in their lives.
Foster parents may be reluctant to maintain a child’s previous connections, if they think doing so will harm their chances for adoption. However, even if the child is adopted, they deserve to have a strong support network. Making this a formal responsibility of foster parents can help keep a youth’s connections intact throughout their time in care.
Revise your foster parent training to include the formal expectation that foster parents will help maintain a youth’s connections. For example, you may require that foster parents participate in the development of kinship connection plans.
1 of 54 states and territories have implemented this recommendation.
Washington State includes these expectations in their Caregiver Core Training (CCT) module.