Provide childcare at resource family events and trainings

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About this recommendation

Childcare can be an insurmountable barrier to adults completing necessary licensing steps or to attending regular training and/or recognition events. You can fix this by providing childcare on-site.

How to do this

  • Prioritize childcare options for kinship caregivers who need to complete required agency steps to maintain their kinship placeent, such as a fingerprinting session or a medical exam.
  • If agency policy allows, look for community members who can volunteer to provide childcare. This can be a smart recruitment strategy to introduce more people to youth in care and the idea of fostering!
  • Depending on your agency's policies around childcare providers, you may need to perform background checks or other steps to assess childcare providers ahead of time.
  • Childcare should be for children in foster care as well as other children in the home. The care itself doesn't have to be fancy; putting on a movie can be enough.
  • Make sure that kinship caregivers are eligible for this childcare, too.

Anticipated costs and benefits

Costs

Benefits

  • Can be free or paid
  • More families can navigate your licensing process, and faster
  • Higher attendance at training and events
  • Better trained families
  • Greater sense of community among resource families
  • Potential to recruit more resource families through childcare volunteers

Who's doing this

2 of 54 states and territories have implemented this recommendation.

  • Frederick County, MD provides childcare for agency-sponsored events and trainings. Sitters are usually from community-based organizations like churches, and have to pass a background check that includes fingerprints.
  • Montgomery County, MD provides free childcare and pizza dinner at monthly resource family trainings.