Case workers don’t want to wake a director in the middle of the night to sign-off on a non-relative placement. Requiring this level of sign-off incentivizes early family finding and may prevent placements in group homes.
How to do this
Require senior staff sign-off for non-kin placements, no matter the time of day.
Require sign-off on every placement: initial placements, subsequent placements, and any congregate care placements.
The senior staff member should ask questions about what kin-finding activities have been conducted and about future kin-finding plans.
For placement changes planned in advance, this process may look different than for emergency placements.
Anticipated costs and benefits
Costs
Benefits
New or updated policy requiring senior staff sign-off on non-kin placements.
Clear process for sign-off, including: exactly which senior staff member is responsible at any given time, recommended questions the senior staff member should ask about kin-finding progress, and senior staff contact information.
Resources for kin-finding; this is not an effective tactic if your placement desk has no viable ways to find kin.
Incentivizes finding more kinship placement options
Helps prevent placement in group homes
Who's doing this
New Mexico has a policy that a Director must sign-off on any placement with non-kin, whether general foster care or a group home, even if it’s the middle of the night.