Q&A
Efforts to improve recruitment and retention of foster parents for children with complex needs
1:12:15
ยท
3 min
Council Member Stevens asks about ACS's efforts to improve recruitment and retention of foster parents, particularly for children with complex needs. Deputy Commissioner Ina Mendez explains the strategies implemented by ACS to address this challenge.
- ACS has an Office of Foster Parent Recruitment and Support that works with provider agencies on recruitment strategies
- The agency uses data-driven approaches to target recruitment efforts for specific needs, such as homes for teens and sibling groups
- ACS provides training and support to agencies to improve their recruitment and retention processes
- The agency is working on developing more specialized foster care programs for children with complex medical needs
Althea Stevens
1:12:15
In ACS five year strategic plan, it says one of its priorities to ensure that adequate family based placements for children with complex medical, developmental, or sibling related needs.
1:12:25
What efforts are underway to improve the recruitment and retention of high quality foster care parents, particularly for older youth and children with special needs?
Jess Dannhauser
1:12:34
DC Amanda is gonna start.
Ina Mendez
1:12:37
Thank you for that question.
1:12:38
So we have at ACS, as you know, our five year plan, and we wanna meet the need, which means we wanna build the capacity to care for children in family based programs and in residential care.
1:12:50
Regarding the family based side, we have a team, the Office of Foster Parent Recruitment and Support.
1:12:56
They work with providers because the agencies are doing the recruitment.
1:12:59
They're doing the certification, the training, and the support.
1:13:02
But we're working so speaking to council member Williams' conversation about best practices, they have all of this information.
1:13:09
They actually have a curriculum.
1:13:10
And using data, they they tune it towards each agency because not all agencies are equal and they're not all in the same place.
1:13:16
And it really talks to them about how you're engaging when someone calls and says, I wanna be a foster parent.
1:13:22
What's the time to orientation?
1:13:23
What's the time to training?
1:13:24
How are you supporting people through that process?
1:13:27
So and we want agencies to have targeted, be very intentional.
1:13:31
We did a scan across the country, and we noticed that some states are very they articulate who they we need homes for teens.
1:13:40
We need homes for sibling groups, and we need homes for children that have complex needs because that's what our data share.
1:13:45
So foster parents call, we that's part of the education process.
1:13:49
So we understand starting out, maybe you take one child, but over time, you'll feel more comfortable taking a sibling group or taking an older youth.
1:13:58
So we that is that's, like, how our approach is.
1:14:00
So the team at ACS works with the agencies.
1:14:03
And depending on where the agencies are in their practice, maybe it's once a month, maybe it's a call, maybe it's regular meetings, we also bring everyone together.
1:14:10
We often share best practices, and we have agencies present.
1:14:14
This is how we leverage social media.
1:14:16
This is how we're helping foster parents to talk to their network, their family, their friends because we the data showed that maybe going to a street fair with a table doesn't really bring in as many foster parents as if I'm a foster parent and I talk to you and you and you, that might get more interest because people can see, oh, I see how they're doing that.
1:14:36
So those are some of the the efforts.
1:14:41
Part of the budget, as that we talked about, talks about how your foster parent foster parent recruitment support innovation.
1:14:47
So there's dedicated funds and agencies develop a plan on how they're gonna use those funds so that they're very intentional about recruitment.
Jess Dannhauser
1:14:54
There are also five agencies who are dedicated who have special medical programs for young people who have of of any age who have, complex medical needs.
1:15:04
And so there's a few hundred young people.
1:15:07
We expanded that in the most recent contracts, and so those agencies are, are building up.
1:15:13
And again, we are moving contract dollars and capacity around based on and we did that recently within that continuum because some agencies were able to recruit more.
1:15:24
You know, as as DC Mendez is saying, there's no better recruiter than a satisfied foster parent.
1:15:30
Right?
1:15:30
And so So
Althea Stevens
1:15:31
what happens when you have foster parents who feel like they've been discriminated and now, you know, they're at a place where they feel like an agency isn't working with them?
1:15:37
Because that also can have the same effects as a good word-of-mouth when we have foster parents who've had negative experiences.