The Division of Family and Children Services Discipline Policy states that any physical/corporal or emotional punishment as a method of disciplining a child in foster care is strictly prohibited. All foster parent caregivers will be provided a copy of the Caregiver Child Safety Agreement (Appendix G) and must adhere to the agency’s discipline policy.

Physical/corporal punishment is defined as the deliberate infliction of pain to the child’s body. Emotional punishment is defined as deliberately causing the child hurt, fear, anxiety, or other negative emotions.

DFCS understands that the responsibilities of caring for children in agency custody are great and require an understanding of each child's individual needs. Foster parent caregivers are required to understand the difference between discipline and punishment. Disciplinary approaches should be based on the child’s age, needs, and circumstances.

Children entering foster care may experience a mixture of confusing emotions that result in mixed messages to their foster parents. These emotions may be exhibited in undesirable behaviors, displays of violence, disobedience, and oppositional behavior.

The confusion of emotions may manifest in the child’s misbehavior or attention seeking behaviors such as described below:

• Feeling that negative attention is better than no attention at all 

• Believing that a natural response to frustration, disappointment, or anger is violence and/or verbal abuse

• Any physical action coming from a caregiver may lead to severe abuse, creating fear and mistrust 

• The child is not lovable, which has been reinforced by physical/corporal and/or emotional abuse 

• The child is the reason for his or her family not being together and, therefore, he or she is deserving of the punishment