The Children’s Service Worker will assess the youth’s overall treatment needs, including educational and emotional needs and will obtain evaluations if needed. The worker will develop a treatment plan with the Family Support Team (FST) for stabilizing the child’s behavior, to improve their level of functioning at home, school and in the community and to achieve permanency.

Resource parents are the primary change agents for youth placed in their care. Support and guidance should be provided to the resource parents. However, on a case-by-case basis, other therapeutic support may be added for the youth based on the particular situation as recommended by the team working with the youth.

During placement home visits the worker will, if needed:

• Assess and monitor the youth’s progress toward treatment and permanency goals
• Assess and monitor the resource parent’s job performance
• Review and discuss reports maintained by the resource parent
• Arrange regularly scheduled respite care

The case manager will assess the level of care required by the youth at 90-day intervals and move the youth to a less restrictive environment as appropriate.

The Children’s Service Worker will provide the resource parent with feedback about how the placement and child are doing as needed.

Periodic Reviews

The goal for youth who qualify for the youth with elevated needs program is to stabilize their behavior, to help them function in a less restrictive environment and to achieve permanency. Level A and Level B care is not permanency but is designed to be a stepping stone for the youth to obtain a permanent home. As these youth do have a variety of special needs, the goal of successful permanency can be challenging. Accordingly, resource parents, staff, and other treatment team members must aggressively pursue permanency and use periodic reviews as one of the tools to assure progress toward permanency is occurring.

To assist youth in achieving a permanent home, it is important that the resource parent and the team tailor the level of intensity and intervention to their needs as youth achieve progress and success. Most youth in Level A and Level B care do make substantial improvement in their behavior during the first year of intervention and can function with a reduced level of intensity. Other youth may need the intensity of elevated intervention for longer periods of time to remain out of residential care and/or a more restrictive setting.

The dilemma for the teams may be how to move the youth to the appropriate level of intervention, such as Level A or traditional foster care, without moving the youth from the current resource home. Ideally, youth who improve in Level B care and are ready for less intensive care could move directly to their permanent home. When that is not possible, the next best solution is to keep the youth in the same resource home under the category of Level A, traditional foster care (depending on the youth’s needs) or pre-adoptive home. Youth who are happy in their resource home and are experiencing success should not be moved to a different resource home solely due to no longer needing Level B intervention.

Staff, resource parents and the team members must assess each individual situation carefully and negotiate an outcome that is in that youth’s best interests. Periodic reviews are a critical tool for assuring the youth’s level of intervention is matching their needs and that permanency is on target. As always, the best interest of the youth is the guiding principal with these complex decisions.

Situations where there is disagreement among team members as to continuing need for intervention and/or the appropriate plan for the youth should be referred to the Regional Director or designee for consultation.

Periodic Review schedule:

• Six (6) months – Multi-disciplinary Selection/Screening team that originally recommended placement with the resource parents and/or the Family Support Team. The team will continue to review youth’s situation every 6 months on an on-going basis.
• Twelve (12) months reviews – Regional Office Review Team conducts a review based on local team review information. Regional Office Reviews are a critical tool in assuring consistency, accountability and progress with the Level B program. Also, Level B Foster Care status does not exclude youth and families from compliance with ASFA timelines.