In previous units the definition of family was discussed; families determine who they include when they say “family.” Family-centered practice is a way of working with families across systems. It focuses on the needs and welfare of children in the context of the family and community. It recognizes a family’s strengths and the importance of the relationships among family members. It respects the rights, values and cultures of families. Family centered practice is an attitude or philosophy about working with families.

Family Connectedness 

Identifying, linking, supporting and enabling relationships, contacts, interactions and other means between and among family member in order to strengthen the family as a unit. Simply put, family connectedness is a sense of belonging to and being part of a family group. All of us, as children and adults, have a very basic need to feel connected to a family. Research shows that the longer a child is in the system, the more likely she/he will lose family connections. Without family connections she/he is at greater risk for instability, depression, even unemployment and delinquency (source – Child Welfare Information Gateway). Family Connectedness takes the family-centered conversation a step further and focuses on the importance of identifying and promoting family connections from the first contact child welfare has (including investigations) through the whole life of a case. It is also about recognizing how trauma or adverse childhood experiences impacts parents, children, and foster parents before, during and after case contact, as family connectedness provides context and support for understanding and dealing with trauma.

Culture and Identity 

It is also vital to recognize the importance of culture while working to maintain family connections. From a family-centered perspective, child welfare professionals are encouraged to enlist the support of birth families (where possible) as cultural navigators, and to “serve as anchors to traditions, belief systems, and world views.” Small studies of youth in foster care have shown that youth in kinship foster home placements have a stronger sense of ethnic identity than those in non-relative placements. 

Visitation & Shared Parenting Strengthen Connections 

For families with children in foster care, visits can minimize the impact of trauma and promote lasting connections. Shared parenting, community and familial support for older adolescents, and Child and Family Team Meetings are also important for building and maintaining connections. Maintaining family connections and promoting family involvement can lead to positive outcomes for all family members and build upon protective factors and resiliencies. Consistent visits between a child or children in care and their parents and/or extended family members provide us with additional opportunities to evaluate progress towards permanency. During visits, parents have the opportunity to apply newly acquired skills and receive feedback. Visits also provide professionals involved with the family opportunities to identify strengths and give feedback about attempts to utilize new parenting approaches. Furthermore, ongoing family interactions provide opportunities to help maintain specific cultural traditions or practices that are important to the child and family and may be supports for them.

Being family-centered means that we want children to remain or be returned to their parents, when appropriate, as soon as possible. When this is not possible, being family centered also means that we work diligently to ensure that familial connections are maintained as much as possible when appropriate.

Family-Centered Communication Skills 

A key part of ongoing work with families is our ability to engage and communicate with them. At times, you may have to have difficult conversations with family members/families. Development and use of the following skills will facilitate better communication in your work with families: 

• Shared understanding of the problems/ needs at hand; 
• Collaboration among the professionals and with the family; 
• Commitment to specific tasks by each party [including the family and the professionals]; 
• Consider how (not if) culture influences the interactions, observations and understanding of the meeting at-hand.

Child & Family Team Meeting 

Child and Family Team Meetings (CFTM) should be the center of our casework activities and how all other staffings, or mandatory case processes should have information flowing from and back to the CFTM. We need everyone who participates in all the other circles depicted here to support the CFTM and recommend that decision made during these meetings be brought back to the CFTM.

Engagement - As we are engaging the family we obtain more information about the family’s history and potential members for the Child and Family Team. A parent may be able to give further information about their family and potentially a missing parent and their family. As we receive more information about the family we will be adding to the CFS 458B. 

Full Disclosure – Family members need to have all of the information disclosed to them so they can make their own decisions. 

Open Participation – Parents select who they want to be a part of their Child and Family Team. 

Collaboration – Involvement of the family in all aspects of case planning. 

Planning for Permanency – Planning for permanency is the focus of all Child and Family Team Meetings.