Casework Practice With Birth Families

When children are removed from their homes and placed into out-of-home care, the first goal is to return them safely home as soon as possible. Casework practice with birth families involves assessing their strengths and needs and developing, implementing, and monitoring a case plan (also called a treatment plan or service plan) to achieve a goal of reunification. Case managers must use effective family engagement practices and will often refer families for community services to help them address and overcome the problems that led to placement. Resources include State and local examples.

• Parent-child visits

Back From the Brink: Women, Crack, and the Child Welfare System: Part 1, the Challenge of Drug Abuse in the Child Welfare System (PDF - 291 KB)
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2002)
Describes the challenges of providing services to women using crack cocaine and their children, and essential program components for effective services.

Casework Practice With Fathers of Children in Kinship Foster Care
O'Donnell (1999)
In Kinship Care: Improving Practice Through Research
View Abstract
Examined caseworker characteristics that affect work with the birth fathers of children in kinship care.

Evidence-Based Best Practices in the Engagement of Families
Berry (2001)
View Abstract
Research from the empirical literature on engagement strategies and work with involuntary child welfare clients in the United States, in order to identify practices in child welfare casework that are associated with positive outcomes for children and families.

Listening to Birth Families: Forming Kinship
Fahlberg (2003)
View Abstract
Designed for social workers, foster parents, and birth parents, this 80-minute training DVD presents a panel discussion with a birth mother, her oldest daughter, and the two foster mothers who have become part of their kinship care group.

Parent Perspectives on Family Involvement in Therapeutic Foster Care
Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children's Mental Health
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 8(4), 1999
View Abstract
Findings of a qualitative study of family involvement from the perspectives of parents whose children were placed in therapeutic foster care.

Obstacles to Employment Among Mothers of Children in Foster Care
Wells & Shafran
Child Welfare, 84(1), 2005
View Abstract
Reports of a study of obstacles to employment among mothers with children in foster care.

Relationship Between Public Child Welfare Workers, Resource Families and Birth Families: Preventing the Triangulation of the Triangle of Support (PDF - 689 KB)
National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning (2005)
Emphasizes the need for resource parents, birth parents, and child welfare staff to work cooperatively to support children in foster care. It is intended to assist States in moving toward improved relationships in a triangle of support.

Safety First: Dealing With the Daily Challenges of Child Welfare, Part 1: Building Support for Child Welfare's Frontline Workers (PDF - 310 KB)
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2002)
Tools, skills, issues, and dilemmas related to ensuring the safety of children and families in the child welfare system.

Social Workers' Attitudes Toward Parents of Children in Child Protective Services: Evaluation of a Family-focused Casework Training Program
Alpert & Britner
Journal of Family Social Work, 9(1), 2005
View Abstract
Concerns regarding permanence for foster children have inspired child welfare agencies to focus efforts on birth parents using a family-focused training for frontline staff; one such curriculum is the Family Development Credential (FDC).

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State and local examples

Diligent Search Project: Final Evaluation Report
Center for Child and Family Studies (2000)
View Abstract
Describes the referral and search procedures implemented from October 1997 to June 2000 between the Child Support Enforcement (CSE) and Family Preservation and Child Welfare Services (FPCWS) in South Carolina.

Parents With Children in Care: Assessment of Service Satisfaction (PDF - 128 KB)
Poertner, Harris, & Joe (1998)
A 1997 assessment of the service satisfaction of Illinois parents with children in foster care.

What I Should Know About My Child Living in Foster Care: A Parents' Guide (PDF – 790 KB)
South Dakota Child Protection Services (2004)
Provides parents with information about the placement of their child in foster care, addressing reasons for the foster care placement, different types of foster care placements, visitation, the parent's financial responsibility for foster care, termination of parental rights, and reunification.

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