Resources for Parents With Children and Youth in Out-of-Home Care

This section provides information designed to assist parents in learning more about foster care, including what to expect, tips for building positive relationships with caseworkers and your child's caregiver, maintaining contact through visits with your child, and information to help you navigate the child welfare and reunification processes.  

Birth Parent National Network
National Alliance of Children's Trust & Prevention Funds (2017)
Provides information about policies for better outcomes for children and families, with a focus on establishing parent leaders who are willing to share their challenges and successes across the country to effect change in prevention and child welfare.

Circle of Parents
Offers a friendly, supportive environment led by parents and other caregivers where anyone in a parenting role can openly discuss the successes and challenges of raising children.

A Guide for Incarcerated Parents Who Have Children in the Child Welfare System (PDF - 613 KB)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, & U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons (2015)
Offers parents involved in the criminal justice and child welfare systems guidance on how to stay in touch with their children and stay involved in decisions about their children's well-being. The guide also includes information on steps required by the child welfare system for reunification.

A Guide for Parents Involved in Michigan’s Child Welfare System
Van Buren (2017)
WPVE Public Radio
Presents parents’ experiences and provides a step-by-step guide to child welfare involvement.

Guide to Dependency Court – For Parents
California Courts (2018)
Outlines standard court processes for parents whose children have been placed into the child welfare system.

A Handbook for Parents and Guardians in Child Dependency Cases 
Supreme Court of Virginia, Office of the Executive Secretary, Court Improvement Program (2018)
Explains the dependency court process to parents, including a timeline and description of the required hearings, the steps to take to get their children back, parental rights and responsibilities, and more. 

My Family Connections Booklet (PDF - 3,482 KB)
Iowa Foster & Adoptive Parents Association
Provides a detailed photo workbook to facilitate close relationships between children and their birth parents throughout the foster care process.

One Step at a Time
Rise Magazine (2015)
Offers parents information about the process of reunifying with their children. The information includes personal essays from parents who have been through the process. See other publications from Rise Magazine such as, Someone to Turn To (PDF - 3,573 KB), Fathers' Rights and Roles (PDF - 411 KB), Addiction in the Family (PDF - 546 KB), and 'I Can and Will Do This!' (PDF - 434 KB).

Parents Anonymous
Provides evidence-based, culturally responsive, and innovative training and resources to help strengthen parents' abilities to effectively care for their children and create better outcomes for their families and communities.

Parents Know Your Rights Resources
American Bar Association
Offers State-specific resources for parents that can help them identify their rights and responsibilities.

Single Father Uses Experience to Help Other Parents
Casey Family Programs (2016)
Presents how a father reunified with his son and uses his experience to mentor other families navigating the child welfare system.

Visitation Best Practices
Oklahoma Fosters
Offers guidance for coordinating and preparing birth families, foster families, children, and siblings for family visits. 

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