The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Placement Stabilization, but lacks the necessary research evidence to be given a Scientific Rating.

• Types of Maltreatment: Does not target any specific kind of maltreatment
• Target Population: Foster parents and child welfare workers that license foster parent applicants. It has also been used with foster-adoptive and adoptive families and child welfare workers in this area.

The overall goals of the CFFA are to improve recruitment, selection, development, and retention of foster parents in order to improve outcomes for children in foster care. Developed by the Casey Family Programs and the University of Tennessee - College of Social Work, the CFFA consist of two sets of standardized measures to assess foster family applicants. These tools are the Casey Foster Applicant Inventory (CFAI) and the Casey Home Assessment Protocol (CHAP). The tools complement each other. Both tools are designed to be used during the foster family application and selection process, but they can be used after this process, and they assess a broad range of characteristics of foster parents in order to identify strengths and areas for needed development and support.

The Casey Foster Applicant Inventory (CFAI):

• Completed online.
• Available in two versions: one for foster parent applicants (CFAI-A) and one for agency workers (CFAI-W).
• Takes about 20 minutes to complete the CFAI.
• Is a standardized assessment (scores are based on normed samples).
• Provides immediate and automatic pop-up score reports.
• Provides free assessments and reports of 18 separate measures. All of the measures are used independently of one another. These 18 separate measures make up the CHAP. The CHAP is the umbrella term for all of these measures:
  • Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
  • Available Time Scale (ATS)
  • Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
  • Cultural Competence Scale (CCS)
  • Cultural Receptivity in Fostering Scale (CRFS)
  • Foster Parent Role Performance Scale (FPRP)
  • Help with Fostering Inventory (HFI)
  • Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMS)
  • Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale (KPS)
  • Overt Interparental Hostility (OIH)
  • Parent Bonding Instrument (father/mother)
  • Parent Acceptance Scale (PAS)
  • Personal Dedication to Fostering Scale (PDFS)
  • Receptivity to Birth Family Connections Scale (RBFC)
  • Reasons for Fostering Checklist (RFC)
  • Short Hardiness Scale (SHS)
  • Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)
  • Willingness to Foster Scale (WFS)

General Information about CFFA:

• Users can obtain information to get started by going online www.fosterfamilyassessments.org
• Interactive learning tutorials are available at:www.fosterfamilyassessments.org/pages/aboutassess/aboutassess_index.htm to assist child welfare workers learn more about the history of the tools, how to administer the tools, how to interpret the score reports, and use it in practice with resource families.
• Aggregate data for agencies and jurisdictions may also be available at cffa@casey.org

Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) was not designed with a child component.

Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) was designed with a parent/caregiver component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Adults who wish to become foster or adoptive parents need to understand the rewards and challenges of foster or adoptive parenting. They often do not feel prepared to foster or adopt even after completing all of the pre-service trainings. These tools give them another opportunity to step into the role of foster/adoptive parenting, helping to identify additional support needs along the way.

Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) was not designed to be conducted in a group setting, and has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended Intensity:

The Casey Home Assessments Protocol (CHAP) varies in length and therefore the completion times vary from 5 to 20 minutes. The Casey Foster Applicant Inventory (CFAI), available online, takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Recommended Duration:

It is recommended to administer the assessments once at about 75% of the way through the foster care licensing process, before the home study. Child welfare workers have also administered it at re-licensure for some foster families to further explore training needs.

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Adoptive Home
• Community Agency
• Foster Home

Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) includes a homework component:

Most foster parent applicants complete the assessments at home, but some are asked to complete it in the agency office.

Casey Foster Family Assessments (CFFA) has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

• Internet access
• Adobe Acrobat Reader

The following are recommended, but not necessary to get started since the tools can be self-taught. Formal training will result in more effective utilization of the tools:

• Trainer
• Training room with computers with high-speed internet access for each trainee or a 2:1 trainee to computer ratio
• Training equipment (laptop, projector, flip chart, markers, etc.)

Implementation guidelines that outline communication and policy strategies are available and have been used by several jurisdictions.

Trainer of program to others in your organization: Experience as an effective trainer in an organization and must attend a Certified Trainers Training and become certified to train the End Users Training for his/her organization. This trainer should have a good understanding of foster family practice and foster family licensing protocols before attending the additional training.

Licensing worker: Although it is recommended that the licensing worker attend the formal training to learn how to effectively use the tools, any licensing worker can begin using them after completing online interactive learning modules that familiarize the worker with the tools. The formal trainings also incorporate implementation strategies that are helpful for agencies.

There is a manual that describes how to implement this program, and there is training available for this program.

Training is obtained:

Can be onsite or by open enrollment at the trainer's site.

Authorized Training Providers (external to Casey) are available in 3 different states. They can be contacted through the following link: www.fosterfamilyassessments.org/pages/train/train_index.htm

Number of days/hours:

• End Users Training: 6 hours
• Advanced Users Training: 6 hours
• Certified Trainers Training: 6 hours

This program has been reviewed and it was determined that this program lacks the type of published, peer-reviewed research that meets the CEBC criteria for a scientific rating of 1 – 5. Therefore, the program has been given the classification of "NR - Not able to be Rated." It was reviewed because it was identified by the topic expert as a program being used in the field, or it is being marketed and/or used in California with children receiving services from child welfare or related systems and their parents/caregivers. Some programs that are not rated may have published, peer-reviewed research that does not meet the above stated criteria or may have eligible studies that have not yet been published in the peer-reviewed literature. For more information on the "NR - Not able to be Rated" classification, please see the Scientific Rating Scale.

Child Welfare Outcomes: Not Specified