The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff. The Foster Care Redesign program has been reviewed by the CEBC in the area of: Family 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: Children of all ages, especially minority populations and those with diverse ethnicities, who are at risk of entering the child welfare system.

Foster Care Redesign (Redesign), initiated in 2006, was designed to change the culture of removal within the child welfare system to a culture of safe services for children and their families. This paradigm shift necessitated both programmatic and organizational changes to redirect the system from a dependence on immediately placing children in foster care to first focusing efforts on family preservation via family-centered services. By providing effective, intense, family-centered services to children and families in their own homes, the program’s agency experienced a 56 percent reduction in children entering out-of-home care without increasing the number of children who are re-referred for child abuse or neglect. Moreover, the smaller number of children taken from homes deemed unsuitable are more quickly reunited with parents or adopted. This comprehensive Redesign strategy has evolved and been maintained through consistent effort, committed leadership, and the flexibility to meet unexpected challenges for the children the program serves.

The goals of Foster Care Redesign are to:

• Do everything possible to safely reduce the number of children in foster care by changing the culture of removal to a culture of safe services.
• Expedite permanency and reduce time in care by identifying where existing services and protocols can be augmented or changed.
• Keep children safely in their homes with their families whenever possible.
• Reduce lengths of stay in out-of-home care for those children who must be removed.
• Expedite permanency for all children without a permanent family.

The essential components of Foster Care Redesign include:

• Family Preservation – Implementing programs and services to keep children safely within their families and prevent their entry into the foster care system: STEPS Program (Strengthening Ties and Empowering Parents; FAST Program (Family Assessment Support Team); and IPT (Integrated Practice Team) were each implemented in Phase 1 of Redesign.
• Phase 2 of Redesign – Through increased emphasis on a holistic approach, implementing initiatives that focus on quality of care and permanency, including:
• The Transitional Trauma Therapist
• A focus on family engagement
• Doubling the number of foster parent trainings
• Targeted foster parent recruitment
• Separate adoption recruiting efforts
• Trained experts in Partnering for Safety and Permanence - Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting (PS-MAPP) and Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education (PRIDE) classes
• A 5-star rating program for group
• A separate Kinship Caregiver Program
• A Medical Home Program
• Job opportunities for the families served, including a Worksource Program and a Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) program
• Extensive development of Community Centers in communities that are most in need of critical services
• Use of Specialists – Contracting with, and making available to direct service staff, professionals who hold expertise in specific issues frequently affecting families who are referred to child protection services.
• Cultural Changes – Focusing on training and skill development for staff designated to instill and operationalize values, norms and competencies that enable the safe maintenance of children within their families.
• Early Assessment Teams – Focusing on joining service workers with child protection investigators in order to identify the needs of families and initiate services to address those needs early in their involvement with the child protection system.
• Leadership Support – Focusing on the roles of leaders from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and Family Support Services (FSS) in supporting the goals of Redesign and the strategies to accomplish those goals.
• Safety of the Child is Paramount – Emphasizing that the safety of the child must be the most important factor in every decision and action by the child welfare staff.
• Family-Centered Practice – Focusing on engaging the families of children referred to protective services as partners in assuring the safety of the child.
• Community Collaboration – Focusing on efforts to engage the broader community in Redesign in order to draw upon the competencies of diverse segments of the community; develop creative, non-traditional services for families; and gain community support for child protective services and the Redesign efforts.
• Community Planning – Attempting to engage media and thought leaders within the broader community in order to inform the public and stakeholders of the goals and progress of Redesign and to gain the support of the community for child protective services and the new approach introduced through the Redesign efforts.

Specific Components:

• Implement a comprehensive System of Care that includes:
• Family Team Conferences
• Family-Centered Practice
• Constant positive regard for families
• Mentoring and coaching for caseworkers
• Upfront, research-based assessments
• Wraparound supports for families
• Recognition of the community context for the work
• Develop a strong Fatherhood Engagement initiative.
• Create a therapeutic removal team (Transitional Trauma Therapists) integrating child protection and mental health services.
• Create Professional Foster Caregivers.
• Provide Kinship Caregivers with the same support and services as licensed caregivers.
• Create respite for families and providers.
• Implement a comprehensive medical/mental health/dental care process for children in care and diversion programs
• Create a dual track education program for parent(s) and children.
• Develop multifaceted services for substance abuse, mental health, and domestic violence.
• Promote the professional identity of child welfare caseworkers as advocates and agents of change.

Foster Care Redesign was designed with a child component that addresses the following presenting problems and symptoms:

• Living in a household where risk of removal from household due to neglect and/or abuse is high

Age range: 0 – 17

Developmental Delays:

This program was not developed for children with developmental delays, and has not been tested for children with developmental delays.

Foster Care Redesign was not designed with a parent/caregiver component.

Foster Care Redesign was not designed to be conducted in a group setting, and has not been tested for use in a group setting.

Recommended Intensity:

Contact with family is made on an as-needed basis.

Recommended Duration:

The process concludes when the child ages out of the system or when the child has remained safely stabilized/reunified for a period of six months without incident.

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Birth Family Home
• Foster Home

This program does not include a homework component.

Foster Care Redesign does not have materials available in a language other than English.

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

Resources needed are based on the services the family requires and are provided by child welfare workers and providers in the community.

Must be providers in the community’s child welfare system. Educational level of these providers is up to the agency that hires them.

There is not a manual that describes how to implement this program; but there is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Theresa Pringle
  Theresa.Pringle@fssnf.org

Training is obtained:

PRISM training or the training curriculum is available onsite and FSS is willing to provide training or a formal or informal consultation upon request. The PRISM training course is designed to strengthen the clinical and direct service skills of those involved with families who come to the attention of the child welfare system.  Recognizing that healthy communities can support healthy families and vice versa, the curriculum emphasizes skill building and individual family counseling. FSS provides Prism Training twice a year as a follow-up to our Family Centered Practice training.  All new child protective investigators and case managers are required to complete Family Centered Practice training before completing PRISM training. 

Number of days/hours:

1½ days total training

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

Currently, there are no published, peer-reviewed research studies for Foster Care Redesign.

No reference materials are currently available for Foster Care Redesign.