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Foster Care Review Board Overview
How to Request Review of Your Foster Care Case
Please contact the Foster Care Review Board at (517) 373-1956 if you
want your foster care case to be reviewed. The following information
describes the review process in general.
Overview of Case Review
Basis for Review
There is a basis for third party citizen review in Public Law 96-272,
the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, and P.L. 105-89,
the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which require that each
child in foster care have a semi-annual administrative review which
can be conducted by the court or another body. This review must be
open to the participation of the parents of the child and conducted
by a panel of appropriate persons at least one of whom is not responsible
for the case management of, or delivery of services to, either the
child or the parents who are the subject of the review.
Who Reviews Cases - Review Boards
Foster care cases are reviewed by local review boards. Volunteers
meet one day per month to review the cases of four to six sibgroups
of children who are in foster care as the result of abuse or neglect.
Once selected for review, cases continue to be reviewed every six
months until a permanent plan is achieved.
How Cases are Reviewed
Each case review is conducted in two stages. The first stage involves
the board volunteer reading the written materials detailing the reason(s)
for out-of-home placement and the agency's plan for services to the
child and family. The second stage is an in-person interview with
persons defined as interested parties to the case. Interested parties
include caseworkers, biological parents, foster parents and, if appropriate,
the child(ren). Additionally, therapists, attorneys, grandparents,
and others sometimes attend.
Making Recommendations After the Review
After the interviewing stage is completed, the board is responsible
for compiling findings of fact and making advisory
recommendations regarding each case reviewed. The findings and advisory
recommendations are mailed to the family division of circuit court,
FIA, private agencies, prosecuting attorney and other interested parties.
The court may use them at its discretion. The final decision making
authority with regard to the care of a child in foster care always
rests with the family division of circuit court.
Overview of Foster Care Review Board Responsibilities
Local foster care review boards consist of five volunteer citizens
who have been recruited, screened, and trained by the State Court Administrative
Office. Their primary responsibility is to review foster care cases
that have been selected by the Foster Care Review Board Program. With
the Passage of Public Acts 163 and 170 of 1997, foster care review boards
were given the added responsibility of reviewing foster parent appeals
when foster parents are not in agreement with the movement of wards
from their home and reviewing permanent wards where parental rights
have been terminated.
Advisory Committee
Within the Foster Care Review Board Program there exists a statewide
Advisory Committee. This committee is composed of local board representatives
and others in the child welfare community who are appointed by the
State Court Administrator. Data which is collected from local board
reviews is used by the Advisory Committee to advocate for children
at the county and state levels. This can be with the juvenile court,
Department of Human Services (DHS), legislature, county commissioners,
or other local community groups.
Citizen Review - Volunteers
Although courts and social service agencies bear the burden of determining
and carrying out plans for foster children, in settings often closed
to public scrutiny, citizen reviewers are in a unique position to
not only review the progress of children in the system, but speak
out knowledgeably. Through their review of case materials and interviews
with parents, foster parents, caseworkers, attorneys, and children,
they acquire a knowledge of the problems and barriers which hinder
permanent placements for children. By pooling their knowledge of foster
care, they form a bank of information which is used as a springboard
to advocacy for children - locally, statewide, and nationally.
Foster Care Review Board volunteers are the backbone of the program.
There are thousands of people involved in the child welfare system
- children, parents, foster parents, social workers, psychologists,
nurses, doctors, teachers, law enforcement officers, attorneys, therapists,
counselors, and judges. Except for children and parents, each of these
categories has an official role to fulfill in addressing children
and families caught up in the foster care system. Each has a vested
interest. Volunteers who serve on boards are different. Volunteers
have neither an official role nor a vested interest. Yet, they are
authorized a unique look at the foster care system through their role
in the Foster Care Review Board Program.
See more information about volunteers and how to
apply
Importance of Citizen Involvement
In summary, citizen involvement in case review is beneficial in four
basic ways: first, citizen reviewers develop their own awareness of
the foster care system and consequently can help educate the community;
second, over time, citizen reviewers become advocates for the needs
of children. Informed citizens can become a constituency on behalf
of children with the agency, the court, their own families, the legislature
and the community; third, citizen participants in case review can
bring a new perspective to the case planning process, a perspective
which has no vested interest in any single component of the system;
and, finally, citizen participation in case review opens the system
to the community (a window on the system, if you like), thus broadening
the base of accountability for public social services for children.
Hopefully, citizen review can assist the courts, DHS, and others in
attempting to facilitate permanent placement for foster children in
a progressive, timely manner.
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