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Below is a list of regional policies and guidelines for foster parents in
Calgary and Area. If you have questions or require additional information email
the Calgary and Area Foster Parent
Training Coordinator.
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Care
Compensation Guide
Children
and Second Hand Smoke (December 2005)
Classification
of Authority Foster Homes and Compensation (November
2005)
Regional
Foster Care Mileage Policy (March 2005)
Maximum
Number of Foster Children Policy (March 2005)
Day
Homes in Foster Care Policy (March 2005)
Respite Service in
Authority Foster Homes Policy (January 2005)
Trampoline
Use Guidelines (July 2004)
Foster Parents Handbook and Compensation Guide (Coming
soon)
Frequently Asked Questions
FOSTER CARE
Q: If you are a level 1 or a level 2 home, can you still ask that a particular placement be rated for special skill fees and who does this?
A: Special rates are still being done on children in Level 2 homes. The rating scale is done by the child’s Caseworker, in consultation with the Foster Care Worker. If you receive a special rate, you will not receive a skill fee.
Q: If you are a Level 2 home, are all children placed in that home to be compensated at the Level 2 skill rate even if there are more than three?
A: This is a complicated question indeed. In fact, Jon Reeves, our lead in the Regional Foster Care Program has put the question on the agenda of the Provincial Foster Care Committee scheduled for September 26, 2005. We should have clarification soon and we will provide the answer in the next Newsletter.
Q: When taking a child to a respite placement, is mileage paid to and from the placement? Is the rate 38 cents per km? And does this apply to children with the Native Unit?
A: Mileage is paid when any travel is “child specific”. Driving to and from a respite placement would qualify. Mileage recently increased to 40.5 cents per km. There are no exceptions to the rates in any MST office.
Q: Under the new Act, we have Level 1, Level 2 and Specialized rating, based on the level of training. Yet some Caseworkers are insisting on rating the children to make sure they score at Level 2. Is it not the home that is a Level 2? Therefore the skill fee is the skill fee?
A: It is the home that is classified as a Level 1 or 2 and they receive the skill fee connected to that classification. If the child requires more specialized care, the child would be rated according to the rating scale for “specialized rates”. The skill fee relates to the classification of the home, not the child.
Q: If an agency home switches to the Authority, at what level do they come in? Do the children in their home stay with them? And if they are only at Level 1, can the children be scored to a higher skill fee?
A: When an agency home comes to the Authority, we try to classify them according to the training they have received as well as other considerations such as annuals and demonstrated skills and knowledge. The decision about the Level rests with the Foster Care Worker and the Team Leader, after careful assessment of all the information and documentation. The children they have would stay with them in most circumstances. If the family were classified as Level 1 and they believed the child required special rates, the Caseworker could be consulted to complete the special rate scoring.
Q: What about willful damage committed by a foster child? Does the Department pay for the repair of damage?
A: Your basic maintenance includes an amount to cover extra-household insurance. You need to purchase homeowners or tenants insurance, both of which cover building and contents as well as personal liability. Where the foster parent’s own insurance policy declines responsibility for a claim resulting from damage caused by a foster child, the AFPA has a rider policy to cover malicious damage to a foster parents home or property by a child. If an insurance company declines a claim, the foster parent can make a claim for “ex gratia payment”. “Ex gratia payment” means a financial payment can be made to a foster parent when there is no legal obligation to do so, but the Authority or the Department feels they have a moral reason to support a payment. There is a process that begins with a request for “ex gratia payment” to your Caseworker. Depending on the amount, the approval to pay is provided by the Calgary and Area CEO or the Minister.
Q: If there are now “no long term placements” in foster care, how often are children being looked at for adoption, especially when they have been in the foster home a long time?
A: This is, as everyone is aware, a complex question. Our legislation and good casework practice encourages all those involved in a child’s situation to be actively working towards permanency for our children who are subjects of a Permanent Guardianship Order. Where it is possible, children deserve a clear and established permanent placement with a family they can call their own. As such, Caseworkers and foster parents are asked to value a goal of
placement outside the care of a Director. Foster parents who wish to make a long-term commitment to a child will be encouraged to do so through adoption or private guardianship. Where it is not possible to formally commit, foster parents are encouraged to assist in the preparation and celebratory transition of the child to a permanent placement. Ongoing and regular planning for a child under Permanent Guardianship requires examination of the plan on an annual basis.
Having said all of that, it can only be acknowledged that, for various reasons, children are not available for a permanent placement outside the care of a Director. Children with physical and/or mental disabilities often remain in foster care long term due to their high needs and the expertise of the foster home. Older children may not agree to be adopted. In those cases, the approval of the Manager is required. Even these circumstances require annual assessment to ensure that circumstances have not changed, such as a child changing his or her mind and wanting to explore adoption as an option for life planning.
Q: Why are there so many different rates for respite? Can’t the Department set a fee that is across the board to receive and payout? It varies from $16 all the way to $75 per day?
A: There is a regional practice standard for respite. The categories for respite provision are defined as:
Respite: Scheduled, temporary, short-term care to provide relief from the day-to-day demands of parenting for the primary
caregiver(s).
For this type of respite the foster parent is expected to use their existing $2.60, plus basic maintenance and skill fee to pay for it.
Additional Respite: This includes a child with exceptional needs and support is part of the Concurrent Plan and the Foster Care Support Plan, approved by the Team Leader
Crisis Respite: Is an unplanned need and requires the approval of the Team Leader who can approve up to 72 hours of Crisis respite.
Babysitting or Homemaking Respite:
This covers those situations of personal illness or death or marriage within the immediate foster family and no other suitable arrangements can be made for the family’s absence.
The cost of Additional/Crisis or Babysitting or Homemaking Respite can be up to $75 per day (the cost may be high in some circumstances or program areas such as respite for the medically fragile child or specific agencies that provide a service for overnight care.
Different rates are due to negotiation between foster parent and the Caseworker and depend of the nature of the respite required. The rates that the Team Leader can approve range from $2 per hour per child to $75 per day to place a child outside the foster home overnight or longer.
Q: Do high needs PGO kids with disabilities qualify for respite? If so, how much, at what rate, who decides this? It appears that Agency homes with high needs children have an assessment done by an intake worker and then the foster parents are offered a certain number of days respite at a per diem rate. Are they not all the same children? Why the difference?
A: Please refer to the previous Q & A regarding categories of respite and rates. All respite above the day-to-day needs of fostering, is negotiated with the Caseworker and depends on the assessment of the child and the impact of the child’s behaviors on the foster home.
ADOPTION
Q: Adoption of a child in care by a foster parent: How long should it take? When finalization is not complete after 21/2 years, where does the Adoptive/Foster parent go for answers?
A: The length of time to complete a foster home adoption will always vary. While the home assessment for Foster Care is basically the same as for Adoption, the Adoption Worker, who is new to the family and usually does the updating, needs to be confident in the motivation, willingness and commitment of the foster parent in order to make recommendations to the Manager. That can take time to complete. We have streamlined and adapted the Adoption Parent Preparation training especially for foster parent so that the foster care training you received is not duplicated in adoption training. But the bottom line is that while times will vary for various reasons, if you feel that undue time is taken to complete the process, you should speak to your Caseworker, the Team Leader and/or the Manager about the issues that may be delaying the process. We want to ensure children are in their Permanency Placement – Adoption in a timely manner.
Q: After the Permanency Placement – Adoption (formerly the View To Adopt or VTA placement, do the foster care maintenance fees continue to be paid?
A: When a child’s status in a foster home moves from foster placement to Permanency Placement - Adoption, policy directs Caseworkers to, “Provide foster care, basic maintenance and skill fee or special rates, or kinship care rates up to and including the day of the court order (adoption or private guardianship)”. Policy also states, “Current foster parents or kinship care providers are not required to meet the eligibility criteria to receive maintenance prior to the court order”. However, following the granting of the court order, the eligibility requirements for Supports for Permanency will have to be met.
Q: Is the adoptive child in the foster home considered as a placement that would prevent an additional foster child to come into that home?
A: At this point, there is no set rule in place to govern the placement of foster children after a foster family has adopted a child. There are a number of variables that need to be considered. The priority of the Adoption Worker will be the adoptive child and the goal would be to optimize conditions to ensure the success of the adoption. Calgary and Area is currently working on a practice standard that will guide foster families, Adoption Workers and Foster Care Workers to a reasonable decision about the time an adoptive child needs to transition to full membership in the family before introducing new foster siblings to the dynamics of family living.
Q: If a foster parent achieves private guardianship of a child and later wants to adopt the child, can they? What are the pitfalls in doing this, if any?
A: The Act is clear that private guardianship applications are not intended as a way of facilitating an adoption. Should a foster parent wish to adopt a child for whom he or she is the private guardian, the process would require a Private Direct Adoption application. This would require the consent of the Director, as the previous guardian. Questions about continuing eligibility for Supports for Permanence (SFP) are still being considered and so we cannot provide a definitive answer on whether or not SFP benefits could continue. It is important that foster parents consider the implications of Private Guardianship and Adoption and ensure they are fully aware of the differences. You may even want to consult a lawyer in order to make an informed decision. Our Regional lead in Adoption and Private Guardianship is Lynne Smith and is working with the Department to establish policy. She will provide information when as it becomes available.
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