Family support principles in the 2006 Act

Policy Analysis

Family Impact Analysis

Principle 1: Family support and responsibilities

Support and supplement parents? And other family members? ability to carry out their responsibilities?

The Act (2006) offers parents and other family members support that goes above and beyond simply taking children out of troubled homes and putting them in foster care. Removing children from homes can be necessary in some cases, but there is much more to the Act (2006) than that. Making sure that families get what they need and that they are able to keep children together with their parents is highly important and should be considered over and above foster care where it is safe for the children to remain in the home. It is also vital that families who have had children placed in foster care are able to get help and support in order to have their children returned to them in the future. Section Four of the Act (2006) addresses the home visits of the foster children, so that they can be placed more quickly and decisions regarding them can be made.

Principle 2: Family membership and stability

Recognize that major changes in family relationships such as divorce or adoption are processes that extend over time and require continued support and attention?

Not every child who is placed in foster care is placed there permanently. Some families have children who are returned to them after being in foster care, and the placement could have happened due to a divorce or other problem. The Act (2006) is designed to keep families together, not to take them apart, and there are support services in place that are specifically created in order to ensure that families get the help they need to properly care for the children they have.

Principle 3: Family involvement and interdependence

Protect the rights and safety of individuals in the family while respecting parents? rights and family integrity.

The Act (2006) is designed to ensure that children who need to go into foster placement can do so quickly and efficiently, but it is also designed to keep children with their parents and family members as much as possible, rather than remove them right away. Sometimes, families just need some extra help, and the rights and safety of the children have to be weighed against the rights of the parents and the desire to keep the family unit together. Not all families can be kept together, because some of them are toxic to the children involved and are simply not safe. However, the differences in the ways that families work together should not be an immediate cause of removal of children from the home. Unorthodox parenting styles have to be accepted unless they pose a danger.

Principle 4: Family partnership and empowerment

Provide full information and a range of choices to families?

Under the Act (2006), families have options. They are not automatically required to give up their children to foster care once they get in the system, and social workers will make every reasonable attempt to keep families together. Sometimes, that is not possible. However, a full range of information is vital so that families know the options they have and what they can do in order to ensure that they stay on the right track and keep their children in their home. Families that want their children back out of the foster care system also have options, so they know what they need to do in order to be successful at having their children returned to them.

Principle 5: Family diversity

Acknowledge intergenerational relationships and responsibilities among family members?

"Family" can mean many different things - and not all of them follow the basic structure of a mother and father and their biological children. The concept of family can mean blended families, step families, foster families, adoption, and grandparents and others who are not biological mothers or fathers caring for children. The Act (2006) encourages this by allowing other family members and support personnel to take over the care of a child who has to be removed from a home. By allowing this, children can be kept from the foster system and cared for by relatives if the parents are unable to care for the children or need to complete court-ordered treatment or counseling before the children can be returned to them.

Principle 6: Support of vulnerable families

Give support to families who are most vulnerable to breakdown and have the fewest resources?

The Act (2006) is not just about placement of children into foster care. It is also about making sure that families are able to stay together and be healthy and whole. Many families break down because they do not have the support they need and they are unsure where to find important resources which they can use in order to be more effective as parents and caregivers to young children or children who are getting older and becoming difficult. Unfortunately, these kinds of family relationships cannot always be salvaged. However, the Act (2006) provides for support for vulnerable families that come to the attention of the foster care system, or that otherwise come to social services looking for help and guidance. The goal of the Act (2006) is not to take children away from families unless it becomes necessary.

Acknowledge intergenerational relationships and responsibilities among family members?

The Act (2006) also recognizes that there are many different kinds of families, and some of the families that work the best together are not traditional in nature. Because that is the case, implications for the future of the Act (2006) and how it is carried out have to be considered. For example, grandparents often care for their grandchildren, and there is no reason to place a child into a foster home if the mother and/or father are unable to care for that child. Instead, allowing other family members to care for a child is often one of the best options for placement (Avery, et al., 2009; Bruskas, 2008; Davidson, 2008-2009). Many times, parents who are at risk of losing their children because of drug use, violence, a criminal record, or other inappropriate behavior find that they have family members who can care for their children, avoiding the need for foster care.

By taking the time to acknowledge that there are many ways to structure a family, and that family is more important than most other things - especially to a child - it is possible for social workers and others who interact with troubled families to come up with alternative solutions to foster care (Tilbury & Mazerolle, 2008). These solutions may be as simple as allowing the child who is to be removed from the home to stay with relatives, or they may be solutions that are more complex and require more effort than the simplest option. No matter what the solution, however, having options and choices, and thinking outside the box when it comes to the meaning of family and the responsibilities of its members, is among the best ways to ensure that families who love and care for one another can get through trials and tribulations and still come out strong on the other side.

Principle 1: Family support and responsibilities

Support and supplement parents? And other family members? ability to carry out their responsibilities?

The Act (2006) provides for parents who are attempting to take good care of their families, even if they are sometimes unsure about how they should go about doing that. Because it is vital that parents are able to work with their children and care for them safely and properly if children are to stay in the home, it is clear that parenting classes and other methods are needed to ensure that family members treat children appropriately (Edwards, 2010). Not all children come from "good" homes, and some of those homes include parents who also did not come from "good" homes, meaning that the cycle is continuing and should be broken (Goodman, 2006). If the cycle of abuse or other family difficulties cannot be broken, children and their parents and other family members will continue to struggle in order to relate to one another, which can cause health and safety issues in the children if they are not removed from the home and placed into foster care.

Of course, it is not necessary to imply that all "dysfunctional" parents should have their children removed from their home (McCutcheon, 2010). There are many families that have difficulties, and one of the things about the Act (2006) is that there is a genuine concern for keeping families together and for helping parents better understand their children and how they can care for them as well as possible. All parents will make mistakes, and it is the seriousness of those mistakes that affect whether children will be removed from the home or whether the parent might just need some extra help in order to ensure that his or her children grow up as happy and healthy as possible. The goal of the Act (2006) is not to take children from parents, but to avoid it if possible and make it less traumatic if it becomes necessary.

Conclusion

The family policy analysis shows that there are still issues that need to be faced and addressed where adoption and other family issues are concerned. While most of the family problems that are seen can be adjusted for, there are still some issues that have not been properly addressed. With The Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act (2006), a strong effort was made to help families and children get what they need and find ways to be comfortable and safe as they move through the system. Helping not just children who are in foster placement but also the families that take them in - and the families from which the children have been taken - is a big part of the Act and what it has to offer for everyone who utilizes it. As a part of social security, the Act has a strong placement in the law and can be adjusted to better meet the needs of children and families who are struggling with issues that can lead to foster placement.

One of the best things that is offered by The Safe and Timely Interstate Placement of Foster Children Act (2006) is the ability to travel from one state to another in order to place a child with a foster family. In the past, children could only be placed in the state in which they were removed from a home. Now, it is possible to move them to other states with foster families who are looking for children and who need and want to have a child in their lives. Because of the interstate option that was created by the Act, children who need help will get that help, families can be worked with and eventually reunited, and children who must remain in foster care long-term have a better chance of getting a family that really cares for them and that will want to take care of them as they grow up. Many children "age out" of the system at 18, and if they have had good families taking care of them during their formative years, they will be more likely to do well on their own when they become adults.