Utah Foster Care

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Utah Foster Care (UFC), formerly "Utah Foster Care Foundation" is a non-profit organization that provides foster families for the State of Utah. Since its founding, UFC has played a role in caring for young children who have been subjected to abuse, neglect, and other hardships by their caretakers. As of 2013, at any given time in Utah, there are about 2,700 children experiencing crisis in the home who are in need of foster care. Nearly half of all cases involve substance abuse by biological parents. Given the difficult circumstances and special needs of these children, UFC's goal is to find and prepare foster parents to meet those needs.

The Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), the agency responsible for the placement of children in foster homes, contracts with UFC to recruit, train, and retain the families needed to care for these children in crisis. Thus, UFC is not a child placement agency, but works directly with DCFS to meet the needs of foster children in Utah. Below is described six general attributes of UFC. They include their mission and goals, history, organizational structure, program relationships, budget, and challenges.

Mission and Goals[]

The mission of the Utah Foster Care is three-fold. As specified in their recruitment efforts, "Our mission is to serve Utah’s children by finding, educating and nurturing families to meet the needs of children in foster care."^[1] They carefully screen potential foster parents, provide extensive training, and maintain continued support for providers while they care for these children. During this process, their objective is to identify providers that are willing to help families reunite when possible and adopt children when such a reunion is not achievable.^[2]

Specific goals are provided through a contract with DCFS. In addition to their contracted goal, they also seek to promote privately raised donations. This extra funding funds support groups, camps, winter retreats, appreciation events, and their wishing well program^[3] (e.g., gifts like a baseball glove or dance lesson that providers can't afford independently).^[2]

History[]

Utah Foster Care originated following a 1993 lawsuit by the (NCYL) over the state's failure to protect children. At the time, Utah had only one-third the number of qualified foster parents they needed to provide care for the children who had been abused or neglected in the state.^[4] Despite the need for improvement and five years to make the necessary changes, DCFS was still not in compliance with the lawsuit requirements, due to a lack of effective training and recruiting methods.^[5]

In 1997, then-Governor Mike Leavitt called for a joint effort of government, schools, churches and civic organizations to solve the problem. Through generous donations by several philanthropists in the state, and under the watchful eye of retired private executive , the Utah Foster Care was formed in 1999. This private, non-profit organization would serve as an intermediary between the private sector and the DCFS, and would assume the task of supplying a well-trained, thoroughly vetted pool of foster parents. The UFC, as a non-governmental agency, was especially effective at utilizing the efforts of Utah churches while maintaining the necessary separation of church and state.

By the time Governor Leavitt left office in 2003, the number of foster families had doubled to more than twelve hundred. Since then, the suit with NCYL ended when "all parties agreed that significant and steady improvements ... resulted in a child welfare system that protects the state’s abused and neglected children, and helps families get the support they need."^[6] Today, there are approximately fourteen hundred families serving the needs of foster children in Utah.

With the organization of UFC, four major changes were implemented to improve the quality of training and selection within the foster care program.

1. UFC conducts an in home pre-screening for potential foster parents. By doing so, they are able to quickly discern qualified parents and ensure the safety of the foster children before further training.
2. Training hours were increased from 20 to 32 hours and with re-certification required each year. In addition, both spouses have to attend a portion of these meetings.
3. Training was made consistent throughout the state. Successful recruiting and training activities were implemented throughout the state along with uniform qualifications.^[2]
4. The selection of foster parents is closely tied to the needs of the children. Instead of mass generalized marketing recruitment, UFC employs specific targeted recruitment based on the needs of those it their care. Placement now takes into consideration cultural background, geography, and special needs.^[7]

Through these changes, the recruitment and retention of foster parents has significantly improved. Families have more meaningful experiences and children are placed with foster parents who serve their needs best.

Organizational structure[]

Similar to other non-profit entities, Utah Foster Care is led by a board of directors and CEO. With the help of 32 full-time employees, they oversee all recruitment, training, and retention activities. In total, seven individuals report directly to the CEO. They include an Accountant, Media Specialist, Development Coordinator, HR Manager, and Directors over the three departments.

The Director of Recruitment is in charge of the regional managing recruiters who in turn manage individual recruiters. The Recruitment page of the UFC website states: "We find families to meet the needs of Utah children in foster care."^[8] The goal of recruitment is to dispel the misconceptions and myths surrounding foster care. Recruiters are seeking opportunities to let foster/adoptive parents tell their stories in order to accomplish this goal.

The Director of Education oversees each regional trainer and their assistants. The primary goal of these trainers is to provide as much information to help parents meet the overwhelming needs of foster children. In addition, foster parents are trained to recognize their own need and seek out resources that will meet those needs.

The Director of Retention has jurisdiction over regional retention specialists, who are focused on ensuring that these foster parents, or resource families, are valued by the community and themselves. Retention specialists provide additional support for training and enhancing the professional regard of these resource families.

Within the state, UFC has created five regions: North, East, West, Salt Lake Valley, and Southwest. These regions are each represented within the three departments of the organization.^[9] These positions include area representatives, recruiters, regional trainers, and retention specialists who play a valuable supportive role for each Director as they oversee their respective responsibilities.^[2]

The service provided by UFC is best understood by looking at the track followed by foster care providers in order to receive a child in their home. The process to become a foster care parent entails the following six steps:

1. In anticipation of the need for foster providers, DCFS contracts with UFC to recruit and train a specific number of potential foster care providers each year. Recruitment activities consist of marketing, educating, and providing initial screenings for interested parties.
2. Once UFC has recruited potential providers, they inform DCFS of these individuals.
3. While the potential foster parent continues their training, a DCFS caseworker opens a file and begins the process of certification with the Office of Licensing (OL).^[10]
4. Once the foster care provider has completed the required training and satisfied all other requirements, the OL issues a license to the foster parent.^[11]
5. DCFS reviews qualified foster parents with the needs of the children in the program.
6. Once a foster child is placed in the home of an approved provider, UFC re-enters the process to provide important resources for foster parents as they care for the needs of these children.

Program Relationships[]

UFC's efforts are significantly impacted by the contract requirements provided by DCFS, which guidelines are given in accordance with Utah legislation. Consequently, federal and state laws only indirectly affect UFC through their contractual relationship with DCFS. Also, because UFC deals only with the recruiting, training, and retention of qualified providers, they are not involved in the licensing of foster care providers or the placement of children in foster homes.

The following organizations operate independently of UFC but are relationships important to the foster care system organized in the state of Utah:

• Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS): Investigates allegations of abuse and neglect and determines when a child should be removed from the custody of their parents. Responsible to place children with foster families, supervises the care of foster children, and oversees the care they receive.
• Utah Office of Licensing (OL): licenses foster parents, responsible to make sure that foster families meet all requirements and standards. Conducts home studies prior to foster parents being licensed and receiving a foster child.
• Utah Foster and Adoptive Families Association (UFAFA): A support and advocacy group composed of Utah foster and adoptive families. As a non-profit organization, UFAFA consists of a collective body of foster/adoptive families that provides information for UFC and other foster providers as they work to educate local and state leaders about issues confronting foster care in Utah.^[12]
• Businesses in communities help as well. For example, Wal-Mart in Vernal does an annual Giving Tree, Aspen Grove donates a weekend getaway for 75 foster families each year, volunteers from United Parcel Service Foundation in Salt Lake have filled information bags for the Chalk Art Festival, and UFC has qualified for and received grants from the UPS Foundation.

The following four steps helps to better understand the track followed by foster children as they move through the foster program. These steps include:

1. DCFS is notified of potential child abuse and neglect.

2. DCFS investigates the problem to identify the validity of the reported abuse.

3. If necessary, DCFS removes the child from their home.

4. These children are placed in a licensed foster care home as determined by DCFS caseworkers.^[2]

Budget[]

Though UFC relies upon several forms of funding, they are primarily dependent upon a contract with DCFS. Since 1999, the State of Utah has contracted with UFC through DCFS to recruit and provide training for foster parents. It is an exclusive five-year contract in which DCFS can make annual amendments to the financial support they provide and the consequent number of foster homes they hire UFC to supply.

This contract represents approximately 81% of UFC's total annual revenue for FY 2013. The balance of the budget comes through fundraising efforts from individuals, larger organizations, and corporations (17%), and through interest and investment income (2%).

Total revenue decreased 2.9% between FY 2009 & FY 2013. In the last five years, state funding has decreased a total of 6.39%^[13] Consequently, UFC has been more engaged in fundraising efforts to compensate for the loss of funding from the State of Utah. In FY 2013, 39% of funds were spent on recruitment, 22% on training and education, 26% on retention, and 13% on development and administrative support. The funding employs three part-time and 32 full-time staff. This staff is spread across 5 regions, with regional offices, to run the programs that support the close to 1400 licensed foster families in Utah. These foster families meet the needs of the estimated 2700 children in foster care.

Challenges[]

Today, UFC faces many challenges, including but not limited to, the following:

Financial: Funding comes from two sources: first and primarily, from the state of Utah through the DCFS, and secondly, from local fundraising. These sources will always bring uncertainty to the level of funding available to accomplish the desired results from year to year. A tenuous balance exists between the successful recruitment of quality foster parents and sufficient funding to support their success.

Enlistment: The dynamics of society continue to cause an increase in the number of children needing foster parents as well as rising intensity in the physical and emotional issues that these children and their families must battle. The awareness of these difficult issues may significantly impact the ability to recruit the needed foster care families. An additional aspect of the enlistment challenge is public awareness concerning the opportunity to help. It is challenging to find the most effective tools to recruit the number of quality foster parents needed. In addition, the growing number of children with major behavioral problems or special needs in the program is increasing. This increase makes it very difficult for UFC to find foster providers who are willing and able to take care of these types of children.^[14] A study of the Utah foster care system between 2001 and 2004 evaluated 6000 children placed in the program. Measurements indicated 54% of them had at least one chronic or acute medical condition, and 44% had at least one mental health condition. Of the mental health issues, most were behavioral or mood disorder-related. The study supports and strengthens previous, smaller studies that concluded foster children were more likely to face mental or physical health challenges when compared to the general pediatric population. One particularly concerning find is that two-thirds of the adolescents placed in foster care during the study had a Body Mass Index result that categorized them in either overweight or obese levels for their age group.^[15]

Training: In many instances, the foster parents are taking in children with a wide array of challenges, which can place a significant strain on their own family life. Thus, training is not only needed for foster parents in order to meet children's needs, but also in how to balance their own lives. Because of the increasing needs for many of the foster children, higher levels of expertise are needed for the trainers of foster parents. To emphasize the importance of specialized training among foster families, a study of foster to adoption placement rates suggested children placed in foster care services have a lower probability for adoption. Furthermore, foster parents who have had previous and specialized training are more likely than those without training to consider adoption. The research stated, "Foster parents who were specialized, meaning that they have received training in working with difficult child populations, were more likely to consider adoption than those who are not."^[16]

Recruitment: Recruitment of providers for special groups such as teens and siblings remains a large challenge. Though extensive effort has been exerted to overcome this, it continues to be extremely difficult to resolve.^[2] An article dated 14 February 2012 in the Deseret News writes, "A 2011 legislative audit showed that among nearly 1,300 licensed foster care families statewide at that time, only about 200 were willing to care for children ages 14-18." The article continues, "Finding [these children] support by increasing the number of foster families is the focus of the Utah Foster Care[....]"^[17]

Preservation of Family: Kinship caregiving is when extended family is recruited to fill the role of foster care. This effort preserves as much family identity as possible and provides safety and connection for the child. Placing children with kinship caregivers has been shown to be the most beneficial foster care situation for children in the system. The attempt to preserve a self-identity can be key to the successful outcome for these children. A significant challenge for not only the kinship care families, but for all foster families, is to somehow preserve and strengthen the self-identify of these children.

Processes & Systems: The need to both collect and evaluate information cause challenges with the foster care system. The UFC has a high level of accountability to DCFS for the foster family. As well, DCFS must be highly accountable to both state and federal legislation requirements. Accountability brings consistency, but if not monitored, it can also become cumbersome and apply additional stress on the foster care parents and the DCFS. In the future, it is critical to match both the data collection and analysis to the most pressing needs of families and foster children. As the complex needs of foster children change over time, so should the collection, analysis and application of data. The process of state budgeting is such that responding to these changes can be difficult and slow. One specific example lies with the current requirement of 12 hours of in-service training per year for foster care parents. In regards to collection and evaluation, it would be important to ask if this requirement remains sufficient given the increased challenges that come with foster children.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in English and Spanish)