NCJ Number
124641
Date Published
1988
Length
73 pages
Annotation
The intention of this resource guide is to help those who work directly with children and families to develop visiting plans that facilitate realization of case goals, thus decreasing the length of time children spend in foster care.
Abstract
Initially focusing on the importance and purposes of visiting, the book identifies ways in which agency policies and placement practices encourage or constrain visiting. Purposes of visiting that make it an integral part of services to children in placement include reassurance for children that they have not been abandoned, assessment, treatment, and documentation. The second chapter identifies visiting as an essential component of agency service. It outlines the elements of the visiting plan, which should specify frequency, site, and length of scheduled visits; the supervision of the visits; the participants in the visits; the tasks to be accomplished; and the agency and parental responsibilities attendant to visits. Subsequent chapters outline factors relating to children, their parents, and their substitute caregivers to consider in developing visiting plans which emphasize the need for individual assessments in each case. The book also includes suggestions for preparing participants for visits and for evaluating and documenting visits. It concludes with a consideration of the demands visiting imposes on caseworkers and ways to relieve accompanying stress. 9 references.