Module 7: Putting It All Together

/ Time: 6hours, 30 minutes
Module Purpose:
The purpose of this module is to provide participants authentic practice of determining re-licensing eligibility of a foster care home.
/ Demonstrated Skills:
  1. Through the use of a case study and supporting documentation, apply skills practiced in Modules 2 – 6 and make determinations regarding re-licensing a foster home.
There is1 unit in this module.
Materials Needed:
  • Trainer’s Guide
  • Participant’s Guide (participants should bring their own)
  • Markers
  • Flip chart

Agenda:
Unit 7.1: Putting It All Together
  1. What If It Were My Child

Trainer Instructions and Script:
Display Slide 7.0.1Module 7 Putting It All Together(PG: 1)

Display Slide 7.0.2: Learning Objectives (PG: 1)

/ Say: Before we move into content, I want to share the learning objectives for Module 7:
  1. Through the use of a case study and supporting documentation, apply skills practiced in Modules 2 – 6 and make determinations regarding re-licensing a foster home.

Display Slide 7.0.3: Agenda(PG: 1)

Unit 7.1: Putting It All Together

/ Time: 6hours, 30 minutes
Unit Overview:The purpose of Unit 1 is to provide a cumulative review of modules 2 through 6 by practicing key skills required to complete objectives in these modules.
/ Learning Objectives:
  1. N/A

Trainer Instructions and Script:
Display Slide 7.1.4: Unit 4.1: Putting It All Together (PG: 2)

/ Say: The purpose of Unit 1 is to provide a cumulative review of modules 2 through 6 by practicing key skills required to complete objectives in these modules.
Display Slide 7.1.5: Learning Objectives (PG: 2)

Display Slide 7.1.6: What if it Were My Child (PG: 3)

/ Say: Today we are going to examine a case and work together to analyze and make important decisions. Let’s get started.
/ Activity #1:What if It Were My Child
Purpose:The purpose of this activity is two-fold:
  1. The first is to first determine whether or not licensing information when assessed contains information warranting a Foster Parents’ eligibility for re-licensure.
  2. The second is to determine the points in time or events in the eligibility process that are vulnerable to decisioning error. In addition, participants will evaluate how existing data or absent data can contribute to those mistakes.
Participants have answered the question, “If my child had to be cared for by a stranger, what would I want to know about that person?” In addition, they have compared their reflections to Home Study results and evaluated those results in terms of whether or not the results provided enough information about an applicant.
In this activity, participants will evaluate licensing information for re-licensure eligibility. The information gathered will be loosely based on the Barahona family case history.
The overarching desired decision from participants is that the case files do not provide information warranting eligibility.
Alternatively, this activity can be accomplished by asking each participant to work with their supervisor to identify a currentfoster parent re-licensing case and reviewing that case with their group.
Materials:
  • De-Identified Barahonacase documents or existingcase from supervisor.
  • PG: Bringing Families Together worksheet (PG: 4)

Trainer Instructions:
  • Divide participants into small groups to evaluate the case study and answer the following 13 questions pertaining to the Foster Care Licensing Framework:
  • Of the key elements in the Unified Home Study, are there any elements that are not met? Please explain
  • Given the Unified Home Study, does the child’s background, strengths and weaknesses match the foster family’s setting and strengths and weaknesses?
  • Given the family’s positive and negative qualities analysis, what impact can you anticipate those qualities to have on the child?
  • Based on the family’s evaluation, determine their training needs.
  • Based on your evaluation of information in the case file, determine how to resolve any specific problems you see.
  • Does the licensing packet contain all documents and required information?
  • Is this family currently eligible for re-licensing? Justify your recommendation.
  • Identify the team members’ roles and explain how each role contributes to the child’s safety and interconnects with other roles to achieve the child’s desired outcomes.
  • Determine if any information in the case file justifies law enforcement involvement and explain your reasoning.
  • Determine if any information in the case files indicates that the foster parents’ motivation is lacking. If so, describe what you would do next.
  • Determine if any information in the case files warrants a Corrective Action Plan or Performance Improvement Plan. If so, provide an example of the plan.
  • Given the child’s background, identify the type of trauma-related behavior you would expect her to exhibit and what you would do to address it in the short and long term. To be considered in small groups but intended more for final class discussion during debrief) The purpose of this question is to identify the points in the process of determining eligibility that are vulnerable to decisioning error.
  • Determine where a licensing specialist or members of the child welfare team can make decisioning errors in evaluating existing data or evaluating in the absence of data.
  • Debrief:
  • Re-assemble the small groups and each group will compare and contrast answers per question together as a class. If there are differences, those differences will be resolved prior to progressing to the next question.
  • Once review of the first 12 questions is complete, the facilitator will inform participants that the case files used for this activity were loosely based on a real event where the outcome led to the death of a child. In addition, they will understand that “loosely based” refers to changed data and the inclusion of mocked data for the purpose of the activity.
  • Upon informing participants that the case files were loosely based on a real event, the facilitator will proceed with discussing Question 13 and ask the participants to reflect on their process to determine if there are any points in time where the process of determining eligibility is vulnerable to decisioning error.
  • Debrief will end with participants answering the following questions:
  • What did you think about this activity?
  • What stands out to you about this activity?
  • What part of the training did you find easier/difficult to use during the activity? Why?
  • What challenges related to determining eligibility do you anticipate once on the job?
  • How will you overcome those challenges?

/ Activity Stop