RE: Visitation in foster care

[Aron Shlonsky <shlonsky@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi there,

You might try:
1) Berrick, J. D. (1997). "Assessing quality of care in kinship and foster 
family homes." Family Relations 46(3): 273-280.  It may have some of what 
you're looking for.

2) We also developed a curriculum some time back that interviewed Kin and 
NonKin providers about a range of items including visitation and quality of 
neighborhoods.

Berrick, J.D., Needell, B., Shlonsky, A., Simmel, C., & Pedrucci, C. 
(1998). Assessment, Training, and Support for Kinship and Non-Related 
Foster Parents: An Empirically-Based Curriculum.

The full curriculum is available from the California Social Work Education 
Center for a nominal fee (cost of reproduction) at:

http://www.csulb.edu/projects/ccwrl/index.html

However, I'm happy to send you an electronic version of the chapter of 
interest.

Here's their description of the study.

      This curriculum, which may be used in whole or in part, offers an 
overview of foster care, background
      on the characteristics of kin and non-kin foster parents, and trends 
in foster care.  Special emphasis
      is placed on foster care recruitment, training, and retention efforts 
as well as the foster care payment
      rate structure.  A comprehensive look at the elements that comprise 
quality of care in kinship and
      non-related foster homes is included.  The curriculum highlights the 
philosophical reasons for providing
      quality care, the history and philosophy of kinship care, a legal 
history and brief policy analysis of
      kinship care, and domains of quality.  Also, practice tips for child 
welfare workers and administrators
      are included.  Finally, a chapter where kin and non-kin foster 
parents address their relationship with
      the child welfare system and recent child welfare policies affecting 
foster parents and kinship
      caregivers are discussed to round out the module.

Good luck,





At 03:37 PM 5/17/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>I don't know of specific questions for you, but thought you might be
>interested to know that the Family to Family Initiative sponsored by the
>Annie E. Casey Foundation has as one of its main priorities the
>strengthening of relationships between birth and foster families.
>Visitation is certainly a major factor in that relationship.  This
>Initiative is active in a number of states.
>
>You may find some useful information about these ongoing efforts on the AECF
>Web site at http://www.aecf.org.  I wanted to give you the direct link to
>the Family to Family information, but I haven't been able to get into their
>Web site today.
>
>Sandi Slappey, MSW
>National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information
>a service of the Children's Bureau, US DHHS
>330 C Street SW, Washington, D.C.   20447
>Phone:  (703) 219-4417  Fax:  (703) 385-3206
>E-mail:  slappeys@calib.com
>URL:    www.calib.com/nccanch
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Spuhler, Kim [SMTP:Spuhler.Kim@tchden.org]
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2002 3:54 PM
> > To:   Child Maltreatment Researchers
> > Subject:      Visitation in foster care
> >
> >
> > I am the research coordinator for a study on children in foster and
> > kinship
> > care. We are interested in asking out-of-home caregivers for information
> > about visitation with biological parents (i.e. frequency of visits,
> > scheduled visits vs. actual visits, child behavior after bio visits, etc.)
> > We'd appreciate any leads, references, or suggestions on how to ask these
> > questions so that we can receive the most valid information.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Riley Spuhler
> > _________________________
> >
> > K. Riley Spuhler
> > Research Coordinator
> >
> > Kempe Children's Center
> > 1825 Marion Street
> > Denver, Colorado  80218
> > 303-864-5846
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> >

Aron Shlonsky, MSW, MPH
Research Associate
UC Berkeley
School of Social Welfare
Center for Social Services Research
16 Haviland Hall #7400
Berkeley, CA  94720-7400
(510) 642-8139
(510) 642-1895 fax
shlonsky@uclink4.berkeley.edu