Frequently
Asked Questions
FAQ
- Frequently Asked Questions about Alternative
Care
What
is “Alternative Care”?
Alternative
care arrangements involve situations when someone other than the
child’s usual caregiver provides care for the child on a temporary
basis and include:
It is
the responsibility of the caregiver to ensure that a person providing
temporary, alternative care for the child has the necessary maturity,
knowledge, skills, and abilities to fulfill the responsibilities of
looking after the child.
What
is my responsibility in making an alternative care arrangement?
Foster
parents must:
1.
Ensure that the following criteria are met:
|
Child
Minding:
day time care, Foster parent
available
|
Overnight
Arrangements:
Foster parent reasonably
available
|
Relief
care:
Foster parent not accessible
|
|
Mature, Knowledgeable, Skilled
|
Mature, Knowledgeable, Skilled
|
Mature, Knowledgeable, Skilled
|
|
Pos. behaviour management,
appropriate discipline
|
Pos. behaviour management,
appropriate discipline
|
Pos. behaviour management,
appropriate discipline
|
|
Follow through with child
caring routines
|
Follow through with child
caring routines
|
Follow through with child
caring routines
|
|
Present and in Charge
|
Present and in Charge
|
Present and in Charge
|
|
Understand confidentiality
|
Understand confidentiality
|
Understand confidentiality
|
|
Know what to do in an
emergency & how to contact the child’s social worker
|
Know what to do in an
emergency & how to contact the child’s social worker
|
Know what to do in an
emergency & how to contact the child’s social worker
|
|
|
Social worker satisfied re:
choice of caregiver, safety of child
|
Social worker satisfied re:
choice of caregiver, safety of child
|
|
|
|
Criminal Record Check required
and Prior Contact with MCFD checked
|
2.
Monitor the arrangements to ensure the child’s safety and
well-being, and:
-
Identify
the person in charge of the setting where the child will be
visiting;
-
Confirm
that the person in charge of the setting will be present during the
child’s visit;
-
Provide
to the child and the person in charge of the setting, a means of
contacting the Foster Parent and the child’s social worker;
-
Follow
up to confirm that the child is at the setting; and
-
Ensure
that the arrangement is consistent with the child’s comprehensive
plan of care
What
is my responsibility to the child?
You
must ensure that the child:
-
Is
advised and prepared for any alternative care giving arrangements
-
Knows
what to do in the event of an emergency, including how to contact
their social worker
-
Receives
care that is consistent with that provided by their foster parent.
Must
I notify the child’s social worker?
Yes!
The foster parent must notify the child’s social worker before
making plans, not previously authorized, for a child to be cared for
overnight. The foster parent must also keep written records which
document the minimum requirements for child minding, overnight, and
relief care, including social worker approval.
Can
a child attend Day Care?
Normally,
pre-schoolers remain with you during the day, except when they attend
pre-school programs. However, you may send a child to day-care, and
there is an 80% subsidy available, if child care is part of a child’s
Plan of Care.
Whenever
possible, these children are placed in licensed child-care
facilities. If none are available and license-not-required family
child care is to be used, the social worker and you are responsible
for screening and monitoring the facility.
Can
I hire the teen Foster Child in my home to baby-sit?
It is
strongly recommended that you do NOT hire children in care to
baby-sit in your home. You must get social worker permission to have
a child in care baby-sit in your home.
*For
more information please see the FAQ on Relief Care
BCFFPA
web site has answers to your questions about:
