Definitions and Acronyms

Alcohol affected infant - a child age birth through twelve months who was exposed to alcohol in utero and may demonstrate physical, behavioral, or cognitive signs which may be attributed to alcohol exposure.

Allegation – A formal accusation made regarding alleged abuse and or neglect of a child.

(BRS) Behavior rehabilitation services - a comprehensive program of positive behavioral support and environmental structure in a supervised group or family living setting. Resources are designed to modify a child's behavior or to appropriately care for a child's intensive medical condition. Services are tailored to each client's needs and offered in the least restrictive setting possible.

Background Authorization/Check – background check completed by licensing which prohibits some applicants criminal history from becoming licensed or certified foster parents under WAC 388-06

(CASA) Court Appointed Special Advocate - a representative appointed by a judge to speak on the behalf of an abused or neglected child in court. Their job is to meet with the child and attend staffings and court hearings making sure to express what they feel is best for that child.

(CPA) Child placing agency– A private agency licensed and contracted by the state to certify foster home. These agencies offer licensing services, case management, and placement.

(CA) Children's administration - the cluster of programs within the department of social and health services responsible for the provision of child welfare, child protective, foster care licensing, and other services to children and their families.

(CPS) Chile Protective Services– Social Workers who initially have contact with children entering the foster care system. CPS workers investigate the biological homes of children who have been suspected victims of child abuse and neglect.

(CRC) Crisis residential center a secure or semi-secure facility established under chapter 74.13.032 RCW.

(1) The department shall establish, by contracts with private or public vendors, regional crisis residential centers with semi-secure facilities. These facilities shall be structured group care facilities licensed under rules adopted by the department and shall have an average of at least four adult staff members and in no event less than three adult staff members to every eight children. (CWS) Child Welfare Services Social Workers who provide case work and management for long term care of children in foster care.

(DSHS) Department - refers to the department of social and health services.

Dependency – a child becomes dependent upon the state when a judge declares sufficient findings or the biological parents/guardians voluntarily agree to place their child in state custody. This legal term refers to the status of a child in the foster care system.

Dependency guardian - the person, nonprofit corporation, or Indian tribe appointed by the court pursuant to RCW 13.34.232 for the limited purpose of assisting the court in the supervision of the dependency. Person or entity acts as custodian of child and ensure that child’s interests are being met.

(DCFS) Division of children and family services - the division of children's administration that provides child welfare, child protective, family reconciliation, and support services to children in need of protection and their families.

(DLR) Division of licensed resources - the division of children's administration responsible for licensing or certifying child care homes and facilities under the authority of chapter 74.15 RCW.

Division of licensed resources/child protective services (DLR/CPS) – the division within DLR, which investigates allegations of child abuse or neglect.

Drug affected infant - a child age birth through twelve months who was exposed to drugs or substances in utero and demonstrates physical, behavioral, or cognitive signs that can be attributed to exposure to drugs or substances.

(EPSDT) Early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment - also known as "healthy kids" - a federal program for preventive health care for children and teens served by Medicaid. The physical/well child examination helps find health problems early and enables the child to receive treatment for concerns identified in the examination. Family to Family - The Family to Family model provides states and communities with an opportunity and the tools to redesign their child welfare system to establish:

 A network of care that is neighborhood-based, culturally sensitive, and located where the children in need live;  Less reliance on institutional care, such as hospitals, shelters, correctional facilities, and group homes;  An adequate number of foster families for any child who must, for safety reasons, be removed from the family home;  A team approach including foster care families; and  Screening services to safely preserve the family while understanding the needs of the child.

Family to Family Core Strategies: Family to Family relies on a variety of strategies for reforming child welfare systems. The initiative's technical assistance team has developed numerous tools to assist partner sites in implementing these core approaches. Although each of these strategies has proven effective in one or more sites, four strategies are deemed integral to the initiative:

 Building Community Partnerships , which entails building relationships with a wide range of community organizations and leaders in neighborhoods in which child protection referral rates are high, and collaborating to create an environment that supports families involved with the child welfare system.  (SCTM) Child Safety Team Meeting , which involves not just foster parents and caseworkers, but also birth families and community members in all placement decisions to ensure a network of support for children and the adults who care for them.  (RDS) Resource Family Recruitment, Development, and Support , which involves finding and maintaining foster and kinship homes that can support children and families in their own neighborhoods. Monthly meetings are occurring in DSHS offices across the region. Contact your local office to request schedules.  Self-Evaluation, in which teams of analysts, data managers, frontline managers and staff, and community partners collect, analyze, and interpret data about key Family to Family outcomes to assess whether we are making progress and to determine how policy and practice needs to be changed to bring about further improvement.

Each strategy represents good practice on its own, but it is the joint and mutually reinforcing effects of the four strategies that produce the strongest impact. Implemented together, these strategies provide a focus for practice changes that seek to achieve the outcomes emphasized in Family to Family. Foster care - 24 hour per day temporary care for a child that has been removed from their parents or guardians. This removal occurs when it is determined that he or she is not in a safe environment or receiving the basic care necessary to grow and feel loved.

Foster Care ID card - A wallet size card that accompanied your actual foster home license. Most people receive it by mail or hand delivery from their licensor. This card is required to take advantage of the discounts from community partners. If you cannot locate your card or never received one, simply contact your licensor and they can get one to you.

(GAL) Guardian ad litem - a person the court appoints to represent the best interests of a child in a parental rights and responsibilities case (foster children) or divorce. The GAL will investigate the family situation and advise the court about where a child should live and what type of contact parents should have with their children.

Guardian - a person or agency appointed by the court to care for and supervise a child. The guardian has legal rights to the custody of that child.

Guardianship – a permanency option that provides a child with long term connection to a family while maintaining financial support for the child. Guardianship placements are often preferred for older youth who may not want to be adopted, children who maintain ongoing and frequent contact with their parents, and children for whom religious or cultural factors discourage termination of parental rights or adoption.

Group care - a twenty-four-hour facility licensed or certified under chapter 388-148 WAC. The facility provides the basic needs for food, shelter, and supervision. The facility also provides therapeutic services required for the successful reunification of children with the children's family resource or the achievement of an alternate less restrictive permanent living arrangement.

Independent living services - the program services and activities established and implemented by the department to assist youth sixteen years or older in preparing to live on their own after leaving foster care.

ISSP – Individual Service and Safety Plan – Every child supervised by DCFS has an ISSP. This plan includes information on the care and needs of the foster child, as well as services being offered to the biological parents and their progress. ISSP’s are updated after staffings and prior to court hearings. Every foster parent and member of the child’s team will receive a copy of the current ISSP as well as the court.

Legally free - The legal status that now allows a foster child to be adopted. It means the biological parents have either relinquished their parental rights or a judge has terminated them. (MLR) Minimum Licensing Requirement – the minimum requirements which must be met to become a licensed or certified foster parent under WAC 388-148.

Passport Program – a program in which a concise, printed, child specific health and education summary information is provided to a child’s care giver. A “Passport” consists of two main parts which include the printed summary and Health Recommendation Letter.

Relative - a person who is related as defined in RCW 74.15.020 (2)(a).

(a) Persons related to the child, expectant mother, or person with developmental disability in the following ways:

(i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;

(ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;

(iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law;

(iv) Spouses of any persons named in (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection (2)(a), even after the marriage is terminated; or

(v) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a twenty-four-hour basis to an Indian child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4);

Referral- text of allegations made alleging either child abuse and neglect or a violation of the Minimum Licensing Standards.

Respite Care is planned short term care for your foster child that is provided by another foster parent or an approved respite provider. This care can be a few hours to a few days and is designed to give the foster parent some time away from care giving.

Responsible parent - a birth parent, adoptive parent, or step parent of a dependent child or a person who has signed an affidavit acknowledging paternity that has been filed with the state office of vital statistics.

Responsible living skills program - an agency licensed by the secretary that provides residential and transitional living services to persons ages sixteen to eighteen who are dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW and who have been unable to live in his or her legally authorized residence and, as a result, lives outdoors or in another unsafe location not intended for use as housing. Shelter Care - the legal status of a child upon entering into foster care prior to a disposition hearing before the court.

Staffed residential home - a licensed home providing twenty-four-hour care for six or fewer children or expectant mothers. The home may employ staff to care for children or expectant mothers.

Staffing - refers to a team meeting involving case workers & supervisors, the child's CASA or Guardian Adlidem, biological parents/guardians & their attorneys, and foster parents. These regularly scheduled meetings are set up to discuss the foster child and their care, as well as the requirements for reunification with biological parents. While foster parents are not required to attend a staffing, this is where you can become your foster child's advocate and voice.

(TPR) Termination of Parent rights– when a child cannot return home and an adoption is a permanent plan for that child, parental rights must be terminated in order to proceed.

Visitation - the time scheduled for a visit between the foster child and their biological parents, guardians or siblings.