Supports, training key to expanding treatment foster care

If Ohio is to expand the number and quality of treatment foster homes by the time the Family First Act goes live in October 2021, then additional supports and training will be needed along with a boost in recruitment and retention, according to a report released today.

The new report on treatment foster care supports, training, recruitment and retention builds on recommendations made in an earlier report PCSAO released this year. A diverse workgroup of stakeholders met to develop the recommendations, including representatives from public and private foster care agencies, foster and birth families, behavioral health providers, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, and other child protection leaders. The work is led by PCSAO and the ODJFS Office of Children Services Transformation with support from Casey Family Programs, and developed out of PCSAO’s Children’s Continuum of Care Reform.

The focus on treatment foster caregivers, also known as resource parents or resource families, is important because Family First will place new limits on children being placed in congregate care settings. The various supports and training have been aligned with new tiers proposed in the earlier report. Work continues on issues such as professionalization of resource families and cost.