Using Visitation to Support Permanency

Level: Advanced Practice – Lineworker

Credits: 6

Intended Audience: Line Workers, Supervisors, Contract Providers, and Monitors seeking to improve outcomes by increasing permanency options for children within their caseloads

Intended Objectives:

• Learn how to make visits the center of casework practice
• Learn how to use visits to assess progress on the case plan
• Learn how to resolve problems during visits
• Identify when to lift supervision of visits
• Gain insight into importance of visitation from former foster youth

Topics Include:

• The purpose of visitation
• Why visitation is important
• The benefits of visitation
• The relation between visitation and case planning
• The ecological perspective
• The web of empathy
• How to think critically about visitation and develop tools to guide decision making

CalSWEC Competencies Addressed:

2.16 Student understands the importance of the biological parent maintaining contact with the child in placement, of encouraging parents when appropriate to participate in planning, and regular parent child visitations.