About two-thirds of the children currently in foster care have at least one sibling who is also in foster care. Sadly, many of these children are separated from their siblings in foster care. The separation typically occurs during the initial placement of children in foster care, but it can also occur as a result of adoption. There’s nothing more precious than the bond between siblings, so these relationships should be...

Every year, the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services releases a report that outlines the current state of the foster care system in the U.S. The 2016 report was released at the end of last year, and sadly, it reveals that the number of children in foster care has increased for the fourth consecutive year. How Many Children Are in Foster Care? The...

Don’t Lose Sight of the Goal   When children are placed in foster care, also called foster placement, the goal is to reunification, in most cases. But when case plans aren’t successful, or parents aren’t given the services and support they need, reunification failures can occur. A reunification failure is when reunification isn’t successful, and the child is put back in foster placement. When DCPP (New Jersey’s CPS agency) makes...

When Children Can’t Come Home There are many possible causes of prolonged foster placement. Typically, foster placement is short-term, providing a child with a safe home just long enough for his or her parent to make necessary changes. But when a parent struggles to do so, or the social workers on the case fail to work diligently with the parent on reunification, foster placement can be prolonged. Prolonged periods in...

Foster Parent Rights Foster parents have certain rights with regard to caring for their foster children. Naturally, foster parents are invested in the wellbeing of the children they care for. New Jersey foster parents are not extended the same rights as a child’s birth parents. They do, however, benefit from many essential rights that, ultimately, benefit their foster children. Foster families, also called resource families, provide a valuable service in...