Assignment task:
Submit paper expanding on and justifying the potential program you identified in this week's Discussion. Include:
A brief description of the program to be developed
Criteria for inclusion in the program (which clients and why)
Justification for the proposed program. What two best methods would you use to gather credible information to support the need for your program (e.g., interview, surveys, focus groups, etc.). Why? Be sure to state from whom you would gather the information.
Please use reference:
I need help!
My discussion from this week.
Describe at least one common client problem, issue, or gap in services or programs at your field agency, practice, or community setting. (If you are not currently in a practice setting, you may draw on your past work or practicum experience.)
Previous employment as an investigator in DCFS at the Department of Human Services. The necessity for placements is the most prevalent issue I observed at the agency. We occasionally have to spend the night at the office when these kids are being randomly removed from their homes as part of an investigation, until fictive kinship is authorized or a bed becomes available for them at a nearby facility. When more than one child is being pulled, it could be necessary to divide them up in order to locate a placement or a place to live. Because there are stressors and insufficient foster homes available, the client experiences increased trauma. Furthermore, fictive kin would still require placement in foster care and require a background check and other procedures for a child to be placed. Each child may not have that relationship with the person filling out paperwork for a sibling while they wait for a provisional, in which case they will still need to go to foster care. According to the Department of Human Services in Arkansas, as of December 2023, there are over 4,000 foster homes in the state where I live, with an average of 1,200 active foster homes to care for these children.
Specifically, highlight what you see that tells you clients need something more than what the agency, practice, or community setting is offering.
The children who have been taken from their homes are already terrified since they don't know what will happen next. They are removed from their normal surroundings and moved away from family members to a facility where they are questioned. Adopted children frequently face serious emotional, behavioral, or developmental issues. blaming themselves, feeling bad about being taken away from their birth parents, and desiring to go back to them despite any abuse they may have had from them (AACAP, 2018).
Identify a program that you think is necessary to address the problem, issue, or gap and explain why.
Children who find themselves in emergency situations and need to be removed from their familiar surroundings should have more access to family-focused placement facilities. Siblings won't have to be split up this way, and they'll feel comforted knowing that family is there for them. Foster parents are in greater demand than ever. Programs to teach prospective foster parents and equip them with all the necessary tools and advantages should be implemented in order to attract more foster parents.
Generate a question that you might ask about your identified need and to whom.
"Various stakeholders can identify, document, advocate, and debate the need for a new program or practice intervention," according to Dudley (2020). The supervisor at this state agency should be questioned about whether the state can establish a family-centered placement home with a high number of beds for clients. Do you think our clients will be placed in more foster homes as a result of the possible foster parent training programs being implemented? Since they are the ones tasked with approving or disapproving new resources within the facility, presenting it to the agency supervisor is the first step in implementing new programs.
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist (2018), Foster Care.