The Life Cycle of a Case (Video)

Here’s is a helpful breakdown of how a foster care case works in the state of Washington.

Children enter foster care due to substantial reports of abuse or neglect. As children enter foster care, the CPS investigator is working with the birth family and courts to determine if children can safely go back home, be placed with a relative, or need to be placed with a foster family. Foster care provides a safe, nurturing, and temporary place for a child with the goal that children are reunited with their parents. 

Within 72 hours of children being removed from their parent’s care, a Shelter-Care hearing occurs. If a parent has not obtained an attorney by this hearing, an attorney will be appointed to them. This hearing takes place at the courthouse for the judge to determine if a child needs to remain in out of home care or if they can be returned home. 

The case then transfers from the CPS Social Worker to a Child and Family Welfare Social Worker who works directly with the birth parents and monitors the safety of the foster child. The social worker visits the foster child and foster family at least once a month to ensure the child’s needs are being met. As the case progresses, an advocate, oftentimes called a Guardian ad Litim or Court Appointed Special Advocate, is also assigned to advocate for the welfare of the child. 

Within the same first 72 hours of a child being removed from their parents' care, the child and parents will have a visit. These visits are called Family Time. At the beginning, Family Time visits are supervised by a third party. Family Time often begins at a frequency of 2 2-hour visits a week. As time progresses, Family Time visits become more frequent, longer in duration, and the level of supervision decreases. At Skookum Kids, we have a team of Visit Specialists who are assigned to conduct and support Family Time visits for our Skookum foster families. Family Time visits are crucial for maintaining the parent-child bond and increasing the likelihood of reunification. 

Within 75 days of a child entering foster care, a Fact Finding Hearing occurs. This hearing is to hear testimony as to the facts of the case. If the court makes the finding that the child is a court dependent, this means Dependency is established. The judge then decides whether the child should remain with the parents while they engage in in-home services or if the child should be legally removed from the parents’ care. If the child is removed from the parents, the judge considers who should care for the child. The court must consider relatives as the first placement option and a foster family as a secondary option. 

Once children are ruled “dependent”, a Disposition Hearing follows where a service plan is issued that describes the responsibilities and duties of both the social services department and the parents to remedy the problems that caused the child's removal. Services could include participating in mental health counseling, taking parenting courses and/or engaging in drug treatment programs.

From there, a court hearing, called a Review Hearing, occurs every 6 months to assess parental progress, check on the well-being and needs of the child, and assess if the parent-child visitation plan needs to be modified. Children can be returned home at any point before this hearing if all parties are in agreement. If not, the case is held before the judge and the judge determines if a child will return home or if they must stay in foster care.

If a child is still in foster care a year from the time dependency was established, a Permanency Planning Hearing occurs. If the parent is not making adequate progress at this time, the primary plan may change from reunification to adoption.

The goal of foster care is for children to reunify, but social workers always need to be thinking of a backup plan in case it is not possible. At any point when a child is placed in out of home care, the social worker may inquire if the family is open to adoption. This is not because the child needs an adoptive home, but rather because it is important to have a backup plan in case reunification is not possible. 

Back to the timeline, at the year mark, the social worker begins putting more work into plan b: “what happens if the child can’t reunify?” The social worker will reach out to relative members of the birth family again to see if anyone is willing to be an adoptive option for the child. If no relatives are available, the foster family may be asked if they are open to adopting the child if reunification is not possible.

At about 1.5 years into the case, the social worker may begin the process of filing to terminate parental rights if the parents are not making adequate progress with their court ordered services. This process can take 6 months or more.  At any time during the termination proceedings, if a parent is making progress, the termination process can be halted to focus on reunification. 

In the event that reunification is not possible, the parent’s rights are terminated and the child will need to be adopted. They may be adopted by a relative, suitable other or foster parents. Alternatively the parents rights may not be terminated and instead a guardianship agreement is issued between the birth parents and caregivers of the child.  

Many child welfare cases end in reunification, so let's learn about how that process goes. 

As the parents engage in services and safety concerns decrease, parents begin unsupervised visits with their children. The birth family and foster family coordinate schedules so children can have a smooth transition back and forth. The social worker will schedule a Family Team Decision Making Meeting (more commonly referred to as an FTDM) to make a plan for how and when a child will return home to their parent or parents. Depending on the circumstances, the plan could be for the child to return to their parents within a matter of days or within a few weeks. 

Reunification is a happy-sad thing. The foster family is put in a tough situation where they are excited about the parent’s progress and are happy for the child, but also must begin the grieving process of saying goodbye to a child they care for deeply. But when foster families and birth families have a good connection, reunification isn’t a goodbye, but a see-you-later.

Each foster care case will be different. So keep an open mind and be prepared for plans to change frequently. Your Foster Care Specialist is here to support you and walk along your foster care journey with you, whatever that looks like. 

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