Lesson One 1 2 3 4 5
ICE BREAKERS: Working Family to Family
A pattern of cooperation between the child’s two homes can be established from the outset by including parents in the pre-placement visits or setting up a meeting shortly after a child is placed in a resource family's home..
There is a model of best practice called called "Ice Breakers" that facilitates a meeting among birth parent, resource parent and caseworker. With the help of Casey's Family to Family Program, Anchorage will be implementing this program beginning in Spring of 2006. This meeting gives resource parent and birth parent a chance to meet each other early in the process and talk about the placement, share information about the child, be clear on the visitation and contact guidelines. The meetings are facilitated and monitored by the social worker.
Even if your area does not have such a program, working with your social worker to reach out to birth parents early in the process will help establish a better relationship of trust.
Read the following reading passage and answer the questions at the end of the reading.
READING ASSIGNMENT #1:
Ice Breakers: A Best Practice Tool For Child Welfare Workers
From the January 2003 State of Oregon Department Newsletter at http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/localoffices/sdas/sda3/news/news0103.shtml
Whenever a child is removed from their home due to safety concerns, birth parents are often faced with many questions about the welfare of their children. Using "Ice Breakers" is just one more way to help alleviate these concerns and help families understand the issues of concern.
What are Ice Breaker Meetings? They are a new "best-practice tool" being introduced into child welfare practice. The purpose is to bring the foster parent, birth parent and caseworker together to facilitate a face-to-face introduction and encourage information sharing about the likes, dislikes and routine of the child. Ice Breakers help to assure that while a child is in out-of-home care they are as comfortable as possible.
Benefits are numerous
Everyone involved in a case benefits when an Ice Breaker is used. Foster parents benefit since they are able to get specific information from the parent which will allow them to better understand the needs of the child. Studies have shown that children will do better in their placement, have better emotional development, do better in school and are more likely to successfully return home. Birth parents are able to feel more at ease about their child's safety, well-being and placement, which has proven to allow them to engage in needed services quicker, knowing their children are in good hands. "Ice Breakers also help to eliminate the adversarial relationship that often exists between the foster and birth parents," said Irvin Minten, Family-to-Family Coordinator.
How they work
The meetings last around 20 minutes and follow a structured format. Only first names are used at introduction, no addresses or phone numbers are exchanged and no future meetings are scheduled during the Ice Breaker.
If, for any reason, an Ice Breaker isn't appropriate for the specific circumstances of the child, alternative ways to communicate and keep the child connected will be explored. Sometimes this can involve exchanging a weekly journal, notes, phone calls, etc.
The ultimate goal is to have Ice Breakers be standard practice upon placement of child. As a way to encourage and introduce this positive new tool, all child welfare workers in unit have been asked to conduct at least one Ice Breaker before the end of the year. Irvin summed it up by saying, "Every family deserves an Ice Breaker."
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:
1. Do I understand what an Ice Breaker meeting is?
2. Can I list what some benefits in having an Ice Breaker meeting?