Lesson Three 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Visitation Review
To review what you learned about visitation on the previous page, take this quiz. Click the appropriate answer of whether the sentence is true or false. Then compare your answers with the correct answers given below.
| 1. Resource parents are expected to support a child’s contact with a birth family especially when the plan for the child is reunification |
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| 2. It is okay for resource families to arrange visits for a child with relatives without expressed permission of the social worker as long as that relative is not the one who abused or neglected that child. |
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| 3. Foster families can decide not to take a child on a visit if the child doesn't not want to go. |
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| 4. Resource families are not required to give out their home phone number to birth parents if they don’t wish it to be given. |
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| 5. If a child is showing increased behavior problems immediately before or after a visit, it is a clear indication that visits should stop immediately. |
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| 6. If a parent has been drinking, the resource family can refuse to allow a child to leave with the parent. |
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| 7. Birth parents must be notified in advance if vacations are going to interfere with court ordered visits. |
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| 8. If a birth parent calls at night and the child is already in bed, a foster parent must wake up the child to talk to the parent. |
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CORRECT ANSWERS: Compare your answers above to the correct ones below.
1.TRUE. Resource parents are expected to support a child’s contact with a birth family. When the plan is reunification, visitation is the best predictor of how successful and motivated birth parents are. Visitation also allows a child to keep a connection with his birth parent.
2. FALSE. It is not okay for resource families to arrange visits for a child without expressed permission of the social worker. Talk to your social worker before arranging visits to determine who is not allowed contact with a child and who is allowed contact.
3. FALSE. Visits are required by Alaska Law unless there is a court order not to have visits. Foster parents cannot make that decision on their own.
4. TRUE. Resource families need to give permission before their home phone number is given out. Sometimes, however, relatives may already have your phone number and sometimes children themselves give out the number. But social workers cannont give it out without your permission.
5. FALSE. Visits can be emotional, so a resource parent should expect a child to show some upset behavior, anxiety, and trouble "settling down" after visit. It does not mean visits should stop. If behavior becomes extreme, takes several days to go away, or increases self destructive behavior in a child, then you need to discuss the situation with your child's social worker.
6. TRUE. Safety always comes first for children. The social worker needs to discuss rules of visitation with a birth parent before visits. If a parent has been drinking or using drugs, the resource family can refuse to allow a child to leave with the parent. If a parent becomes belligerent, or threatening, the resource parent can contact the authorities or police.
7. TRUE. Birth parents retain some rights and must be notified if something, like a vacation or trip, might interfere with court ordered visits.
8. FALSE. Contact is encourage between child and birth parent but it must follow the guidelines set up in the case plan. If a birth parent calls at an inappropriate hour, or calls constantly or outside of the guidelines in the caseplan, the resource parent can limit those calls. It is also best to notify the social worker and let him or her know what is going on.