Services

Hispanic Foster Care Recruitment and Retention Model

Summary:
The Child Advocacy Resource Association (CARAS) and Kean University in partnership with New Jersey Foster and Adoptive Family Services seeks to expand the pool of Hispanic foster families in the state. This effort is in compliance with Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA) to “recruit prospective foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in the state.”(Federal Registry, 25 January 2000)

This project is designed as a collaborative effort to identify, recruit and retain Hispanic foster parents for the future growing population of Hispanics in New Jersey. The Division of Youth and Family Services will be able to more effectively accomplish its mission of providing quality foster care to children through coordination of recruitment efforts. The New Jersey Foster and Adoptive Family Services and the Hispanic community based organizations will benefit by fully utilizing local and state resources for service delivery to their client populations. The efforts and resources committed to this project are an investment in the future of all children in New Jersey.

Project Goal:
• To significantly expand the pool of Hispanic foster families by identifying, recruiting and retaining Hispanic foster families.

Strategies:
• Conduct a community based public awareness campaign utilizing the various local media outlets for general educational initiatives and as a means of motivating prospective Hispanics to become foster parents.

• Conduct community education sessions by networking with a wide variety of community-based and local organizations, including libraries, religious institutions, and school districts.

• Develop partnerships with the local government and service delivery systems, in order to support key initiatives that may leverage new resources and make existing ones accessible to our pool of foster parents.

• Engage in local community capacity building by enhancing the ability of service providers and foster parents to access needed resources and supportive services so as to successfully complete the certification process.

• Develop and supervise a student unit. Undergraduate and graduate social work students will be trained in the field of child welfare thereby creating a pool of bilingual and bicultural professionals to work with Latino children and families.