Implementing the Values and Strategies of Family to Family

Source: (2001) “Family to Family: Tools for Rebuilding Foster Care” series. Baltimore, Maryland: Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The background to this document is the conviction, on the part of many who are concerned about child welfare, that community-centered responses can better protect children, support families, and strengthen neighborhoods. With respect to foster care, this leads to the position that family foster care can yield important benefits for families and children, more than foster care based in institutions or other group settings. On these bases, Family to Family was initiated in the early 1990s and tested in a number of communities around the United States. Its principles for foster care reform and implementation are neighborhood and family centered. This document provides an implementation guide for a Family to Family approach to child welfare. It offers a framework agencies can use to assess their current policies and practices, as well as to develop plans to integrate Family to Family values, principles, and strategies into existing initiatives and activities