Supporting Family Reunification through Successful Visits
Presented by: Jere Wrightsman, Center for Development of Human Services
The NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
13th Annual Statewide Adoption Training Conference
Adoption 2002: Linking Promises to Possibilities
May 11, 2002 • Albany New York
Visits Help Families Reunite in Four Ways
Visits help families reunite by...
1. Providing safety and security to the child and family.
- Parents and children know that each other are well.
- Children know their parents have not abandoned them.
- Parents know they are important in their children's lives.
2. Providing an opportunity to assess the family's capacity for reunification.
- Workers can identify the family's strengths and needs.
- Foster parents can understand how they can serve as a resource to the family.
- Family members can realistically determine whether they are willing and able to live together safely.
3. Providing a time and place to build and practice new skills.
- Parents and children can learn and practice new patterns of interaction and receive feedback.
- Parents can develop confidence by learning to meet their children's needs appropriately and successfully.
- Parents and children can express and work through their feelings toward each other.
4. Providing documentation needed for permanency.
- Recommendations and plans can be supported or changed
through accurate recording of visiting experiences
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5/21/02