QUESTION: My agency is always having meetings about me. Don't I have a right to be there?
ANSWER: If you are over 10 years old, you have the right to participate in meetings as your agency called "case conferences." The purpose of case conferences is to plan what will happen to you while you're in care and when you leave care. This includes where you will be placed, where you will go to school, when and how often you can visit your family, what kind of services you should be receiving, and where you will go when you leave care (go home to your family, become adopted, or live on your own).
The agency must make sure that you are part of these case conferences. They must tell you in writing when and where the meeting will be held. If you do not go to the meeting, they must tell you exactly what was decided.
You have the right to bring someone with you to the meeting, like a friend, family member, or your lawyer. it is important to have someone with you so you'll feel like you have someone on your side. They can take notes for you or ask questions that you might have forgotten about.
Your first case conference should take place when you first enter foster care. The purpose of this meeting is: 1) for the agency to get as much information as they can about your family and the problems that led you to enter foster care, so they can decide what types of services you and/or your family may need and 2) to decide what your "permanency planning goal" is - whether you will return to your parents, be discharged to a family member, be adopted, or if you will be discharged to independent living.
At this meeting they should also discuss what visits you will have with your family; services they have provided to you and your family; and what the agency did to prevent or eliminate the need for foster care placement, or the reason why such efforts were not made. During this first meeting you have the right to say what you agree with or disagree with. You should ask for explanations of things that you do not understand.
After the first meeting, your case conferences will be held every six months. Again, you have the right to attend these meetings and should be informed when they will take place. You should bring up problems at these meetings.
Unfortunately, some decisions that are made about you, such as the decision to move you from one foster home to another, can be made without first asking you if you agree. These decisions should be discussed with you before you're moved, but the law does not give you the right to fully participate in the decision to be moved.
If you need help preparing for a case conference meeting or need someone to go with you, call the Legal Rights Hotline at 212-675-6181.
NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
410 East Upland Road • Ithaca, NY 14850
607-272-0034 • fax 607-272-0035
office@nysccc.org7/10/02