
Course Summary
In this course, you can expect to learn:
Your role as a foster parent in helping children and youth maintain connections to their birth parents
Positive ways to help children and youth stay connected to birth parents
Strategies for building healthy and safe relationships with birth parents
Why relationships with birth parents are so important for children and youth in care, even if reunification is not the goal

Step 1
Read Kodi’s story about “Preparing for Reunification” with his birth mother and the importance and impact of maintaining his connection to her.

Step 2
Foster parents play a critical role when it comes to maintaining connections between youth and their birth families. Review the following resource developed by the state of Wisconsin “Developing And Maintaining Family Connection” to gain insight into promoting and strengthening safe and healthy relationships.

Step 3
Read the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s factsheet on “Partnering with Birth Parents to Promote Reunification.” This resource was informed by focus groups with birth parents and foster parents, and shares their advice and highlights the many opportunities to help children, youth, and families in need.
**Optional additional resource: Visit the Birth Parent National Network (BPNN) and Birth and Foster Parent Partnership (BFPP), and view the many resources available that convey perspectives from parents with experience in the child welfare system on a variety of topics.

Step 4
Foster parents can be one of the most important resources to help children and families reunify. Review “Resource Family Tip Sheet for Supporting Reunification” developed by the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law for resources and tips on how to support a safe reunification.

Step 5
Learn why it is so important to help a young person remain connected to an incarcerated parent by reviewing Linda’s Story “Visiting Hours - Kids have a Right to see their Parents in Prison.”

Step 6
Join the discussion in the comments below to answer the following question:
Why is it important to help a young person maintain connections to their family of origin even if reunification is not the permanency plan?

Step 7
Finished the module? If you are logged in as a subscribed user, take the quiz to earn your Continuing Education Credit hours and certificate!
Course Discussion
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