Glossary of Foster Care Terms

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Adjudication: A hearing to figure out if there has been a crime.

Aging Out: When a youth leaves foster care because they have reached age 18 or have finished high school (whichever comes last) without returning home or being adopted.

Appeals: Someone asks for a hearing to change the court’s decision. Any court decision is subject to an appeal. Appeals can take several months to resolve.

Arraignment: The court gives an individual a chance to admit or deny the crime or to let the judge decide.

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Biological Parents: The person(s) who gave birth, or fathered the child.

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CASA: see Court Appointed Special Advocate

Caseworker: Works with youth and their families to provide services and support, with the goal of permanent placement for the youth.

Case Assessment and Case plan: A plan that the Department of Human Services, along with the youth and family, makes and updates every six months. It includes the services provided to the youth and family, and makes clear the expectations and progress made toward reaching the goal of permanent placement of the youth.

Cease Reunification: The court decides that since the biological parents did not do what was required of them for the child to go home, the Department is no longer required to provide reunification services for the purpose of the child returning to their biological parent’s home.

Child Protective Caseworker (CPS): Works with children and youth and families (sometimes the children and youth are still in their homes) to assess, investigate and provide ongoing social services to families where abuse and neglect of youth has been reported.

Court Appointed Special Advocate: (also known as CASA) An adult volunteer, assigned by the court to study and protect the best interests of a youth in a civil or criminal abuse or neglect case. The CASA and the youth should talk on an ongoing basis. The CASA is your voice in the courtroom.

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DHS: Abreviation for Department of Health Services or Department of Human Services, often the over-seeing agency for foster care in a state.

Disposition: This is the decision about where the youth should live (such as in state custody), as well as what the parents, DHS and the youth must do to change the problems. Please understand that sometimes court hearings are continued and changed to another date for various reasons. For instance, someone may not show up, or everyone at court may feel it’s a good idea.

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Emancipation: A youth who is legally declared an adult (by a court) prior to age 18. A youth in foster care who emanicipates is no longer a ward of the court (or in foster care).

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Foster Care: Care provided to youth when they are removed from their biological family’s custody and are placed in state custody. Foster care includes placement with relatives, foster families, group homes, shelters and other placements for children under the age of 21.

Foster Home: A home where a youth may live while in the custody of the State’s Child Welfare system.

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Group Home: A home that cares for many foster youth, often using social workers for supervision instead of foster parents.

Guardian ad Litem (GAL): An adult volunteer, assigned by the court to study and protect the best interests of a youth in a civil or criminal abuse or neglect case. The GAL and the youth should talk on an ongoing basis. The GAL is your voice in the courtroom.

Guardianship: When an adult is granted parental rights for a youth.

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ILP: Abbreviation for Independent Living Program.

Independent Living: An approved type of living arrangement in which a child who is at least 16 years old resides with a relative, friends, in a dorm or in his or her own apartment without the day-to-day supervision of an adult.

Independent Living Program (ILP): A federally funded program providing services to foster youth age 14 or16 and over to prepare for adulthood. This program provides classes in life skills, vocational training, and equipment needed for job training. Also provides funds for college scholarships, skills training, and rent assistance.

Independent Living Skills Case-worker: A Department of Human Services’ Caseworker who provides services to youth in state custody who are 16 and older, and whose treatment plan goal is independent living. Services are to help youth learn to live on their own.

Individual Education Plan (IEP): A plan intended to improve success for an individual student, which may include additional assistance, learning aids, tutoring, revised or classroom settings. Produced by a team of people, including teachers, school administrators, counselors, parents or foster parents, and sometimes the youth themselves.

Individual Service Plan (ISP): A written document describing long range goals and short range objectives for the provision of service for a foster youth

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Judge: The judge decides what is best for the youth. The judge issues court orders, reads reports, hears arguments and decides whether the youth should be placed in the custody of the state.

Judicial Review: A court review that looks at the progress of the parents and the youth in order to decide the safest place for the youth to live. There must be a Judicial Review within 18 months (soon to be 12 months) of the child entering custody and at least every 12 months after that.

Juvenile Court: A district court or another court that only addresses matters affecting children younger than 18.

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Kinship or Kinship Care: Those providing 24 hour care for children they are related to by blood. This may also be called relative care.

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Life Book: Pages or a packet of information prepared with or for a child regarding his/her social back-ground. It includes pictures and stories about people, events and places which are important to the child’s history and life.

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Notice of Hearings: Everyone involved in the case must be served with a notice telling them when and where there’s going to be a hearing. "Parties" includes people like parents, attorneys, GALs and your caseworker.

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Permanency Planning: The case-worker coordinates services for the youth and family to fix the problems that led to the youth’s placement in state custody. The goal is to assure a long-term placement for the youth. This may be going home, staying in long-term foster care until age 18 or 21, or being placed for adoption.

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RespiteCare: Temporary care for a youth in foster care, intended to give either the youth or foster parent (or provider) a break.

Residential Service Plan (RSP): A plan describing past behavior problems, with goals and reinforcement information to eliminate the unwanted behavior.

Reunification: Services that can bring a family back together by working on the problems that caused the separation of the youth from the family.

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Sibling: Brother or sister

Surrogate Parent: A person (usually a foster parent or care provider) who is appointed by the Department of Education to make sure that a youth’s special education needs are being met.

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Terminationof Parental Rights (TPR): If family reunification has been ruled out and adoption is a possibility for the child, the Department may petition (request) for termination of parents’ rights to the child. If the court terminates parental rights it means the child is free for adoption. It also means that your biological parents have no legal rights pertaining to you anymore. (They don’t have access to information about you, don’t work with your caseworker anymore, etc.)

Therapist/Counselor: A licensed person who provides youth supportive services such as counseling, goal planning and advocacy for youth and families. This person can have any of these official titles: Social Worker, Psychologist or Psychiatrist.