March 2024Vol. 25, No. 2The Importance of Birth Parent and Foster Caregiver Partnerships

A strong partnership between birth parents and foster caregivers is an important element of child welfare practice that can have many benefits for children, youth, and families. A learning module from the Children’s Bureau Learning and Coordination Center provides information about these important partnerships and how professionals can contribute to their success.

Users can navigate the module topics to do the following:

• Explore the importance of relationships between birth parents and foster caregivers
• Understand these relationships from a family systems perspective
• Learn family systems concepts that can support birth parent and foster caregiver partnerships
• Hear from birth parents and foster caregivers about their experiences
• Use reflective exercises to think about personal experiences in complex relationships
• Create a journal for promoting birth parent and foster caregiver relationships

The module also provides an overview of family systems theory, which focuses on relationships within the family system and patterns of emotional interactions among individuals. The training details how family systems theory can be applied to child welfare.

The training module, "Birth Parent and Foster Caregiver Partnerships: A Family Systems Perspective," is free and available on the Children’s Bureau Learning and Coordination Center website.