Running Head: FIELD PLACEMENT REPORT

Field Placement Report

Mary Glass

Wayne State University

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Field Placement Report

My field placement is at the Foster Care Review Board (FCRB). It is a monitoring

system established by Michigan legislators through the Public Act 170 of 1997. FCRB consists
of 30 local board review members throughout the state. It is directed by the State Court
Administrative Offices of the Michigan Supreme Courts. FCRB attempts to ensure a child
safety, well-being and permanency goals are met according to federal and state policies by
monitoring randomly chosen foster care cases. Cases will also be reviewed upon request. As
long as a child remains in the foster care system, the case is reviewed every six months. The
FCRB invites the Department of Human Services (DHS) and/or private agency caseworker, DHS
and/or private agency supervisor, adoption caseworker and supervisor (if necessary), foster
parents, biological parents (as long as rights have not been terminated), Lawyer/Guardian ad
Litem (LGAL) to a review board meeting. However, the only person who must attend the
meeting is the childs caseworker. If the caseworker is not available, his/her supervisor must
attend. Questions are asked by the review board members to determine if the childs best interest
are being maintained.
FCRB also conducts foster parent appeals. If a child has been removed or is planned to
be removed from a foster parents home, the foster parent has a right to appeal the removal. The
foster parent(s) with supportive people and any state or private agency staff that was part of the
childs removal decision are invited to the appeal meeting. FCRB program supervisor and board
review members ask questions to the group to determine whether the child(ren) should have been
removed from the home. If FCRB agrees with the removal then the appeal is stopped and the
removal is permanent. If FCRB does not agree with the removal, a recommendation letter will

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be sent to the Michigan Childrens Institute (MCI) Superintendent or to the local judge and a
decision will be made in 7-14 business days.
Overview of the population served
Ultimately, the population FCRB serves are foster care children ranging in age from 0-22
years old. Normally cases are reviewed for children 18 years old and younger. One exception is
if the case was reviewed before the child reached 18 years old, then the case will continue to be
reviewed every six month if the adult is still utilizing services from the state. Their case will be
reviewed until they officially leave the system at age 22 or go AWOL. An example of utilizing
the services for someone older than 17 would be staying in a residential facility. To serve the
foster care children and adults we need to come alongside all the professional and nonprofessionals who are interested in maintaining their best interests. The program supervisor and
review board members ask specific questions to ensure the safety, well-being and timely
permanency are the main focus for each child/adult.
My role within the agency
There are numerous roles in which I conform to at the agency. One of my roles is to serve
on the review board in Wayne and Kent County. Before arriving at a review board meeting, I
read the reports provided by DHS and/or the private agency for the child. The review board
paperwork could also include questionnaires completed by the interested parties listed above. On
the meeting day, I meet with the other review board members 30 minutes before the review will
be conducted to discuss questions we have and to look over the childs complete file. As a
review board member, I ask questions to childs interested parties who attend the meeting. I ask
questions pertaining to confirmation of the report details and anything that may not be included
in the file. The questions are dependent on how thoroughly the case file and reports were

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completed. Verification of how many placements the child has had, how long the child has been
in the foster care system, how many caseworkers the child has had, how many cases the
caseworker currently has, and if the LGAL has met the child are always confirmed because there
are laws and court requirements for the above information. I also participate in foster parent
appeals in Wayne, Kent, Ingham counties. At an appeal, I along with the program supervisor and
other review board member asked questions about the reason for the childs scheduled or actual
removal. The caseworker and any other necessary parties explain their reason and the foster
parent and any other supporting parties describe why they disagree. At the end of the appeal, we
excuse everyone except the program supervisor and review board member from the room to
discuss what we will recommend the MCI Superintendent or judge to do in regards to the
removal. When I am not in a review board meeting or appeal, I assist my field advisor in
preparing reports for the meetings and input information in the database system so it is available
for an upcoming review. To broaden my knowledge of the foster care system, I have had the
opportunity to participant in the Adoption and Permanency Forum, Foster Care Advisory
Committee and the Court Improvement Task Plan Committee.
Disciplines represented within the organization
Various disciplines work or volunteer in conjunction with the Foster Care Review Board.
Being that the FCRB is part of the Michigan Supreme Court, I am able to interact with judges
and attorneys to learn about their opinions of a particular case or their input on the overall foster
care system at committee meetings. The FCRB consist of volunteers which represent numerous
disciplines in each review board. Their disciplines are shown as they share their ideas about a
particular case. The nurse is looking at the case from a medical point of view. The teachers
analyze the educational aspects. Engineers ensure the system is coordinating properly. One

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person works for the Department of Corrections, so she boldly states her opinion of the case
issues. I interact with the childs representation which vary in education at review board meeting
or appeals. The caseworkers, supervisors, and licensing agents are social workers or have a
human service type degree. The child welfare investigator likely is educated in criminal justice.
How Clients Enter, Progress Through and Leave the System
Children enter the foster care system for several reasons. A few of the more common
reasons are physical and sexual abuse, neglect, or death of parents. However, the FCRB does not
participate in assisting children when they actually enter the foster care system. Their role is
reviewing the case after the child has already entered. At a review board, the board members
inquire about the childs progress through questioning the child and their representation. Since
every childs case is different, their progress occurs at different rates as well. Hopefully some
positive progress occurs as a result of the recommendations made to the childs representation at
a review board meeting. Cases are randomly chosen for review or chosen because someone
contacted FCRB requesting review of a specific case. After the first review, the case is reviewed
every six months until the child leaves the system thorough reunification with parents, adoption,
aging out, or death.
Agencys Commitment to the Community
The FCRB staff and volunteers value the importance of serving in the community. The
FCRB staff and volunteer review board representatives serve on the Foster Care Advisory
Committee along with many disciplines to devise ways to improve the foster care system. They
also assist some colleges in social work curriculum. FCRB staff participates in the Court
Improvement Task Plan Committee to create ways for collaboration to occur more frequently
between social workers and the legal system. FCRB staff and many of its volunteers support

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Detroit area organizations that provide services to foster care children. An annual report is also
provide each year documenting the amount of reviews and appeals FCRB has conducted. They
also include information on a topic which is affecting the foster care system to bring awareness
to the issue. This years topic will be the lack of training and knowledge the judicial system has
about the child welfare system. The report will include statistics about the issue with many
Lawyer/Guardian ad Litems not knowing their clients because they do not actually meet with
them on a regular basis. Judges can make judgments in family court, yet they may not really
know much about the foster care system. Their lack of knowledge about the foster care system
and the lack of collaboration with the social workers can affect the foster care child from
receiving the best care possible.