{"id":9736,"date":"2021-09-02T20:12:50","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T20:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrensbureau.org\/?p=9736"},"modified":"2025-02-25T12:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T17:05:34","slug":"kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Kris’ Corner – A Day in the Life of a Foster Care Case Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I have mentioned previously,\u00a0as\u00a0a foster parent licensed\u00a0through\u00a0Children\u2019<\/span>s\u00a0Bureau,<\/span>\u00a0for each case\u00a0you will have a DCS\u00a0family case manager\u00a0(FCM)\u00a0and\u00a0a case manager from Children\u2019<\/span>s\u00a0Bureau.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So why the overlap?\u00a0Or is it overlap?\u00a0There is a bit of overlap but the overarching reason is simply to be a backup to the FCM and to provide the best possible support to the foster family.\u00a0Children\u2019s Bureau caseworkers\u00a0are\u00a0much easier for\u00a0the\u00a0foster parents, or anyone involved in the case\u00a0for that matter, to get\u00a0in touch with\u00a0should the need arise. This is by virtue of the fact that their caseloads\u00a0are\u00a0much smaller than a DCS<\/span>\u00a0FCM.\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m not sure the current number, but when our son was in care a few years ago, our FCM had, on average, 36 cases she had to balance. By contrast,\u00a0a\u00a0range of\u00a0only\u00a09 to 12 cases\u00a0are on the plate of\u00a0a\u00a0Children\u2019s Bureau caseworker.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That said\u2026what does a typical day in the life of a\u00a0Children\u2019s Bureau caseworker\u00a0look like? Clearly, each day is going to be slightly different, but undoubtedly all CB caseworkers would agree that it\u00a0runs the gamut of what\u00a0they\u00a0might do in a typical day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To give some structure to a\u00a0\u201ctypical\u201d\u00a0day, I sat down with CB case worker Leslie (not her real name) to get more insight into how her workdays look.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most appointments or meetings\u00a0for a case worker begin at 9 o\u2019clock, but that\u2019s not when\u00a0her\u00a0workday\u00a0starts.\u00a0The\u00a0workday typically begins around\u00a07:00\u00a0or 7:30. If foster parents are not calling or texting at that point, caseworkers\u00a0might take advantage of that\u00a0time to catch up on paperwork from the day before.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So,\u00a0as\u00a0I said,\u00a0the day\u2019s\u00a0scheduled\u00a0meetings\/appointments often\u00a0begin at\u00a09:00\u00a0and typically consist of 3 to 4 appointments\u00a0over the course of the day. It may not sound like much but it could be anything from\u00a0attending\u00a0court\u00a0(which can be a good amount of waiting, because it doesn\u2019t always begin at the time it is scheduled),\u00a0to staffing,\u00a0to\u00a0a\u00a0family team meeting to home visits\u00a0and\u00a0a myriad of things\u00a0in between.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, there can always be a non-scheduled meeting which is more along the lines of a crisis and those (for obvious reasons) are not scheduled.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an aside,\u00a0case workers\u00a0have to submit notes from\u00a0all\u00a0meetings they attend.\u00a0ALL.OF.THEM. Can you even fathom what that would be like?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Often<\/span>times\u00a0the appointments on the calendar\u00a0are spread on all sides of town. This is because they often include several different parties,\u00a0so\u00a0multiple\u00a0schedules are taken into consideration.\u00a0The day often\u00a0involves time\u00a0spent\u00a0in the car\u00a0traveling to and from different sides of town.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0home visit, for instance, is\u00a0going to include\u00a0time talking to the foster parents to ensure their needs are being met and to answer any questions they have; but such a meeting also includes\u00a0interacting with\u00a0the child or children. Case workers\u00a0might\u00a0interact with a wide range of ages in the course of\u00a0a single\u00a0day; it can vary from a\u00a0newborn all the way up to a 19-year-old who\u2019<\/span>s in collaborative care.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to digress for a moment and give a glimpse of what a case worker\u2019s visit with a child may look like (in case you are new or haven\u2019t made the leap into foster care just yet).\u00a0For\u00a0a\u00a0younger child, the goal is to ensure\u00a0that\u00a0the foster parents have what they need to care for the child\u2026clothing, diapers, wipes, etc.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When the children are a little bit older,\u00a0it might mean getting down on the floor and playing and interacting with them.\u00a0This could be asking questions about their favorite activities or foods, talking about school or playing a game together.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And then when they\u00a0are much older, it might mean being involved in some of their\u00a0life skills or\u00a0collaborative care work.\u00a0Leslie\u00a0shared a recent experience she had that illustrates the kind of\u00a0\u201cabove and beyond\u201d\u00a0work that a Children\u2019s Bureau case worker is able to do for a child in care.\u00a0 In this situation, she was\u00a0helping\u00a0an older teen\u00a0work on\u00a0her\u00a0transportation skills. She was in transition out of care but still needed to work on some of her life skills. She\u00a0was able\u00a0to\u00a0get a job but had no way to get there\u2026so\u00a0Leslie\u00a0helped her work on that\u00a0transportation\u00a0goal over the course of three\u00a0different\u00a0days.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal was for\u00a0the teen\u00a0to be comfortable and confident\u00a0riding\u00a0the public bus system. The first day, the child\u00a0rode<\/span>\u00a0in Leslie<\/span>\u2019s\u00a0car and they followed a bus, just to see the rhythm of it, how often it stopped,\u00a0what happened when it stopped,\u00a0etc. The next time they met, they mapped out where they wanted to go, and used the bus schedule to figure out how to get there together. And on the third day, the\u00a0child\u00a0chose where she wanted to go, and had to get herself there on the bus, and Leslie met her.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So,\u00a0you see, not all of the case manager\u2019s time is taken up with\u00a0traditional-style meetings.\u00a0Sometimes, it\u2019s working one on one with foster kids\u2026helping them develop\u00a0life\u00a0skills that they need\u00a0in life outside of foster care, and at the same time creating opportunities for attachment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s just a little bit of insight into a Children\u2019s Bureau case worker\u2019s\u00a0\u201ctypical day\u201d. Clearly,\u00a0no two days are\u00a0alike, but they often have the same flow\u2026and more importantly, the same purpose: to serve their foster families and the kids for whom they care.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Sincerely,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Kris<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I have mentioned previously,\u00a0as\u00a0a foster parent licensed\u00a0through\u00a0Children\u2019s\u00a0Bureau,\u00a0for each case\u00a0you will have a DCS\u00a0family case manager\u00a0(FCM)\u00a0and\u00a0a case manager from Children\u2019s\u00a0Bureau.\u00a0\u00a0 So why the overlap?\u00a0Or is it overlap?\u00a0There is a bit of overlap but the overarching reason is simply to be a backup to the FCM and to provide the best possible support to the foster […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kriss-corner"],"yoast_head":"\nKris' Corner - A Day in the Life of a Foster Care Case Manager - Firefly Children and Family Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kris' Corner - A Day in the Life of a Foster Care Case Manager - Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I have mentioned previously,\u00a0as\u00a0a foster parent licensed\u00a0through\u00a0Children\u2019s\u00a0Bureau,\u00a0for each case\u00a0you will have a DCS\u00a0family case manager\u00a0(FCM)\u00a0and\u00a0a case manager from Children\u2019s\u00a0Bureau.\u00a0\u00a0 So why the overlap?\u00a0Or is it overlap?\u00a0There is a bit of overlap but the overarching reason is simply to be a backup to the FCM and to provide the best possible support to the foster […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fireflyin.org\/cnh\/resources\/news-library\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-02T20:12:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-25T17:05:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Firefly Children and Family Alliance\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4a0a717d05ab7bca77c74ce89ec295bf\"},\"headline\":\"Kris’ Corner – A Day in the Life of a Foster Care Case Manager\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-02T20:12:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-25T17:05:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":983,\"articleSection\":[\"Kris' Corner\"],\"inLanguage\":\"cnh\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fireflyin.org\\\/resources\\\/news-library\\\/kris-corner-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-foster-care-case-manager\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kris' Corner - 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