Beyond Borders: Achieving Child Permanence Across Geographic Boundaries is a video produced by AdoptUSKids that encourages viewers to think critically about the essential ingredients for ensuring high quality interjurisdictional service delivery to children, youth, and families in spite of any challenges that may be involved.
Beyond Borders features child welfare professionals from across the country sharing their experience, skills, wisdom, and knowledge with the purpose of encouraging jurisdictions to embrace the practice principles that ensure successful interjurisdictional placements.
How to use this discussion guide
We encourage you to use Beyond Borders as a starting point for rich discussions in your agency about how you currently use interjurisdictional placements and ways that you can strengthen your agency’s and child welfare system’s capacity and infrastructure to seek permanency options for children in foster care across geographic boundaries.
Discussion questions for administrators and managers
- To what extent is our jurisdiction engaging in interjurisdictional placements?
- To what extent does our jurisdiction incorporate interjurisdictional practice in concurrent planning for children and youth?
- What policies and procedures do we already have in place that support effective interjurisdictional practice?
- What improvements are needed to ensure that all levels of our jurisdiction’s child welfare system provide support to children and youth who achieve permanency through placement with families in a different jurisdiction?
- What steps do we currently take to ensure that children and youth coming from outside our jurisdiction are supported as they join a family within our jurisdiction?
- Thinking about the “barriers” and “essential ingredients” outlined in the video, what are our jurisdiction’s top three priorities to address?
Discussion questions for supervisors
- How do we support workers in developing the skills and knowledge needed to carry out interjurisdictional placements effectively?
- What do we see as the greatest needs of front-line workers with regard to interjurisdictional practice?
- What can our jurisdiction do better to ensure effective service delivery for children and youth who achieve permanency through an interjurisdictional placement?
- What changes do we need to make in our work with supervisees to ensure that interjurisdictional resources are considered as part of concurrent planning?
- As we consider the “barriers” and “essential ingredients” outlined in the video, whatare our top three priorities to address as a developing professional in a supervisory role?
Discussion questions for front-line workers
- What concerns do we have about interjurisdictional placements?
- What supports are currently available within our agency to help us effectively engage in interjurisdictional placement practices?
- What additional support, if any, would further bolster our interjurisdictional placement practices?
- What additional steps might we be able to take to include families from other jurisdictions in concurrent planning?
- What steps can we take to better prepare children and youth who have the potential of achieving permanency with a family in another jurisdiction?
- As we consider the “barriers” and “essential ingredients” outlined in the video, what do we see as our current strengths related to interjurisdictional placement practice (both individually and as an agency)?
- What is one thing we can each do to improve our knowledge and skills related to interjurisdictional placement practice?
