Nationally, around half a million children are in the foster care system. Approximately 5,000 in Colorado alone. So where do they come from and why do kids go into foster care? Who are their parents and where are they?

Overwhelmingly, the children who go into foster care are the victims of either severe abuse and/or neglect perpetrated by their parent/guardian. It all starts with a report of the abuse being made to the Department of Human Services by someone who knows or suspects that a child is being abused or neglected and is in danger.

This person could be a teacher, a neighbor or a passerby that has either witnessed a child being harmed first hand or has reason to believe that a child is being harmed because they have seen bruises on the child, have heard the child say something alarming or has simply noticed a change in the child’s demeanor.

Based on the information provided and the family’s history, DHS will decide whether the situation appears sever enough to investigate further by visiting the child.

After an assessment is completed, the DHS official, known as a “caseworker” or “intake worker,” will determine if there reason to remove the child and subsequently take legal action against the parent(s).

If the child is removed, they are placed in “out of home” care until they can be returned home. This could be a matter of days, months, years or in many cases, never.

Biological parents have approximately one year to meet the requirements of the state in order to regain legal custody of their children.

In the past, children have found themselves languishing in out of home care due to the inefficiency of the foster care system. However, in 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) passed, requiring states to find permanency for children within 12 months whenever possible.

This is known as expedited permanency planning (EPP). Biological parents have approximately one year to meet the requirements of the state in order to regain legal custody of their children.

Although one year is the “guideline,” the amount of time the child is in the foster care system is entirely dependent on the individual legal proceedings of their case. This time period can fluctuate given the progression of the biological parents’ treatment plan.

The requirements within a treatment plan often include, but are not limited to, drug rehabilitation, maintaining secure housing, counseling, job acquisition and maintenance and scheduled visitations with their children that exhibit qualities of a healthy parent/child relationship.

Once a child is removed, where do they go?

Once the child is removed, they are under the legal supervision of the state of Colorado who then places the child in the custody of one of the following:

A Child Placement Agency (CPA)

An agency that trains and certifies Family Foster Homes (FFH). While the child is placed with a foster home, the legal custody remains with the CPA until reunification or adoption.

Prior to 1997, FFHs were generally split into two categories- foster homes and adoptive homes. This model, however, had significant drawbacks. While it clarified the roles and gave foster and adoptive parents a stronger sense of their responsibilities and understanding of the future of their placement, it was found to be harmful to the children in care.

By separating the two types of FFH, children were often transferred or “bounced” from one home to another during the formative years of their lives. Since the passage of ASFA, most states have enacted a “concurrent planning” model wherein families are licensed as FOSTER/ADOPT allowing children to be adopted by their foster parents if they can’t be returned to their biological parents.

Concurrent planning means that the DHS caseworker is managing two plans at the same time, one being the permanent placement of the child in the foster home (adoption) and the other, the active effort to return the child to their parents if possible.

While this model has been shown to be much less stressful for children, it puts foster parents in the position of having to love and care for their foster children and prepare to adopt them as well as brace themselves to be able to return them to their parents. THIS is why selecting an agency is incredibly important.

Concurrent planning means that the DHS caseworker is managing two plans at the same time, one being the permanent placement of the child in the foster home (adoption) and the other, the active effort to return the child to their parents if possible.

Congregate Care (CC)

Includes Group Homes, Specialized Group Homes, Residential Treatment Centers (RTC) and Psychiatric Residential Treatment Centers (PRTC).  It is now commonly believed that CC should not be used as a long term placement.

Kinship Care (KC)

Over half the children removed from their parents are placed into Kinship care. A kinship placement is an out of home placement with either a direct or distant relative.

On rare occasions, a “kin-like” placement can be made if a person in the child’s life has stepped forward and stated their willingness to care for the child such as a friend of the child’s parent.

*If you suspect a child might be in danger in Colorado, please call 1-844-CO-4-KIDS (1‑844‑264‑5437) to make a report. (A call to the hotline does not guarantee the removal of the child but it will alert professionals to look into the situation).*