June is National Reunification Month! Celebrated in June each year, National Reunification Month recognizes the people and efforts around the country that help families to stay together. We want to recognize the vital role that you, as a foster parent, play in helping to reunify, strengthen and support families. The best work is done by kinship and foster parents who also support the birth parents in achieving reunification with their child and helped a family get back on track. Let’s celebrate the accomplishments of families who have overcome an array of changes to reunify safely and successfully.
Successful partnerships, such as those between birth parents and caregivers or caseworkers and older youth, often make the difference in ensuring reunification or achieving permanency. When foster or relative caregivers model positive communication and practical parenting skills, or when they make sure that visits are constructive, they are laying the foundation for success — partnering makes the difference.
The following suite of resources features the lived experience of youth in foster care, foster and relative caregivers, and the parents they serve to model a constructive approach for working together toward positive outcomes:
Visit Information Gateway to find these important resources on reunification as well as a wealth of other resources to support and strengthen families.
When children must be removed from their families to ensure their safety, the first goal is to reunite them with their families as soon as possible. Returning children home often requires intensive, family-centered services to support a safe and stable family. Services should be tailored to each family's circumstances and should address the issue(s) that brought the child and family into the child welfare system.
All in for Reunification (YouTube Video)
ABA Center on Children and the Law (2021)
Focuses on Reunification Month to gain interest from States to honor families and professionals.
Resource Family Tip Sheet for Supporting Reunification (PDF)
American Bar Association (2017)
Provides practical tips for child welfare professionals engaging families in key processes related to reunification.
Reunification
Casey Family Programs
Provides resources and publications on supporting family reunification, including topics such as fostering birth and foster parent relationships and strategies to reunite families with substance use disorders.
Clark County reunified 714 children, who to this day are still reunified which represents a total of 403 families.
Washoe County reunified 258 families.
Rural Region TBD
Nevada's Just in Time Training is a web based service program designed to connect foster parents, kinship or other caregivers with training, peer experts and other resources. Questions are answered and practical solutions to care for children are discussed - all from the comfort of your home or office.
If you have difficulty accessing any material on this site, please contact us in writing and we will work with you to make the information available. You can direct your request to JITSupport@USF.edu.