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Reunification In Foster Care

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Reunification
As was previously stated, when children come into foster care reunification is the primary permanency goal to achieve after being removed from their homes (Carnochan, Lee, & Austin, 2013). Reunification or sometimes refer to as family reunification, is when the legal guardianship has been transferred back to the biological parents/or caretakers from whom the child was removed from upon leaving foster care (Balsells et at., 2013; Boldis & Tomlinson, 2014). Carnochan, Lee and Austin’s article further defines reunification as the services provided to the children and their families in order for the child to be safely returned their families (2013).
Many studies have indicated that families helping families, increases the likelihood of reunification between the biological family and the foster youth (Crampton, Usher, Wildfire, Webster, & Cuccaro-Alamin, 2011; Dolan, & Grotevant, 2014; Léveillé, & Chamberland, 2010). Equally, there has been many studies suggesting parents’ participation through family engagement as the most effective means to achieving permanency (Boldis, & Tomlinson, 2014; Crampton, Usher, Wildfire, Webster, & Cuccaro-Alamin, …show more content…

From their study, they found a high percentage of achieving reunification taking place when foster youth are placed with a relative or kinship foster family, then a nonrelative foster family (Lopez, Del Valle, Montserrat, & Bravo, 2013). Lopez and her colleagues, found this finding to be contradictive from past studies, where the findings suggest reunification is more likely to occur when foster youth are in a nonrelative foster placement (Lopez, Del Valle, Montserrat, & Bravo, 2013). However, the assumption is that when children are in a relative placement, visitation and other interactions occur more often than in a nonrelative foster placement (Lopez, Del Valle, Montserrat, & Bravo,

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