Documentation is imperative to your survival as a Foster Parent, it is your only line of defense. In workshops three slides are used to stress how important this subject is;

There are three words that every foster parent needs to keep in front of them at all times; Those three words are;

1. 1st word; Documentation
2. 2nd word; Documentation
3. 3rd word; Documentation

Get it, got it…..Good..........Now let’s get on with our instruction.

If someone mentions the word “documentation” and does not give you instructions along with that word it remains just a word. It is unfortunate that your Foster Parent trainings do not cover the vital subjects that we are exploring here on The Examiner. They are in the most part defeating the purpose of the trainings. You see, if they would furnish their foster parents an education, containing truth about the hurricane that is heading their way, a storm called allegations, from which the only defense is documentation, it would give foster parents the opportunity to prepare for the “storm” that is coming.

Instead, foster parents find themselves sitting in the middle of a hurricane called “CPS” wondering why someone was not honest with them. While their lives are in turmoil due to an allegation then it is too late to instruct you in documentation. When they live through the traumatic experience an allegation they no longer wish to continue as foster parents. Can you blame you?

Partial solution to the problem, a new approach, be truthful with you, warn you about allegations and teach you to document properly.

Remember what the rules of instruction are. What, why and how. So let us cover exactly what documentation is; Webster’s dictionary defines this word as; The paper that furnishes information, proof, or support of something else. This is what we are doing when we document. We are establishing a method of proving/documenting any events/incidents that take place in or outside of our homes. Documentation is a record another word commonly is journaling.

I think the why in this subject is obvious; we are trying to save ourselves from the humiliation and unnecessary financial/emotional ruin from an impending allegation. Documentation is our only defense.
You notice what we said “impending allegation”.

You must change your way of thinking. Instead of thinking, you could have an allegation filed, change this thinking to “you will have an allegation” filed on me or someone in my family.

Homework; write this out and place it in a prominent place so you’ll see it.  EVERYDAY
“It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when”.

http://www.examiner.com/x-46864-Foster-Families-Examiner~y2010m6d1-Foster-Parents-Did-You-Know-Documentation-How-Important-is-it-Part-1-of-5

Back to Documentation Index

In part of this series we were learning documentation and discovering      the answer to our question; How important is it?   Missed part one? For complete understanding.....Go back to part one. 

Now let us continue with this subject; The most important thing you need to learn, is new habits. What we mean by that is never allow yourself as a foster parent to put off what you need to do today.

• Never allow yourself the privilege of putting it off, catch up on your journaling later.

The reason;  you will not do it, or you will have forgotten vital facts that could make the difference in a substantiated/unsubstantiated decision . You see, each state uses one of three terms;  the are unsubstantiated, un-indicated, or unfounded.

How; Then we need to know what is the best format to use in the [process of documentation.  This method must be one that will be acceptable in an Administrative Law courtroom  "kangaroo court". Therefore, you need to create your documentation/journal in a book that makes it obvious where any pages have been added/removed.  The ones that fits our purposes are called "composition books" available at any of the large department stores.  They are available in different colors making it possible for you to use one color for your personal journal, and another color for the children.

You need to have several of them on hand, at all times, so that you can write the child's name in it the moment your social worker informs you about the placement.  Many times the social worker will give you information about the child in the initial conversation.  Write this down on a separate sheet of paper and when you have it worded correctly; enter it into the brand new journal designated to that child.

Rules for journals;

1.  The journals retained in your possession, never allow them out of your sight.

2.  Never allow anyone to borrow, or examine your journals.  If they must have copies, ie: your attorney make copies yourself. 

3.  Write in the books the work-product rule; The attorney-client privilege is one of the oldest common law privileges protecting confidential communications. If you place on the cover of each journal you are declaring that your journals are privileged communications meant only for your attorney.

• A work-product doctrine.  In American civil procedure, the work-product doctrine protects materials prepared in anticipation of litigation from discovery by opposing counsel. (1) It is also known as the work-product rule, the work-product immunity, the work-product privilege, and the work-product exception.  (Read more on this from Wikipedia)

How did you do?  What facts are we aware of about the child being brought to your home as a placement? These facts should have been entered in your journal? We actually know a lot and can make entries as follows;

1. The name of child.
2. Today’s date.
3. The time when he arrived at your home.
4. Who brought the child?
5. Possessions the child had with him.
6. Age of the child.
7. When was he removed from his biological home.
8. What was his condition on coming to you.

Was there any occurances of possible emotional/physical abuse? This is where you would have entered  the bruise that you discovered on his thigh. At this point it would be a good idea to have a picture of the bruise and write the date on the picture. Enter how long it took you to get him to sleep and why. Don’t’ forget what he said to you prior to going to sleep.

• Note: When you are fostering you need to have a good reliable camera at your disposal for incidents just like just this. Joseph has a very bad injury to his upper left thigh area, documentation.

9. Type this entire scenario into your computer. Leave out the Child’s name and use a number assigned to this placement.

 Another varification source is to set up an email file for this child.  Email this scenario to yourself or an email pal this will give you another souce of proof. Emails are clearly marked with time, date, etc.   Print this off and place it into a loose leaf notebook that will be this child’s for school records, hosptial receipts etc.

You emailed your email pal, she/he now has a backup record of the fact that this bruise discovered on Joseph was immediately after placement in your home, at what time? This was 7:45 pm. It took you time bathing him, placing him in his bed, reading to him until he went to sleep. Then after he was asleep you completed your tasks, this email will contain date, time and other important facts.

Your foster pal can keep a separate file for you on his/her computer; you will do the same for this person. This email and you will have proof as to when the bruise discovered.

Please go to five in the series.  If you have questions or subjects you would like to see answered
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How well did you do? Here is the final step in protecting yourself from a possible allegation, always remember documentation is your only defense.

To protect yourself from a possible allegation arising from this bruise you to take Joseph to your pediatrician the next morning where he can examine by a physician. If your doctor cannot take you right away, go to the emergency room. Make sure you get a copy of the examination, read it to be sure the doctors opinion is on the form. If not then ask him/her to write his findings on the form, a time frame estimation as to when the incident that caused this severe bruising could have occurred. How old is this bruise? Later this may be vital to proving your innocence.

Remember your doctor or this emergency room doctor is a “mandatory reporter”; he/she is obligated to report any injuries that they may be suspicious of, anything that could be construed as child abuse.

One more thing; anyone can call in an allegation to the CPS hotline. The biological Mother may have caused this bruise, remember how upset Joseph was the night he came to your home? This bruise may been caused by anyone, the parents, a relative, this person may  know that they caused serious injury to this child and will try to cover thier actions up by blaming you for the bruising to this child.

Remember we said that you should assign each child a number. That sounds very heartless does it not? The reason is the Privacy Act. Children have a right to privacy too. If you mention the child’s name to your foster email pal you have just violated the privacy act.

In our scenario there was a statement made by your social worker, do you remember what that was about suspected problems that Joseph may have? Do you have any idea what these mental disorders are? What are the symptoms of these disorders? These are all red flags of which you need to be aware of. The questions I would be asking is; who is she to be saying this, is this social worker a qualified psychologist? Go to nfpcar.org we have a list of these disorders/symptoms of each. Welcome to your educational resource, your journey begins. nfpcar.org

Documentation is your only line of defense.

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