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Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standard: Required Training for Foster Parents

Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standards KVC Nebraska

What is the Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standard?
The Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standard allows foster parents to give their foster children permission to do age-appropriate activities that promote cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral growth. All states are now required to promote normalcy for children in foster care.

How did this become a requirement for foster parents?
In September 2014, Congress passed the “Prevent Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families” Act, H.R. 4980. This law establishes prudent parent standards throughout the United States. As part of this federal law, foster parents are now required to complete the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard Training by September 30, 2016.

Help children and teens in your community.Learn more about becoming a foster parent today!

The goal of the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard:

  • Provide the youth with a “normal” life experience in out of home care.
  • Empower the out-of-home caregiver to encourage youth to engage in extracurricular activities that promote child well being.
  • Allow for reasonable parenting decisions to be made by the out-of-home caregiver without waiting to obtain the social worker or Juvenile Court approval.
  • Remove barriers to recruitment and retention of high-quality foster caregivers.
  • Reduce the need for social workers to either give permission or to obtain Juvenile Court approval for reasonable caregiving activities, should be caregiving.
  • Respect the rights of youth in out-of-home care.

Learn more about becoming a foster parent in Nebraska here.

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