Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard

Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption & Foster Care

Do you worry about applying the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard as a foster parent? Check out this interview with Rhonda Serrano, a senior attorney at the ABA Center on Children and the Law, and Kate Schultz, the Deputy Director at Foster Family Alliance of North Carolina and a licensed foster parent.
In this episode, we cover:

• Where does the concept and term for “reasonable and prudent parent” come from?
• What were the problems that the reasonable and prudent parent standard is trying to address?
• The intent is to promote and support normalcy. Why is normalcy so important for foster youth?
• Who does this standard apply to?
• Does it apply to all children and youth in foster care?
• Why is the distinction between an “activity” vs. a “service” important?
• What is included in extracurricular activities?
• What is included as an enrichment activity?
• What is included in cultural activities?
• What is considered a social activity?
• Would these activities usually be included?
  • Phone and computer use
  • Being on social media
  • Reasonable curfews and rules for dating and socializing
  • Driver’s licenses and learner’s permits
  • Social activities with friends and peers, including unsupervised social activities, such as:
    • Going to the movies
    • Dating
    • Visiting friends’ houses overnight
• Would background checks be needed to spend the night at a friend's or foster grandparent’s house?
• Are there some activities that are inherently too risky for the foster parent to make the decision on whether to participate?
• The activity is supposed to be age or developmentally appropriate. Who makes this decision?

Factors to consider when applying this standard.

• Does the child/youth want to do this activity? Does it fit with their interests, likes, and dislikes?
• Is this activity appropriate for their age and something other kids their age get to do?
• Can this youth/child participate safely for their selves and others, given their behavioral history?
• Is there appropriate adult supervision for this activity?
• Does this activity encourage the child’s emotional and developmental growth?
• Does participating in this activity normalize life for this child/youth? Does it provide a more family-like experience?
• Does this activity provide a way for the child to further their self-identity (including ethnic, cultural, religious, etc)?
• Does it provide an opportunity for healthy risk-taking?
• Will the youth gain adult skills for transitioning?
• Does the biological parent want the child to participate in this activity?
• Can you afford this activity?
• Risk factor
• Mental health: are there any triggers to be aware of?
• What liability does the resource parent have if things go wrong at the activity?
• How can biological parents be included in decisions about the reasonable and prudent parent standard?
• What happens when the biological parent objects to an activity, but the foster parents are in favor of allowing the child to participate?

This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:

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