The Philadelphia Regional Office of A Second Chance, Inc., works in tandem with Philadelphia DHS authorities to conduct kinship emergency caregiver home inspections, process criminal and child-abuse clearances, fulfill immediate tangible needs for families (e.g., cribs, fire extinguishers, diapers, etc.) and complete an emergency kinship family assessment with domains parallel to the home study required for Commonwealth approval as foster parents.
The process initiates with a kinship family assessment by ASCI within 24 hours, followed by services to stabilize the new placement of the child/youth. Once the kinship caregiver meets all Department of Public Welfare certification requirements, a Transition Meeting occurs to ensure that the kinship family will have a seamless transfer of services to a local kinship foster care agency to complete the home study process. The KER process generally takes between 30 and 60 days.
KER is a model of the integrated, holistic and culturally responsive case management services and supports ASCI provides to address unique clinical issues and identify kinship caregivers’ family-based strengths, ensuring child safety, stabilizing the relative placement and planning for permanency.