State Standards and Capacity to Track Frequency of Caseworker Visits with Children in Foster Care

Face to face contact with children in foster care by caseworkers is a key element to maintaining child wellbeing. The Administration for Children and Families reviewed all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 2001 and 2004 to determine whether the frequency of caseworker visits was sufficient to meet the child's needs. This article reviews the written standards States have implemented for frequency of caseworker visits with children in foster care, the extent to which States can provide automated reports on the frequency of caseworker visits, and the extent to which statewide reports indicate that children were visited.